En quête de la déviance sexuelle du clergé des Lumières

Abstract

Studying 18^th century ecclesiastical sexuality seems bound to fail. It is a firstly about analyzing the definition of clergy and about chastity conditions. Then, such a matter of study forces to renounce to put deviancy into numbers, since most cases have faded into oblivion, when they have not been made up in the first place, in order to smear an unpopular ecclesiastic for instance. Choosing a dense and eclectic corpus of sources seems to be the most relevant way to embrace all modalities of the clerical sexual incontinence. Eventually, wondering about ecclesiastical sexuality leads to fertile and heuristic work.