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Here's a AMAZING 12th-century Middle Irish story about lesbians accidentally having a baby. A woman asked the king to determine her baby's father, bc she hadn't sex with a man in a long time. The king asked if she'd had sex with a woman. The woman said yes. #MedievalTwitter
The king basically says, "Oh, then she must have had sex with her husband beforehand, and the semen fell into your womb during your 'tumbling.'"
Immediately, a MAN FALLS OUT OF THE SKY. He introduces himself as a priest who made a deal with a demon. The demons had been carrying him through the air for 7 years, but they were overhead when the king was speaking, & the truth made the demons scatter, freeing the priest.
The story's relative lack of criticism of two women having sex is noteworthy, and *once again* suggests that the history of queerness is a lot more complicated than "the Middle Ages were oppressive/homophobic." The king assumes correctly that women often had sex together.
This story appears in several versions after this. It appears in a 15th-century manuscript, in an apologue to a 16th-century bardic poem (written for a famous judge!) and in another 16th-century version. Some of these versions were less explicit, but none condemn the women.
In the 16th-century poem, the woman claims she's never had sex with a man and the King asks if she's ever "play[ed]" with another woman, laying beside her or letting her "lie between [her] thighs." The woman says yes, and the king says that woman's husband is the father.
![In the 16th-century poem, the woman claims she's never had sex with a man and the King asks if she's ever "play[ed]" with another woman, laying beside her or letting her "lie between [her] thighs." The woman says yes, and the king says that woman's husband is the father.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgBQRvxXoAA0nqv.png "In the 16th-century poem, the woman claims she's never had sex with a man and the King asks if she's ever \"play[ed]\" with another woman, laying beside her or letting her \"lie between [her] thighs.\" The woman says yes, and the king says that woman's husband is the father.")
The part considered too risque to discuss is the semen, NOT the women having sex together. Later, in the 20th century, people refused to translate these texts because of the women having sex with each other. That was a *modern* anxiety, not a medieval one.
The second 16th-century version (this one in prose) is my FAVORITE, because, in this version, the woman tells the king that her lover had sex with her bc her lover's husband couldn't satisfy her (unlike the woman, who def could).
There is a LOT happening in this story. The priest sells himself to the devil for nice woodwork, the devils just carry him around for years, etc. But the central claim is that a king's truthful judgment scatters demons. The truth of lesbians drives demons away. 
Screenshots from the below. Translations from Damian Mcmanus's article "Niall Frosach's 'Act Of Truth': A Bardic Apologue In A Poem For Sir Nicholas Walsh" & David Greene's âThe âAct of Truthâ in a Middle-Irish Story,â Saga och Sed (1976)
I will add, before people scream anachronism, that the term "lesbian" is attested referring to women who have sex with women in the Middle Ages, AND I use it as a deliberate choice of queer historiography, following Valerie Traub, Bernadette Brooten, Anne Lasykaya, etc.
If you liked the medieval Irish lesbians, youâll probably also like these love letters between medieval women in Germany! https://twitter.com/erik_kaars/status/1070308027096539137
Awwww this got popular!
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