Fleta
Fleta is a book published around 1290, on the law of England. It is written in Latin, and has the subtitle "seu Commentarius juris Anglicani" ("or a Commentary on English law"). It is supposed to have been written in the Fleet prison, hence the name.
Fleta contains the first mention in English law of a punishment for homosexual activity: it recommends burial alive "for those who have dealings with Jews or Jewesses, those who commit bestiality, and sodomists". [[Robert Mills, quoting this passage, says that Fleta, and another book, Britton are"are textbooks, not legal codes, and there is no evidence that such penalties were actually enforced."[1]
In practice there seem to have been no prosecutions for homosexual offences before the passing of the Buggery Act 1533.
References
- ↑ Robert Mills, "Male-Male Love and Sex in the Middle Ages, 1000–1500" – chapter 1 of A Gay History of Britain by Matt Cook and others, Page 40
