The Pustulent Penis: Searching for STDs in the Centuries before Syphilis

By Katherine Harvey Medieval 0 comments

John of Gaunt ‘died of putrefaction of his genitals and body’.

Bad for the Soul, Good for the Body: Religion, Medicine and Masturbation in the Middle Ages

By Katherine Harvey Medicine and the Body, Medieval 1 comment

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

By Katherine Harvey Medieval 7 comments

Medieval priests were not supposed to have sex, but medical theory suggested that celibacy could kill them.