The Adultery Act, passed into British law on 14th May, 1650, made having sex with a married woman a crime so severe it was punishable by death – but only for her.
Radical groups like the Ranters mocked Puritan prudishness, Royalists called the law joyless and tyrannical, and Presbyterians argued the law would be impossible to apply fairly. But the Puritans needed something everyone could rally around – and sexual sin was an easy target.
Those who thought the English Civil War had been divine punishment for a sinful nation believed only Old Testament-style legislation could stop society from descending into full-blown chaos. Yet, during the time the law was on the statue books, no one was actually executed.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the practicalities of proving adultery in a time when no reliable records of marriage existed; explain why sex with your son’s wife or daughter’s husband was considered incest; and reveal how, in some form, adultery stayed on the books until 2022....
Further Reading:
• ‘An Act for suppressing the detestable sins of Incest, Adultery and Fornication’ (House of Parliament, 1650):
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/acts-ordinances-interregnum/pp387-389
• ’England's Culture Wars - Puritan Reformation and Its Enemies in the Interregnum, 1649-1660, By B. S. Capp’ (OUP, 2012): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/England_s_Culture_Wars/d42Z-58lIdcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=7+Puritans+and+Sex&pg=PA132&printsec=frontcover
• ’60 Second Lecture Series- "The Puritans Had Sex? Why, Yes, They Did...!" - Kathy Cooke’ (Quinnipiac University, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faHxWKgtkkw
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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025
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