Archaeological news about the Archaeology of Later Medieval Europe from the Archaeology in Europe web site

Sunday, 30 July 2017

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.

Read the rest of this article...

No comments:

Post a Comment