Sexuality:
This page discusses the medieval notions of conception, with
particular emphases on the biological consequences of coitus.
Reproduction, female anatomy, the humoral system, and menstrual
lore are explored. JHFemale Heterosexuality in
Late Medieval Europe
By Joy Henningsen and Christopher T. Wootten
This page was created as part of a course assignment for Dr. Susan K. Hagen's "Chaucer" class (EH 350) at Birmingham-Southern College, spring 1998. The medical information given on these pages is an interpretation or compilation of medieval medical texts and is not intended to provide medical/pharmaceutical advice.
Sexuality:
This page discusses the medieval notions of conception, with
particular emphases on the biological consequences of coitus.
Reproduction, female anatomy, the humoral system, and menstrual
lore are explored. JH
Women: This
page explores the institutionalized misogyny females were faced
with from infancy to widowhood in the late middle ages. The
estates of women--virgins, widows, and wives--are discussed in
the context of obligations to God and obligations to men. Also
mentioned are the economic reasons females were costly as
household members. CW
Medieval
Practitioners: Distinguishing
between male and female practitioners, this page assesses
medieval practitioners' views on birth control and other
gynecological issues. The distinction between secular and
clerical medicine is also discussed and differentiates the works
of the Saints from Salernitan and Arabic practitioners' writings.
CW
Contraception and
Contraceptives: This
page presents an alphabetized list of medieval practitioners and
the contraceptives they described in their medicinal writings.
These "drugs" were largely herbal compounds, and
popular contraceptive and abortifacient herb are illustrated in
the margin.
Abortion and
Abortifacients: This
page presents an alphabetized list of medieval practitioners and
the abortifacients they prescribed in their medical texts. Also
as above, popular abortifacient and contraceptive herbs are
illustrated in the margin. CW
Other Methods of Contraception: This page explores the use of
chastity belts in the Middle Ages and the lore of female purity
as well as other interesting birth control methods. Some images
of medieval chastity belts are included.
Sexuality and Morality:
Clerical and secular positions on acceptable sexual
practices are presented. Church doctrine, precedents, and time
lines of notable changes in theory are discussed, followed by
morality issues, as interpreted by major theologians, regarding
the use of contraceptives, fertility-enhancing agents, and
abortifacients. These issues are discussed in parallel from a
secular vantage. JH
Last revised: 9 May 1998