Few cases of same-sex acts between women are known in early modern Europe. Yet in the Southern Netherlands, some 25 women were charged with “female sodomy” between c. 1400 and 1550 - and they received the same punishment as their male counterparts. 

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Professor Jonas Roelens. He argues that this exceptional repression of female same-sex acts was the result of the relatively high level of liberty and visibility women enjoyed in the Southern Netherlands, compared to other regions. The more visible women were in society, the more women attracted to others of their own sex were at risk of being discovered and penalised.

*WARNING: This episode contains explicit sexual content*`

The Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie. It was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. 

For more Not Just The Tudors content, subscribe to our Tudor Tuesday newsletter here >

For your chance to win five non-fiction history books - including a signed copy of Dan Snow's On This Day in History - please fill out this short survey.

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android > or Apple store