Medieval men were diagnosed with infertility and prescribed treatments

Some medieval medical books had unusual advice to help improve men’s fertility. 

Credit: University of Exeter

Men could be held responsible for the failure to produce children as far back as medieval times, a new study of medical and religious texts has shown.

The analysis of popular medical and religious books by the University of Exeter shows that from the 13th century, widely-circulated medical texts recognised the possibility of male infertility, including sterility and 'unsuitable seed'.

A urine test to determine if a husband or a wife was to blame for the absence of children in a marriage was even devised, and medical recipes drawn up as a treatment for men.

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Copper-covered baby-&-adult mummies unearthed in Russia’s Far North

A perfectly-preserved mummy of an adult bound in copper plates from head to toe has been dug up in Russia’s Far North, alongside the mummy of a “tiny” baby. The discoveries could shed unique light on medieval burial and medical practices.

The remains were found near Zeleny Yar archeological site in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, which was discovered in 1997, and has since been the source of dozens of rare finds.

The two preserved mummies were wrapped in birch bark and thick fabric. The adult, of a height of about 170cm (5ft 6in), was covered in copper plates from head to toe, while the baby, under a year old at the time of death, was “sprinkled” with small fragments of a copper cauldron, said Gusev.

The mummies have been sent to the Institute of the Development of the North, in Tyumen, 500km south from Zeleny Yar.

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