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

By Katherine Harvey Medieval

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

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

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