Last Updated on August 29, 2024 by Kittredge Cherry
John Boswell was a Yale professor who revealed centuries of LGBTQ Christian history in groundbreaking books such as “Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality” and “Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe.”
John Eastburn “Jeb” Boswell was born on March 20, 1947, in Boston to a military family. He converted from the Episcopal Church of his upbringing to Roman Catholicism at age 16. Boswell graduated from William and Mary in 1969 and earned a Ph.D. in history from Harvard in 1975. He attended mass daily until his death, even though as an openly gay Christian he disagreed with church teachings on homosexuality. He also helped found Yale’s Lesbian and Gay Studies Center in the late 1980s.
New in 2024: Icon of John Boswell by Faithful Heretic
Boswell appears with tongues of flame above his head in an icon by the artist known as Faithful Heretic. Rich in symbolism, the image appears at the top of this post. Fire is associated with the Holy Spirit and the gift of “speaking in tongues,” a reference to Boswell’s extraordinary linguistic ability. He carries a book that says, “The crown of glory for me is with you.” The quote is an expression of same-sex love between paired male saints in “The Passion of Saints Sergius and Bacchus,” a fourth-century hagiography that Boswell translated into English for the first time. “The Venerable John Boswell” wears academic robes and carries a palm branch, a symbol of martyrdom in Christian art.
Faithful Heretic’s website includes a “hagiography” of Boswell, urging churches to commemorate him because he laid the foundation for LGBTQ-affirming ministry. “He must be respected in all of his twinky, flamboyant, brilliant, and life-giving glory. He declared that queer people could know God without shame or self-censorship, and that the Church could be made to repent and welcome us as it once did,” Faithful Heretic wrote.
A temporary home altar honors John Boswell with a rosary adorning his books, photo and a sticker of his icon by Faithful Heretic. The Faithful Heretic Icons Sticker Shop offers waterproof vinyl stickers of various LGBTQ historical figures and saints. Photo by Faithful Heretic.
Raised Mormon, Faithful Heretic is an Episcopalian lay minister and a lifelong student of history, especially medieval history and LGBTQ history.
John Boswell wrote landmark books
Boswell entered academia at an important time for LGBTQ rights, during the AIDS crisis and the rise of the Christian right in politics. He joined the Yale faculty as assistant professor, was appointed a full professor in 1982 and served as chair of the history department from 1990-92.
John Boswell
A linguistic genius, he used his knowledge of more than 15 languages to argue that the Roman Catholic Church did not condemn homosexuality until at least the 12th century in his 1980 book Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the 14th Century
Using some of his last strength as he battled AIDS, Boswell translated many rites of adelphopoiesis (Greek for making brothers) in his 1994 book Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe
Again Boswell struck a nerve and sparked national controversy. His new book was even featured in the nationally syndicated Doonesbury comic strip, causing many newspapers to stop running the cartoon.
Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau, June 1994
Boswell’s sister Patricia confirmed to Q Spirit that he loved to tell the story of how an anonymous monk sent him a letter to tip him off about the same-sex union ceremonies. She added that it is also possible that he discovered some of the ceremonies by accident while doing research at the Vatican and other European archives.
Boswell can be seen in a 1986 video lecturing on “Jews, Gay People, and Bicycle Riders” at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the series “Out & About: Celebrating Gay and Lesbian Culture.”
A 25th-anniversary collection analyzing Boswell’s work was published as “The Boswell Thesis: Essays on Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality,” edited by Mathew Kuefler. Scholars take many different approaches, looking at Boswell’s career and influence, a Roman emperor’s love letters to another man; suspected sodomy among medieval monks; and genderbending visions of mystics and saints.
A scholar challenges Boswell’s interpretations in the 2016 book “Brother-Making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium: Monks, Laymen, and Christian Ritual” by Claudia Rapp. She offers evidence that the brother-making rite bears no resemblance to marriage. The author is professor of Byzantine studies at the University of Vienna in Austria. It is included in the Top 35 LGBTQ Christian books of 2016.
Boswell’s life and impact on LGBTQ acceptance are explored in the 2022 documentary film “Not a Tame Lion.” First-hand accounts from his closest friends, family, students and colleagues shed light on his life, including how he worked feverishly to finish “Same-Sex Unions in Medieval Europe” in the final days before his death from AIDS at age 47 in 1994. It is written and directed by Craig Bettendorf, an openly gay film maker and LGBTQ activist who ministered the Anglican tradition. Bettendorf is the author of the book “A Biblical Defense Guide for Gays, Lesbians and Those Who Love Them.” After winning awards at film festivals in 2022, “Not a Tame Lion” had a rolling release on other streaming platforms.
John Boswell painted his family in medieval style
Boswell was age 27 when he painted a medieval-style illumination as a 1974 Christmas present for his mother, Catharine Eastburn Boswell. It was generously provided to Q Spirit in 2020 by his sister, Patricia Boswell, who keeps it hanging in her bedroom. The previously unpublished artwork by John Boswell was released by Qspirit.net for his birthday on March 20, 2020.
“Serve the Lord with Gladness” by John Boswell, 1974 (Courtesy of Patricia Boswell)
The watercolor looks like a page from an illuminated manuscript of the Middle Ages. It depicts each member of his family, including a self-portrait of Boswell as a medieval scribe on the right. A line from his mother’s favorite psalm is inscribed in calligraphy: “Serve the Lord with gladness” (Psalm 100:20).
Boswell painted his parents in the corners on the bottom. His mother is shown reading to her children on the right, while his father, Army colonel Henry Boswell Jr., slays a dragon on the left. Patricia told Q Spirit about how well the image depicts her family:
“Jeb brilliantly captured the essence of each. Dad, the career military officer and man of honor. Mom, who never went to college but educated us as children with her intellect and reading. Henry, who wanted to be a vet but ended up a Navy pilot. Wray, the court jester, who always lightened a tense situation. My portrayal is slightly more mysterious, but fortunately, I can tell you what Jeb himself answered. That Christmas morning, Wray asked if I was some sort of cheerleader. Jeb responded, ‘Pat is searching for truth among the stars.’”
The woman under the angel remains a mystery. “My best guess is that she is Joan of Arc. Jeb had a passion for her when young,” Patricia said.
Visual art was one of many interests for the multi-talented John Boswell. “To my knowledge, which is pretty complete, Jeb did not have a strong interest in displaying art in his home. He tended to hang framed things people gave him. He loved the Prado, but his artistic interest was mostly musical. Jeb did enjoy painting himself when he was younger and painted some quite lovely illuminations…. He was fascinated by angels and often painted them, but I don’t think any survived other than in the illumination I have,” Patricia explained. She added that her brother was also a gifted poet and had begun but not finished many stories before he died.
John Boswell’s memory lives on
Boswell’s untimely death came at age 47 from AIDS-related illness on Christmas Eve 1994. He is buried beside his longtime partner Jerone Hart (1946-2010) at Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut.
Shared gravestone of John Boswell and his life partner Jerone Hart (photo by Kickstand)
They are pictured together in photos on Boswell’s Findagrave.com page with the caption, “partners in life, for life.” Their shared headstone is shaped to look like a book. Hart’s inscription reads, “To live in one’s memory is never to die.” Boswell’s epitaph says, “He was not a tame lion.” His sister Patricia told Q Spirit that the phrase is a reference to the character Aslan in “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C. S. Lewis, which was one of Boswell’s favorite books.
William and Mary, a university in Williamsburg, Virginia, named a large academic building after Boswell in 2021. The official campus map shows that the many amenities at John E. Boswell Hall include “two all-gender restrooms,” a feature promoted by LGBTQ activists. Jeff Trammell, former rector there and the first openly gay chair of the governing board of a major public university, is quoted in the official announcement: “It brings honor to our 328-year-old institution that we name an academic building for an alumnus who used his William & Mary education to improve the lives of millions of Americans. John Boswell’s scholarship inspired the recognition of same-sex relationships here and around the world. And, personally, it helped make it possible for William & Mary Chancellor Sandra Day O’Connor to marry my husband and me in the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Boswell remains an unofficial saint to the many LGBTQ Christians who find life-giving spiritual value in his historical research that affirms queer people in Christian history.
Books by John Boswell
Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the 14th Century
Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe by John Boswell
Links related to John Boswell
John Boswell’s faith lit up a generation: My brother’s work paved the way for many LGBTQ Christians by Patricia Boswell (Christian Century)
“The Church and the Homosexual: An Historical Perspective,” Excerpts from the keynote address made by John Boswell to the Fourth Biennial Dignity International Convention in 1979.
John Boswell profile at LGBT Religious Archives Network
John Boswell page from “People with a History: An Online Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans* History,” edited by Paul Halsall
John Boswell profile at Elisa Reviews and Ramblings
John Boswell papers (Archives at Yale)
“Proposition: John Boswell was a Reincarnation of Immanuel Kant” by Toby Johnson
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Top image credit:
“The Venerable John Boswell” by Faithful Heretic
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This post is part of the LGBTQ Saints series by Kittredge Cherry. Traditional and alternative saints, people in the Bible, LGBTQ martyrs, authors, theologians, religious leaders, artists, deities and other figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and our allies are covered.
This article was originally published in March 2017, expanded with new material over time, and most recently updated on Aug. 29, 2024.
Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
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At least this article mentions one scholar who has debunked Boswell’s ideas, but virtually all historians reject his ideas, even the gay historian Alan Bray. Boswell has zero credibility, because he just made up new definitions for terms whose meanings are well known and rituals whose purposes are well known. The “oath of brotherhood” was often used to reconcile enemies in order to either end a war or prevent one before things got out of hand (such as when Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy and his rival Duke Louis of Orleans were forced by their uncle to swear the oath of brotherhood in a (futile) attempt to prevent a civil war).
John Boswell He gave me an award at the MCC for being the first openly gay pastor to begin his ministry in Argentina. I greet you with the best memories and thanks.
I had no idea your website existed, but I am utterly delighted to have found it. John Boswell was a great pioneer in our common march toward freedom. May he and his partner rest in peace and rise in glory.
Kitt:
What a delightful article about John. I recently incorporated in the State of Maryland “Scrolls Revealed Ministries.” I have been presenting a seminar “Scrolls Revealed: Homosexuality and the Bible! An In-Depth Study.” for over 20 years. I continue to travel the country bringing the Seminar to churches at NO COST (all costs are paid by Scrolls Revealed Ministries. John’s book “Christianity, Social Tolerance” was one of my go to books for research. I still have it today on my shelf and enjoy going back to it and rereading his prophetic writings. Thanks for the article. Reverend Harry Stock