<P> The main approach to Christian sexuality held an opposing view . Under this approach, sex was only meant for procreation purposes . Sexual activity for any other purpose, including heterosexual acts, was considered sinful . Such a view was inherited from aspects of late antique pagan ethics and was at first limited to abstinent Christian writers who were deeply inspired by Hellenistic philosophy . Eventually, it would be this approach to sexuality that was favored and spread throughout the Christian world because it limited sexual activity the most and appealed to an already understood principle . Ultimately, this approach would become the standard of Catholic orthodoxy . </P> <P> By the end of the Middle Ages, most of the Catholic churchmen and states accepted and lived with the belief that sexual behavior was, according to Natural Law aimed at procreation, considering purely sterile sexual acts, i.e. oral and anal sex, as well as masturbation, sinful . However homosexual acts held a special place as crimes against Natural Law . Most civil law codes had punishments for such "unnatural acts," especially in regions which were heavily influenced by the Church's teachings . </P> <P> In early Medieval years, homosexuality was given no particular penance; it was viewed like all the other sins . For example, during the eighth century, Pope Gregory III gave penances of 160 days for lesbian - like acts and usually one year for males who committed homosexual acts . During the Inquisition itself, it is unlikely that people were brought up for homosexual behavior alone; it was usually for publicly challenging the Church's stance against homosexuality . Those who did not back down would be severely punished . </P> <P> As time went on, punishments for homosexual behavior became harsher . In the thirteenth century, in areas such as France, homosexual behavior between men resulted in castration on the first offense, dismemberment on the second, and burning on the third . Lesbian behavior was punished with specific dismemberments for the first two offenses and burning on the third as well . By the mid-fourteenth century in many cities of Italy, civil laws against homosexuality were common . If a person was found to have committed sodomy, the city's government was entitled to confiscate the offender's property . </P>

Who came up with the punishments in the middle ages