The Medieval Period

Hamlet referred to the "thousand natural ills that flesh is heir to." Throughout the history of humankind, headaches and tiredness, aches and pains, sore feet and sore backs, and all manner of bodily illnesses have been shared by countless billions of us. For half of humanity, going back millions of years, there existed the problem of the monthly flow of blood called in adult females menstruation.

There is a wide range of products on the market to deal with the monthly period, but how did people deal with it centuries ago?

Men never experienced menstruation, and therefore could not understand it. Pliny, a popular source of Classical and Medieval knowledge, thought it was sorcery; in his Naturalis Historia he wrote:

It would indeed be a difficult matter to find anything which is productive of more marvelous effects than the menstrual discharge. On the approach of a woman in this state, must will become sour, seeds which are touched by her become sterile, grafts wither away, garden plants are parched up, and the fruit will fall from the tree beneath which she sits. Her very look, even, will dim the brightness of mirrors, blunt the edge of steel, and take away the polish from ivory. A swarm of bees, if looked upon by her, will die immediately; brass and iron will instantly become rusty, and emit an offensive odor; while dogs which may have tasted of the matter so discharged are seized with madness, and their bite is venomous and incurable. [Chapter 13]

And in Chapter 17, he returns to the topic:

Over and above these particulars, there is no limit to the marvelous powers attributed to females. For, in the first place, hailstorms, they say, whirlwinds, and lightning even, will be scared away by a woman uncovering her body while her monthly courses are upon her. [link]

Much has been said about whether Pliny had a sense of humor and was deliberately exaggerating in his comments. Though his letters show signs of humor, it is difficult to believe that he was "poking fun" at either his audience or the topic while writing a history of the natural world.  We also have statements from the Middle Ages such as mentioned in the False Decretals that suggest how horrible writers (no doubt all men) considered when a woman has her period.

Judaism also developed an aversion to menstruation. Leviticus 15, 18, and 20 were turned into Rabbinic Law about women in their time of "impurity."

But how about the women themselves? What did they do to deal with this monthly event? Tomorrow we'll take a look at feminine hygiene practices relating to this topic.

Medieval Forgeries, Part 4

One of the earliest discovered (so far) forgeries was the 9th-century Pseudo-Isidorean Decretals. A decretal is a papal decree concerning a point of canon law.

Pseudo Isidore is the label given to an otherwise unknown author who referred to himself as Isidore Mercator*, writing in the 840s and 850s. The collection of 60 decretals from early popes include only two authentic ones. The two are placed first, in order to give the reader assurance that all were historical.

The point of these, also called the "False Decretals," was to give more authority to Frankish prelates. The Carolingian rulers, starting with Louis the Pious, were responsible for several episcopal trials, challenging the authority of the Church over the kings, and deposing bishops. The False Decretals attempt to create an historical foundation for the Church to have more rights and authority, to have autonomy for a bishop in his diocese, and provide immunity for bishops from trial and conviction.

One of the ways the forgery was discovered was Pseudo-Isidore's tendency to have the documents make reference to events that took place after the document at hand was supposedly written.

Pseudo-Isidore could not help slipping in some personal preferences outside of the attempt to give bishops more power. In a letter purported to be from Pope Clement, Isidore includes:

De castimoniae dico cautela, cuius species multae sunt. Sed primo, ut observet unusquisque, ne menstruatae mulieri misceatur, hoc enim exsecrabile ducit lex dei.

But first that anyone should make sure not to share company with a menstruating woman, for this is considered loathsome by the law of God.

This is entirely separate from the attempt to prove episcopal autonomy, and the author's personal concern is noteworthy. This got me thinking: what did the Middle Ages think about menstruation? Well, that's obviously a new topic for a new day. See you tomorrow.

*The name seems to be a blend of two known authorities: Isidore of Seville and Marius Mercator (c.390 - c.451), who wrote anti-Pelagian treatises and to whom St. Augustine wrote at least one letter.