List of people executed for homosexuality in Europe

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This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

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[edit]

Belgium[edit]

Name Date Notes
John de Wettre 1292 A "maker of small knives" condemned at Ghent and burned at the pillory next to St. Peter's[3]:17

France[edit]

Name Date Notes
Dominique Phinot 1556 Composer of the Renaissance[4]
Jean Diot 6 July 1750 The last two to be executed for sodomy in France
Bruno Lenoir

Germany[edit]

Name Date Notes
Katherina Hetzeldorfer 1477 German cross-dressing lesbian executed for heresy against nature after having used a dildo on two female partners.
Catharina Margaretha Linck 1721 Prussian cross-dressing lesbian executed for sodomy; her execution was the last for lesbian sexual activity in Europe.

Italy[edit]

Name Date Notes
Giovanni di Giovanni 1365 15-year-old Italian boy charged with being "a public and notorious passive sodomite"[5][6]
Jacopo Bonfadio 1550 Humanist and historian[7]
Francesco Calcagno Venetian Franciscan friar.[8]

Netherlands[edit]

Name Date Notes
Jillis Bruggeman 9 March 1803 Last person executed for sodomy in Netherlands[9]

Poland[edit]

Name Date Notes
Marcin Gołek 9 November 1633 Executed by burning[10]
Wojciech ze Sromotki

Spain[edit]

Name Date Notes
Margarida Borràs 1460 Cross-dressing transgender woman

Sweden[edit]

Name Date Notes
Lisbetha Olsdotter November 1679


Switzerland[edit]

Name Date Notes
Richard Puller von Hohenburg 24 September 1482 Swiss nobleman and knight
Hans Waldmann (mayor) 6 April 1489 Executed for multiple crimes, including sodomy


United Kingdom[edit]

See also: History of violence against LGBT people in the United Kingdom, Sodomy law § United Kingdom, and LGBT rights in the United Kingdom § Homosexuality as an offence
Name Date Notes
James Hunt 25 August 1743 Trial at Surrey assizes 4 August. Hanged at Kennington Common.[11]
Thomas Collins
Richard Arnold 15 September 1753 Convicted 31 August 1753 of felony and buggery for an act witnessed in the Swan Inn, Broad Street, Bristol. Both men were subsequently hanged.[12][13][14][15]
William Critchard[16]
Joseph Wright 15 August 1755 Trial at Coventry assizes.[17] Hanged on Whitley Common. Wright admitted that he had been guilty of sodomy, but never with Grimes, while Grimes said that he had never committed any such offence.[18]
Thomas Grimes
Francis Hayes[11] 17 April 1761 Trial at Kingston assizes 26 March. Hanged at Kennington Common. Hayes, a watchmaker, was convicted of an assault on his twelve-year-old errand boy. He had previously been pilloried twice for similar offences.[19]
William Dillon Sheppard[20] 1 June 1761 Trial at Bristol assizes 8 May. Hanged on St Michael's Hill. Dillon was an Irish Catholic, born in 1729, who was convicted of an assault on a nine-year-old boy. He protested his innocence to the last claiming that the charge was a "malicious report by some enemies".[19]
William Flinton[21] 5 April 1762 Trial at Kent assizes 19 March.
Richard Whatley[22] 23 March 1776 Trial at Hampshire assizes 5 March. Whatley, aged 41 and also known as Richard Churchill, was convicted of sodomy against Benjamin Dupre, a coachman employed by Lovell Stanhope. He admitted that he had attempted the offence (which took place at Avington), but had not actually committed it.[23]
Benjamin Loveday 12 October 1781 Trial at Bristol assizes.[20] Hanged on St Michael's Hill. Loveday worked as a waiter before keeping a public house on Tower Street, Bristol while Burke was a midshipman.[24]
John Burke
Thomas Ladd[11] 10 April 1786 Trial at Surrey assizes 22 March. Hanged on Peckham Common.
Thomas Crispin[25] 17 August 1787 Trial at Devon assizes 30 July. Hanged at Heavitree gallows near Exeter. Crispin, aged 45, was a potter from Pilton who had been living in a workhouse for seven years. His co-accused Hugh Gribble was reprieved owing to mental incapacity. Crispin acknowledged his guilt but showed no remorse.[26]
John Southwell 3 April 1790 Trial at Suffolk assizes 17 March. Hanged at Rushmere, Ipswich[27]
John Smith
William Powell[27] 30 August 1797 Trial at Suffolk assizes 9 August. Hanged at Bury St Edmonds at the age of 70.[28]
Joseph Bird[29] 26 August 1803 Trial at Warwickshire assizes.
Mathuselah Spalding aka Methuselah.[30][31] 8 February 1804 Trial at the Old Bailey, hanged at Newgate
David Robertson[32][33] 13 August 1806 Trial at the Old Bailey.
James Stockton aka Samuel Stockton[33] 13 September 1806 Trial at Lancaster assizes, hanged at Lancaster castle
Joseph Holland
John Powell
Isaac Hitchin[33] 27 September 1806 Trial at Lancaster assizes, hanged at Lancaster castle
Thomas Rix
William Billey[34] 31 March 1808 Trial at Kent Lent Assizes in Maidstone, executed on Penenden Heath
James Bartlett[35] 4 April 1809 Trial at Surrey Assizes, executed at Horsemonger Lane Gaol
Samuel Mounser[36][37] 31 August 1810 Trial at the Chelmsford Summer Assizes, from Stanford-le-Hope
Thomas White 7 March 1811
Main article: Vere Street Coterie
Ensign John Newball Hepburn, in his forties, and Drummer Thomas White, 16, tried at the Old Bailey and hanged in front of Newgate Prison, London[38][39]
John Hepburn
David Thompson Myers[40][41] 4 May 1812 Acquitted in Lincolnshire but then convicted at trial at Peterborough, hanged at Fengate. The last man to be publicly executed in the city.
George Godfrey[42] 1 April 1813 Hanged at Pennenden Heath
Henry Youens[43] 18 August 1814 Trial at the Kent Assizes in Maidstone, hanged at Penenden Heath
John Ottaway
Abraham Adams[44][45] 26 July 1815 Trial at the Old Bailey, hanged at Newgate alongside Elizabeth Fenning
John Atwood Eglerton[46] 23 September 1816 A waiter accused of sodomy with a stableboy, convicted after ten minutes in a trial at the Old Bailey, where he was hanged. William Beckford wrote in a letter about the case that "Tomorrow (according to the papers) they are going to hang a poor honest sodomite. I should like to know what kind of deity they fancy they are placating with these shocking human sacrifices. In a numerous list of thieves, assassins, housebreakers, violators ("a man for a rape") etc, he was the only one to be sent to the gallows; all the others were "respited during pleasure." The danger must be great indeed and everyone in the country must be running the risk of having his arse exposed to fire and slaughter".[47]
Robert Yandell[46] 2 December 1816 Trial at the Old Bailey, hanged at Newgate
George Siggins[48] 21 August 1817 Trial at Kent Assizes in Maidstone, executed on Penenden Heath
Joseph Charlton[49][50][51] 14 April 1819 A watchmaker aged 26 who was tried at the Guildhall, Newcastle and hanged at Morpeth. His funeral was attended by 2000 people.
John Markham[51][52][53] 29 December 1819 A pauper aged 26 who was an inmate at St. Giles’s workhouse, his hanging was heard by John Cam Hobhouse, who was being held at Newgate.
Thomas Foster[54] 3 May 1820 Trial at Kent Assizes and hanged at Penenden Heath
John Holland 25 November 1822
William King
William North 24 February 1823
William Arden 21 March 1823
Benjamin Candler
John Doughty
Charles Clutton 13 August 1824
Joseph Bennett 20 April 1825
George Maggs
Daniel Woodward 20 December 1826
Samuel Wright 17 April 1830
John Stammers 13 August 1830
Henry Nicholl 12 August 1833
George Cropper 26 December 1833
Thomas Rogers 26 April 1834
William Hocking 21 August 1834
John Sparsholt 22 August 1835
John Smith 27 November 1835 The last two men to be hanged for sodomy in England
John Pratt

[55]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Herrup, Cynthia B. (1999). A House in Gross Disorder: Sex, Law, and the 2nd Earl of Castlehaven. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195125184.
  2. ^ Norris, David (2009-05-17). "Changing Attitudes". Public Address at the service to mark international day against homophobia in Christ Church Cathedral. David Norris. Archived from the original on 2009-06-06. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
  3. ^ Crompton, Louis (1981). Salvatore J. Licata; Robert P. Petersen (eds.). Historical Perspectives on Homosexuality. Haworth Press. ISBN 9780917724275.
  4. ^ Jacob, Roger "Dominique Phinot", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed January 1, 2006), (subscription access)
  5. ^ Rocke, Michael (1996). Forbidden Friendships, Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence. Oxford University Press. pp. 24, 227, 356, 360. ISBN 0-19-512292-5.
  6. ^ Meyer, Michael J (2000). Literature and Homosexuality. Rodopi. p. 206. ISBN 90-420-0519-X.
  7. ^ Official website commemorating 500 years since Bonfadio's birth Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Tucker, Scott (1997). The Queer Question: Essays on Desire and Democracy. Boston: South End Press. ISBN 978-0-89608-577-0. p. 46.
  9. ^ "Schiedam herdenkt geëxecuteerde sodomist". Rijnmond.
  10. ^ "Polscy homoseksualiści spaleni na stosie?". 27 July 2020.
  11. ^ a b c Surrey Assizes 1735-1799
  12. ^ "Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: Bristol Gaol Delivery Fiats". rictornorton.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  13. ^ "Homosexuality in 18th-cent. England: Newspaper Reports, 1752". rictornorton.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  14. ^ "Homosexuality in 18th-cent. England: Newspaper Reports, 1753". rictornorton.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  15. ^ "Map". OutStories Bristol. 2016-06-22. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  16. ^ Also reported as William Critichett (alternative spelling given by Bristol Gaol delivery fiats), William Pritchard (newspaper reports, 1752) and William Crutchard (newspaper reports, 1753)
  17. ^ Coventry Assizes 1735-1799
  18. ^ "Homosexuality in 18th-cent. England: Newspaper Reports, 1755". rictornorton.co.uk.
  19. ^ a b "Homosexuality in 18th-cent. England: Newspaper Reports, 1761". rictornorton.co.uk.
  20. ^ a b Bristol Assizes 1735-1799
  21. ^ Kent Assizes 1735-1799
  22. ^ Hampshire Assizes 1735-1799
  23. ^ "Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: Newspaper Reports, 1776". rictornorton.co.uk.
  24. ^ "Homosexuality in 18th-cent. England: Newspaper Reports, 1780-1781". rictornorton.co.uk.
  25. ^ Devon Assizes 1735-1799
  26. ^ "Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: Newspaper Reports, 1787". rictornorton.co.uk.
  27. ^ a b Suffolk Assizes 1735-1799
  28. ^ "Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: Newspaper Reports, 1797". rictornorton.co.uk.
  29. ^ "Catalogue description Report of Giles Rooke on Joseph Bird, convicted at the 'last' Warwickshire Assizes for..." August 21, 1803 – via National Archive of the UK.
  30. ^ "Methuselah Spalding | The Digital Panopticon". www.digitalpanopticon.org.
  31. ^ Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Newspaper Reports, 1804", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 20 April 2008; enlarged 20 October 2014 http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1804news.htm
  32. ^ Robertson, David, "The trial of David Robertson ... for an unnatural crime with George Foulston : tried before Sir Robert Graham ... on Saturday, May 24, 1806, at Justice-Hall, in the Old Bailey : with his remarkable address to the court, praying arrest of judgment : embellished with a striking likeness of the prisoner" (1806). British Trials. 2. https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/brittrials/2
  33. ^ a b c Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Newspaper Reports, 1806", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 5 May 2008, updated 17 February 2013, enlarged 19 January 2016 http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1806news.htm
  34. ^ Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Newspaper Reports, 1808", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 5 May 2008; enlarged 25 Oct. 2014, 9 Jan. 2016 http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1808news.htm
  35. ^ Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Newspaper Reports, 1809", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 5 May 2008, updated 19 January 2012, enlarged 26 January 2016 http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1809news.htm
  36. ^ Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Newspaper Reports, 1810", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 13 January 2016, updated 3 December 2019 http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1810news.htm
  37. ^ "The London Chronicle". J. Wilkie. September 6, 1810 – via Google Books.
  38. ^ Davenport, Guy (2003), "Wos Es War, Soll Ich Werden" in The Death of Picasso, Shoemaker & Hoard, Washington, D.C., p. 334.
  39. ^ "The London Chronicle". J. Wilkie. September 6, 1810 – via Google Books.
  40. ^ Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Lord, Remember Me!", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, enlarged 7 Dec. 2014 http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1812myer.htm
  41. ^ "DT Myers - Peterborough Execution (1812)". October 15, 2015.
  42. ^ "Homosexuality in 19th-cent. England: Newspaper Reports, 1813". rictornorton.co.uk.
  43. ^ Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Newspaper Reports, 1814", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 7 November 2014 http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1814news.htm
  44. ^ "Abraham Adams | The Digital Panopticon". www.digitalpanopticon.org.
  45. ^ Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Newspaper Reports, 1815", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 12 November 2014 http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1815news.htm
  46. ^ a b Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Newspaper Reports, 1816", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 12 November 2014, updated 15 April 2020 http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1816news.htm
  47. ^ Rictor Norton, "William Beckford's Gay Scrapbooks", Gay History and Literature, updated 16 Nov. 1999 <http://www.rictornorton.co.uk/beckfor2.htm
  48. ^ Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Newspaper Reports, 1817", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 17 November 2014, updateed 18 April 2020 http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1817news.htm
  49. ^ John Sykes, Local records; or, Historical register of remarkable events, which have occurred in Northumberland and Durham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Berwick-upon-Tweed, Volume 2, p. 118, 1866
  50. ^ "The last dying words of Joseph Charlton ; of North-Shields, watch-maker who was executed at Morpeth, on the 14th of April 1819, for an unnatural offense". English Crime and Execution Broadsides - CURIOSity Digital Collections.
  51. ^ a b Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Newspaper Reports, 1819", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 11 December 2014, updated 2 March 2015 http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1819news.htm
  52. ^ "Browse - Central Criminal Court".
  53. ^ "ExecutedToday.com » 1819: John Markham, abominable offence".
  54. ^ Rictor Norton (Ed.), "Newspaper Reports, 1820", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 17 December 2014, enlarged 12 Jan. 2016 http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1820news.htm
  55. ^ "Capital Punishment UK homepage". www.capitalpunishmentuk.org.

External links[edit]


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