Societal attitudes towards same-sex relationships have varied over time and place, from expecting all males to engage in same-sex relationships, to casual integration, through acceptance, to seeing the practice as a minor sin, repressing it through law enforcement and judicial mechanisms, and to proscribing it under penalty of death. The following individuals received the death penalty for it.
Executed individuals Belgium Name Date Notes John de Wettre 8 September 1292 A "maker of small knives" condemned at Ghent and burned at the pillory next to St. Peter's.Unknown1307Woman, burned in Ghent.Kalle van der Roemporten1364Elderly woman, burned in Ghent.Willem Case1373Burned in Antwerp.Jan van AersdoneLijsbette Pijlysers1374Women from Vrasene, burned in Ghent.Amele sMuelneerenKalle sLathouersMarie van GheeraerdsbergheMeerin van der HagheCelie Elwouds1375Burned in Ghent.Two unknowns1375Burned in Ypres.Unknown1391Burned, one of 17 defendants (including 2 women) at a mass trial in Mechelen; only one to confess.Matthijs De Houthackere1400Young squire, burned in Bruges "due to the bourgeoisie."Jehan Eyveraerd1414Prussian, burned in Ypres. Arrested on suspicion of spying for possessing "suspicious books in German and Latin," he confessed to committing "the filthy offense which is called buggery so many times, he could not put a number on it."Lamsin Le But1416Burned in Ypres. Born in Woumen, he was previously imprisoned for murder in Sluis.Unknown1427Beheaded in Halen.Marie de Valmerbeke1434Mother and daughter, burned in Ghent. Condemned for taking advantage of their maid, Margarete Scoucx; Scoucx's position was acknowledged by the courts, so she was only exiled for 10 years.Belle WasbiersPierre Dheict1454Two clerics (frère) and a layman, burned in Bruges.Cornille vander Mast'Anthoine van BoitemUnknown1462Burned in Meulebeke.Cornelis de Bussere1469Burned in Bruges. de Bussere was a member of the local grocer's guild, owning a house near the city crane which was used for handling imported and exported goods.Pieter Van ClarenJehan CnoopJeorge Vanden DammeJan van Lyere1470Nobleman, burned in Antwerp for "committing inhuman and unnatural acts" with Gheert de Jonckhere, a furrier from Lier previously charged with molesting several boys; his properties, including the manor of Berchem, were confiscated by the bailiff.Jehan Vanden Hauwe1471 or 1472A cleric (frère) and a layman, strangled as a "mercy" and burned.Wouterkin le DorpreHennen de Vos1475Wool weaver and carpet marker, burned at the Grand-Place in Brussels.Jacques de Jonghe1475Painter, burned in Bruges for having relations with saddler Jehan Caudron and others while an apprentice of Reynault van Overtvelt 25 years earlier; Caudron briefly fled the city but later returned and was not charged.Ampluenie Van Halle19 November 1482Burned in Bruges.UnknownHester De WitteLijsbet Vander MuelneKatheline CrouxKatherine YsenbaertMargriet Swulfs18 August 1483Burned in Bruges; would have been executed in November 1482 with aforementioned six women, but was spared after claiming pregnancy.Jehan1485Greek, burned in Bruges for "several species of the sin of sodomy"; his partner, Hannekin Storm, was whipped with rods and his hair burned.Corneille Vander Poorten1494Cook, beheaded at the Grand-Place in Tournai. Born in Brussels, he had lived in Rome for several years before moving to Antwerp and Bruges but did not hold employment long in either city. Poorten posted an anonymous pamphlet on the doors of the Bruges stock exchange accusing the entire city of sodomy, and fled to Tournai but was arrested there. He recanted the pamphlet's contents but admitted to abusing a calf as a teenager and having sex with several men in Rome, but he also recanted this at his execution.Pieter Provincher1507Burned in Bruges after confessing to "having committed the 'horrible and abominable sin of sodomy with several persons.'"Adriaen de Molde1510Burned in Leuven for "evil and filthy offenses." de Molde and Pauwels, a Pole from Gdańsk, met while in Montpellier and traveled together through the Duchy of Brabant, where Pauwels began his "dirty and dishonorable work against the will of Adriaen on several occasions"; de Molde, however, chose to remain in his company. They visited Gdańsk where Pauwels' parents gave them money with which they created fake mendicants' hoods and false ecclesiastical court licenses to travel freely. de Molde's father attempted to admit them into the Order of Paul of Thebes in Flanders, but their cover was blown and they were arrested in Leuven.PauwelsPierkin de Rycke13 May 1513Burned in Bruges.Jan Dekuenync4 October 1516Blacksmith and his apprentice, burned in Bruges.Hannekin AlaertsJan van Senct Gilles1519Nine members of a fifteen-man network, burned in Bruges. Three were arrested in Wezecappelle, after which the group was exposed. van Sanct Gilles, a 32-year-old vagabond, reported more than 30 others after his arrest but was still burned.Eight unknownsHannekin de Poortre17 October 1522Burned in Bruges. Described as a young boy from Antwerp, he admitted to multiple acts of sodomy as well as having "led three others into the sin." One boy he had made advances towards was flogged.Jacques Kint1523Beheaded in Kortrijk.Mathys Guser1531 or 1532Baker at a Dominican monastery, burned in Antwerp for "dirty affairs."Cornelis van Woensdrecht1532Burned in Antwerp, his body was allowed to be buried in a cemetery "thanks to the plea of his friends."Willem Vanden Berghe21 November 1541Burned outside of the city gates of Bruges with a sack of gunpowder on his chest to "speed his death"; his partner, Cornille Campus, was forced to watch before his hair was burned and he was banished for 50 years.Hans van Hoey1552Beheaded in Zoutleeuw.Jacomo dy Rossy1557Italian, beheaded in Antwerp.Three unknowns26 July 1578Franciscan monks, strangled and burned in Bruges; 12 others were exiled, with five having their hair burned and being scourged.Five unknowns28 June 1578Five monks (three Franciscans and two Augustinians) aged 17 to 20, burned in Ghent; two other 19-year-old Augustinians were banished from Ghent for three years. The mostly Catholic crowd at the execution "was awash in tears" and "even the Protestant preacher ... began to shout from the scaffold that the men were innocent," with all five protesting their innocence.Arnould vanden Driesche1592Sentenced "for his enormous crimes," a lettre de remission was rejected by the Privy Council in Brussels, and he was subsequently tortured with a red-hot iron and burned in Oudenaarde.Alexandro Lauro Palma1605Spanish, strangled and burned in Antwerp in 1605 for the "crime or sin of sodomy which is called the silent sin."Jean de Nivelles1608Hanged in Antwerp, executed privately in prison due to his young age.Niclaes Godtgast21 August 1658Burned outside of the city gates of Leuven. Coming to Leuven from Brussels, Leuven's aldermen were made aware of his arrival and arrested him on the road en route.
Denmark +NameDateNotesUnknownOctober 1628Scottish lieutenant-colonel taken prisoner of war by Danish forces, burned in Copenhagen.UnknownNovember 1628Scottish private taken prisoner of war by Danish forces, burned in Copenhagen.
France Name Date NotesRobert de Peronne1317Also known as de Bray, burned in Laon; brother Jean given unknown sentence for same charge the next year.Pierre Poirer1334Burned in Dorche.Unknown1344Burned at Dorche, Savoy.Unknown1372Burned at Reims.Hannen le Sot1381 or 1382Burned at Valenciennes, executed privately "for the grace he possessed."Johannes Rorer1400Bathhouse owner, burned in Strasbourg; his partner, carpenter Heinzmann Hiltebrant, fled the city.Isaach Salamó1403Jew, burned in Perpignan.Gilles de Nevers1457"Host of the golden head", burned in Lille.Two unknowns12 July 1459A man in his fifties and a young tambourine player, burned in Lille.Unknown16 March 1460Burned in Lille. Claimed to be both a man and woman, however judges decided they were a cross-dressing man "who disguised (themselves) as a woman to have sex with several young men" rather than a hermaphrodite.Eighteen unknowns24 December 1474Lombard soldiers, executed in Burgundy.Jerome1506A bottlemaker and Jerome, burned in Strasbourg.UnknownJean Moret13 December 1519Burned alive in Amiens, sentenced by city bailiff.Unknown1535A woman from Fontaines who dressed as a man and married a maid of Foy; burned, case reported by Henri Estienne. Dominique Phinot 1556 Composer of the Renaissance, executed in Lyon.Jacob, Roger "Dominique Phinot", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed January 1, 2006), (subscription access) Unknown1557Pronotary of Montault, sentenced to be burned.Marie1580Female weaver in Montier-en-Der, born in Chaumont; dressed as a man, married another woman, and used "illicit devices"; hanged.Nicolas Dadon1 February 1584Rector of the University of Paris, from Nulli Saint-Front, hanged and burned (along with his trial) for sodomy in Paris.UnknownApril 1584Italian, burned alive in front of the Louvre in Paris.Richard Renvoisy6 March 1586Canon of Sainte-Chapelle du Roi in Dijon and "master of children", wrote Quelques odes d'Anacreon mises en musique in 1559. His "too free association with his young students made him fall into a crime", and he was subsequently burned.Ruffin "Defrozieres" Fortias22 December 1598Hanged and body burned in Issoudun. Sentenced by bailiwick on 28 November.Jean-Imbert Brunet4 May 1601Local priest of Ollioules, burned by the Parliament of Provence.Unknown7 March 1654Italian priest accused of sodomy, one of three tortured prisoners. He, "having confessed by all rigorosity (sic) of his pains, was condemned to be first hanged, and afterwards burnt - a sentence carried out the next day" in Paris.Jacques Chausson1661Burned for the attempted rape of a young nobleman, Octave des Valons.Antoine Mazouer1666Burned in Paris.Emery Ange DugatonAntoine Bouquet26 August 1671Sentenced to burn alive.Unknown31 March 167760-year-old, burned in the Marché-Neuf in Paris. Sentenced earlier that day.Philippe Basse1720Burned in Paris, also convicted of blasphemy.Bernard MocmanesseBenjamin Deschauffours1726Procurer, burned on Place de Grève in Paris. Accused of killing a kidnapped boy.Two unknowns1745Former associates of the bandit Raffiat, who was broken on the wheel in 1742. They were pierced in their tongues, hanged and burned; they were also charged with blasphemy. Jean Diot 6 July 1750 Strangled and burned in Paris; last executions for sodomy in France. Bruno LenoirJean-Baptiste Marchal3 October 1757Parish priest of Ludres, condemned to be burned by the sovereign court of Lorraine; made an edifying speech to his parishioners speech before he was executed, and organized pilgrimages were made to the execution site afterwards.
Germany