1252 St. Thomas Aquinas begins his theological teaching. Aquinas pronounced that God created genitalia for no purpose other than reproduction and decreed that homosexual acts were "unnatural" and heretical. Though he did not originate these ideas, he had powerful influence with the church and the narrow-mindedness he espoused continues today. 1250 – 1300 Between 1250 and 1300, homosexual activity passed from being completely legal in most of Europe to incurring the death penalty in all but a few contemporary legal compilations." - John Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality (1980) 1290 Fleta : the first mention in English common law of a punishment for homosexuality.