Quotes from Geoffrey R. Stone

What had once been sins punishable by the medieval Church against the faithful were thus transformed by the Reformation into crimes punishable by the state, enforceable even against those who did not share the faith.

Perhaps the most effective dogma of medieval Christianity was its persistent and pervasive disparagement of sexual desire as something polluted and inherently evil. Ordinary men and women may not have grasped the subtle theological arguments and distinctions of Augustine and Aquinas, but they did come to understand that sex was shameful.