John of Gaunt ‘died of putrefaction of his genitals and body’.
Tag: medieval medicine
Bad for the Soul, Good for the Body: Religion, Medicine and Masturbation in the Middle Ages
The monk could no longer be considered a virgin, since he has been ‘polluted…through masturbation’.
Death by Celibacy: Sex, Semen and Male Health in the Middle Ages
Katherine Harvey In the late twelfth century Gerald of Wales, archdeacon of Brecon and a prolific author, wrote a tract on the proper conduct of the clergy. Gerald was writing only a few decades after the First Lateran Council (1123) had introduced compulsory celibacy for all priests, at a time […]
Recent Posts
Understanding Zika & the Abortion Debate in Brazil: A View from 1940
Naming & Shaming Women: Reporting on VD Trials During WWI
Syphilis Onstage: Eugène Brieux’s Damaged Goods
The Catholic Church and Child Sexual Abuse in Twentieth-Century Ireland
Reverend Anna Garlin Spencer and the Rise of “Family Life” in Early Sex Education