They Should All Be Sent Back Where They Came From. Except for the people these armchair racists actually knew, who "weren't like all the others."
My point is that localised acceptance of homosexuality within a small community-where the couple would be someone's sisters, brothers, cousins, in-laws-doesn't necessarily prove acceptance of homosexuality per se.
The Black Death ended the manor system, where the serfs were effectively the property of their lord and couldn't travel without his permission.
Maybe the displacement/mobility of the population broke the personal ties that had been the reason for tolerance in the face of anti-gay propaganda?
Only in part of Europe. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
In the year 1000, one would be a serf of such noble person, whereas by 1400, one would be a serf/freeman of this village, who happened to be ruled by a certain lord.
Also, the move from a clans-based society to a core-family based society reinforced the sanctity of marriage, which was less used as a means of alliance between families, and thus became more strongly normalised : only clerics remained celibate ; lay people remaining celibate became suspected of heresy. This reinforcement of the sanctity of marriage was actively promoted by the church ; it goes hand in hand with its involvement in the social norms of sexuality. Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
