Castration of Popish Ecclesiastics
A short, simplified version:
In 1700, an anonymous London pamphlet called Reasons humbly offer’d for a Law to enact the Castration of Popish Ecclesiastic[k]s argued that Catholic priests were guilty of infanticide and sexual immorality and should be punished by castration. The author also urged Protestants in Europe to unite against Louis XIV’s Catholic France. Though the tone is harsh and anti-Catholic, some scholars think it may be ironical satire in the spirit of Defoe, who used extreme language to provoke stronger opposition to a religious minority in England.
The pamphlet cites Foxe’s Acts and Monuments to back its accusations and claims that priestly celibacy—the rule that priests remain unmarried—was invented by the Romish Church to help priests control women. It presents five main arguments meant to show why enforced chastity makes priests more lecherous and why castration might be the only way to curb their sexual appetite. It also accuses priests of corrupting morals and encouraging others to imitate them, including Italians who sell explicit material that supposedly debauches women.
The work was later printed in Dublin in 1710 under the title Reasons humbly offer’d to both houses of parliament, for a new Law to enact the castration or gelding of popish ecclesiastics, in this kingdom, with a note noting it as a warning against popery. In the 19th century, Protestant groups reprinted the pamphlet with an added Appendix containing three more pieces.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 17:43 (CET).