Medicine Goes Dark
This is supposed to be a post about the obstetrics of the dark ages.
But–nothing happened in European medicine for about 600 years.
Nothing. Nada. I’ve been through at least ten histories of obstetrics, and there’s just a sort of blank space.
Some of the works of the ancient period did survive–locked away in monasteries and abbeys. The average local doctor was working primarily on the collective knowledge of the day.
Women’s health was relegated to a back burner, as the learned men immersed themselves in their Good Book. So women resorted to helping themselves. Midwives became the local healers, not just of women, but children, men, and sometimes animals.
Itinerant “faith healers” were generally held in higher esteem. MUCH higher esteem.
While contraception in Roman times was damn near reliable, the knowledge was lost as Church bans against contraception of any sort were tightened. Women spent their lives having child after child, whittling away at their own health with each pregnancy, or dying in childbirth. Many women chose the nunnery as a way out of the cycle.
And then, in the 11th century, something nearly miraculous happened. The Pope decided he wanted the Holy Land back.
Sudden contact with the Islamic world, where science and medicine had been prized, changed everything. Islamic medicine was heavily Galenic, but it at least hadn’t gone backwards. Ancient texts were in abundance, having been carefully transcribed for centuries.
Things just started following Crusaders home.
People began to realize that, MAYBE, reading and books and medicine wasn’t so bad. Texts suddenly started following crusaders home. The concept of institutions which tend to sick folks followed them home. Galen and Soranus followed them home.
Not everything they brought home was a grand idea, however.
One of the things that it appears was brought home from the Islamic world was, wait for it:
The chastity belt.
Yes, those lovely testaments to misogyny, the chastity belts, may have followed the Crusaders home from the first crusades in the eleventh century.
Modern historians tend to pooh-pooh the whole issue. Many claim that no one ACTUALLY ever wore one. Some say the chastity belt wasn’t invented until the fifteenth century.
And yet–every little museum in Europe has one. Which means there are a lot of them, still around. Which means that, maybe, just maybe, there were women who were actually locked into them.
Who knows? No doubt the reigning powers of the era considered what happened between a knight and his lady to be subrosa. Are we surprised that there are no extant references to these contraptions before the fifteenth century?
Regardless, the winds of change began to sweep through Europe. The sun began to peek out through the darkness.
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9 Comments
Stephanie Barr
Friday, 23rd October 2009 at 11:21 am
*Sigh* What does it say about ancient Christianity that some useful ob/gyn info travelled back from the Muslims? Ack.
Surely one could look at Islamic historical data and see if chastity belts existed before the 15th century, if so (I bet they were), mystery solved.
Of course, nasty things like chastity belts weren’t the only inhumane items from the Muslims (not that Europe was short on horrible devices and practices of their own). I find people like Vlaad the Impaler ironic since he learned so much nastiness from the Turks and yet used it so ruthlessly even they were taken aback.
[Reply]
Wendy
Saturday, 24th October 2009 at 9:42 pm
It just occurred to me that you might really enjoy reading The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory, if you like historical fiction.
I know, she writes girly books & all that – but this one is unlike many of her other books, and it is so, so good. It's Katherine of Aragon, who can't provide her husband an heir as you know (he was some famous king you might have heard about before LOL). A lot of the book focuses on how she was longing for the knowledge the Moorish midwives had, the knowledge her own parents (Isabel & Ferdinand) had wiped out – and how ignorant the doctors in England were, etc. That was the most interesting part of the book, I thought, where she realizes what was lost to simple intolerance & how much it will cost her – and how she brings it full circle in her own life. Well, in the book anyway – I haven't looked it up to see if one particular event is historically accurate.
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TheMother Replies:
October 24th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
I know that folks who read Philippa Gregory really enjoy the books.
I just can't read them. She takes so many liberties with the history that I just can't.
[Reply]
Wendy Replies:
October 26th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
I don't mind it, but I've never been a purist about fiction. I took three college classes in British history & have been there a few times – so I can usually pick out the inaccuracies – or look them up. Reading historical fiction has inspired me to learn more about things I didn't know much about or hadn't ever heard of, and I love comparing the story to the actual history. I do really appreciate an author who can weave the story without fooling around with the history.
But what does history matter if it is getting in the way of the plot? LOL Take it apart, ruin it, make it beg for mercy, all in the name of a good story and great characters. Okay, not really.
I know a lot of people were totally freaked about liberties she took with "The Other Boleyn Sister" or whatever that one was called. The movie only bears a slight resemblance to the book, and it bears almost no resemblance to actual history at all. The liberties taken in the book were minor, I thought – such as birth order of the sisters. I didn't see where it added to the plot particularly, but I didn't care that she switched them. She still brought to life the mindset of the times, what women were worth – how little they were worth except as baby (boy) breeders if they were royals, how much more potential their lives actually had for happiness if they weren't part of the court. I really like how she doesn't glorify the royalty or write as if they were the only people who existed.
At any rate, I've read several of her books & none of them holds a candle to The Constant Princess. It stands out in my mind. I thought she wove the histories of two countries together so brilliantly – and highlighted how much damage was done to society by Spain's most famous historical monarchs. It's a part of that history that is largely ignored.
I'm happy to have a few liberties taken with historical details in exchange for seeing what I've read in dull history books come to life in fiction, or casts light on history in a different way than I've thought of before. I only mind it if the story is bad & the liberties taken were pointless. LOL
[Reply]
TheMother Replies:
October 26th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
However, everything history tells us about Catherine of Aragon is that she was an incredibly pious Catholic, who probably totally approved of everything her parents did to rid themselves of those horrid infidels. So the idea that she suddenly has an epiphany when her hubby's syphilis ended her procreative days is a bit of a stretch. It would have been nice to think, but I just can't get there.
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Lawyer Mom
Sunday, 25th October 2009 at 1:24 am
test comment — sorry to use your venue — computer is giving me fits
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sara
Sunday, 25th October 2009 at 8:05 pm
Pretty interesting stuff. In fact, the comments were pretty good too. I enjoyed reading through it all.
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frogmama
Monday, 26th October 2009 at 1:37 am
Some nights I think fondly about a chastity belt. Most often it's the nights I have a headache.
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Dr. Dad
Monday, 26th October 2009 at 9:36 pm
I gather this was a different nunnery than referenced by Shakespeare!
As regards to chastity belts, from what I've heard, the locksmith was in high demand.
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