West European visitors to the Ottoman Empire in the early-modern period frequently referred to sodomy. They depicted it as a common practice there, associated particularly with ‘renegades’ (converts to Islam). The report of an investigation into a sexual scandal at the Venetian embassy in Istanbul in 1588, discussed here, shows special sensitivity to this issue. Historians generally discount the comments of visitors to Ottoman territory on this topic, either dismissing them as mere prejudice, or arguing that the practices they observed were equally current throughout western Europe. This article contests both of those assumptions. While prejudice was indeed present, the observations were accurate overall –– as Ottoman sources confirm. The practices were not equally prevalent in western Europe; they were specific to a pan-Mediterranean culture of same-sex relations between adult men and adolescents. But although the practices were essentially the same, there were significant differences between the Ottoman/Muslim Mediterranean societies and those of the Christian western Mediterranean. In the latter, religious and legal norms were more severe, affecting the degree to which such sexual behaviour was public and culturally expressed; in the former, a strong cultural tradition of homoeroticism gave some legitimation to these same-sex relations, and made them more avowable.

中文翻译：

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伊斯坦布尔的禁忌之爱：早期现代地中海世界的男女性关系模式

近代早期奥斯曼帝国的西欧游客经常提到鸡奸。他们将其描述为那里的一种常见做法，尤其与“叛徒”（皈依伊斯兰教）有关。此处讨论的 1588 年威尼斯人驻伊斯坦布尔大使馆性丑闻调查报告显示了对这个问题的特殊敏感性。历史学家通常不重视到奥斯曼领土的游客对这个话题的评论，要么认为他们仅仅是偏见，要么认为他们观察到的做法在整个西欧同样流行。本文对这两个假设提出质疑。虽然偏见确实存在，但观察结果总体上是准确的——正如奥斯曼帝国的消息来源所证实的那样。这些做法在西欧并不同样普遍；它们是针对成年男性和青少年之间同性关系的泛地中海文化所特有的。但是，尽管实践基本相同，但奥斯曼/穆斯林地中海社会与基督教西地中海社会之间存在显着差异。在后者中，宗教和法律规范更为严格，影响了这种性行为的公开程度和文化表达程度；在前者中，强烈的同性恋文化传统赋予了这些同性关系一些合法性，并使它们更加公开。宗教和法律规范更加严厉，影响了这种性行为在何种程度上被公开和在文化上表达；在前者中，强烈的同性恋文化传统赋予了这些同性关系一些合法性，并使它们更加公开。宗教和法律规范更加严厉，影响了这种性行为在何种程度上被公开和在文化上表达；在前者中，强烈的同性恋文化传统赋予了这些同性关系一些合法性，并使它们更加公开。