Ho hum, another work of the devil. Buggery and sodomy in early Stuart England

A study of contemporary handbooks for justices of the peace, sworn depositions, and other judicial records shows that in early Stuart England people were relatively tolerant of homosexuality. Sodomy was a minor felony, but more than homosexual activity was required to prosecute an offender. Persons accused of religious heresy, political offenses, or violating social-class distinctions also might be charged with sodomy, as illustrated by the cases of Lord Audley, Earl of Castlehaven and John Atherton, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore. Although the Puritans expanded the list of sexual acts proscribed as vices, even they did not react to it with the extreme horror characteristic of the Victorian era and the present day.