Birth-Control-art - 5/23/09

"Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme: A Historical Examination of Birth Control Methods from the Medieval and Renaissance Periods" by THLady Maimuna al-Bukhariyya.

NOTE: See also the files: birth-control-msg, aphrodisiacs-msg, p-hygiene-msg, Sex-in-the-MA-art, p-medicine-msg, Scentd-Oils-W-art, p-herbals-msg, herbs-msg.

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NOTICE -

This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium. 

These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author or translator.

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

Thank you,
Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous
stefan at florilegium.org
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Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme:
A Historical Examination of Birth Control Methods from the Medieval and Renaissance Periods
by THLady Maimuna al-Bukhariyya

Kingdom of the Outlands' A&S
AS XLI
Letters – Research Papers

"Dear, when thou has finished thy task / Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme / Come to me, my hand for to ask / For thou then art a true love of mine." 
– "Scarborough Faire," anon.

Abstract

The purpose of this research paper is to identify and discuss various birth control methods utilized during the Medieval and Renaissance periods.  Birth control, by no means, is a modern invention.  Throughout time, birth control has been viewed as a female issue: the predominant male form of birth control is coitus interruptus, or the withdrawal method, whereas the female forms of birth control encompass pessaries, plugs, and potions (McLaren, 1990).  Throughout times, men and women have utilized herbal contraceptives, abortifacients, pessaries/suppositories, prophylactics, and magical potions to prevent or terminate pregnancies.

There is a decided disconnect between the moral writings (i.e., Holy Scriptures and medieval canons) of the period and the actions of the populace, similar to the disconnect found in the modern day.  Throughout the Bible, the common Scripture of the periods and geography that truly encompass the study of our Society for Creative Anachronism, men and women are reminded to remain chaste, both before and during marriage.  However, the documented use of contraceptives and abortifacients shows the actual cultural belief systems.

This research paper will not discuss the use of prostitutes or the common medieval sexual practices (either within or outside of the marriage).

Inspiration

The concept of this research paper was "birthed" from Internet research that revealed a museum display of a condom, made of a pig's intestine and dated back to 1640, in a museum in Austria.  This particular condom was, supposedly, re-usable and the additional disease prevention technique was to soak the condom in warm milk prior to use, per the original users' manual, written in Latin.  It is now known that lactic acid is a known contraceptive agent (Riddle, 1997).  Ten condoms, dated to 1646, were found in the garderobes (or latrines) at Dudley Castle, in Warwickshire, England, during an excavation in 1985.  Because of the standard sizes and fastening devices, it is surmised that condom manufacture, by the mid to late 1600s, was already a professional and specialized craft  (Hall and Silliman, eds., 2006).  Condoms were commonly made of sheepskin, snakeskin, animal intestines, or linen and the spermicide used was either vinegar or lemon juice or milk (lactic acid), which altered the pH levels in the woman's vagina (Himes, 1936; Bullough, 1976).

History of Birth Control Methods – General 

Methods of birth control typically are divided into two categories: contraceptive methods and abortifacient methods.  Contraceptive methods are methods used to prevent conception, whereas abortifacient methods are methods used to terminate a pregnancy.  Some herbal methods could be used as both a contraceptive and abortifacient.  Folkloric and magical rituals or practices were used primarily as contraceptive measures.  Research on the topic of contraceptives and abortifacients revealed that Medieval and Renaissance people were quite knowledgeable in the concepts of birth control, despite the prevailing religious and canonistic views against population control.

Historical examinations done by many authors and researchers, particularly Bullough (1976), of world religions during ancient times indicate that, on the scale of acceptance of sexual practices, early Christianity was the most negative and Hinduism was the most positive, with Islam and Buddhism in the scale as positive.  Early Christians, such as St. John Chyrsostom, St. Augustine, and St. Jerome, were opposed to the use of contraceptives and considered their use as being more egregious than committing homicide (Bullough and Brundage, 1994).  Western hostility to the use of contraceptives was founded in the fact that the use of contraceptives allowed partners to engage in sexual intercourse for pleasure, not for procreation (Bullough and Brundage, 1994).  By the Middle Ages, the use of contraceptives in marriage was more heinous than the use by unmarried partners (Lancaster and di Leonardo, eds., 1997).  Eventually, the word 'fornication' came to mean the engaging in any illicit sexual intercourse (Bullough and Brundage, 1994).

Another form of birth control, apart from the discussion in this historical examination, is the concept of child-spacing, where children are breastfed for at least two to three years, whereby inhibiting ovulation as long as suckling continued (Himes, 1936; McLaren, 1990).  Contraception was used to limit the number of children and ensure their health: hence it was used for spacing, not stopping, pregnancies, which is the opposite of the use of contraceptives in the modern day (McLaren, 1990).

In Pope John the XXI's The Treasury of Healthe, published in 1276, there were identified thirty-four aphrodisiac prescriptions, twenty-seven anaphrodisiac prescriptions, fifty-six prescriptions to ensure fertility, and twenty-six prescriptions to ensure contraception (McLaren, 1990).  Prior to that, ancient Grecian beliefs on birth control methods were maintained around an elaborate array of pessaries, vaginal plugs (using wool as a base), and gummy, astringent, acidic, or alkalinic substances (Himes, 1936).

By the sixteenth century, the knowledge of birth control methods had changed with the presence of syphilis.  Therefore, one prevailing theory is that some daughters were not told of herbal birth control methods (and effectively breaking an oral chain of knowledge that stretched back thousands of years) because of the fear of potentially fatal consequences (Riddle, 1992).

One will find that the list of herbal contraceptives and the list of abortifacients have the same herbs mentioned; because of the prevailing knowledge of pregnancy (women were not pregnant until they began to show), the lack of menses was not cause to assume that one was pregnant or not (McLaren, 1990; Riddle, 1992; Bullough and Brundage, 1996; Riddle, 1997).  Therefore, some herbs that modern-day people would call early-term abortifacients are listed on the herbal contraceptives list, because medieval and Renaissance women would have used the herb(s) to "draw down the menses, " (McLaren, 1990; Riddle, 1992; Bullough and Brundage, 1996; Riddle, 1997), or, in effect, bring on the menstrual cycle.

Various manuscripts and illuminations mentioning herbal remedies and medical procedures pertaining to contraceptive or abortive practices can be found in the following tabbed section, titled "Manuscripts and Illuminations."

History of Birth Control Methods – Herbal Contraceptives

Herbal contraceptives are herbs that, when taken, prevent conception.  Herbal contraceptives come in the form of a pessary, suppository, fresh or dried herbs, perforations, fumigations, or poultices.  Contraceptives were preferred to abortifacients, because utilization of abortions as a birth control method was more risky; abortions required assistance and/or instruction (McLaren, 1990).  Contraceptive methods, such as the formation of a pessary, could be taught by a mother to her daughter, requiring little outside assistance or instruction from a medical professional.  Research by Withers and Wilcox, eds. (2003), indicate that, overwhelmingly, pessaries were made of herbs wrapped in linen.  

When he wished to ravish me, he carried with him the herb wrapped in a linen cloth.  It was about an inch wide and long, or about the size of the first joint of my little finger with a long string that he put around my neck and it descended between my breasts.  He always placed it like this when he wanted to make love to me and it remained around my neck until he got up.  When he wanted to leave, he removed it from around my neck.  And if sometimes during the night, this priest wanted to know me carnally two or more times, he asked me, before uniting, where was this herb; I would grab it, finding it by the string that I had around my neck.  He would place it in his hand and place it in the opening of my abdomen, the string passing between my breasts.  In this way, he could unite with me and in no other way (as cited in Riddle, 1997).

What Béatrice, the "first-person" in the above quotation, is describing is an herbal pessary that was used to prevent pregnancy, rather effectively, if one believes her account.  Her lover (and the priest), Pierre, would not tell her the herb(s) used to constitute the pessary, for fear that she would use her knowledge to have sexual intercourse with other men.  It is rather certain that the item she is describing is a pessary, and not an amulet, because of the location of the item during coitus, in the opening of her abdomen, which are probably the court transcriber's words for the actual words that Béatrice used for the opening of her vagina (Riddle, 1997).  Pessaries, quite possibly, were first used as a quasi-magical intervention, being used to block the birth canal, but the repeated use of acacia gum, to bind the pessary together, indicates that the knowledge of the herb's power to prevent pregnancy was known (Riddle, 1997).

Many instructions or recipes for contraceptive methods have a certain ingredient or step omitted: the part of the plant (leaf, seed, bark, or fruit), the mode of application (as a drink, food-stuff, pessary, suppository, sponge, tampon, or cream/ointment), the amount of time the method should be used, and/or the amount of herb used (Riddle, 1992).  The efficacy of the herbs depended entirely on the time of harvest, the preparation, the dosage used, the duration of use, the frequency of use, the optimum time for use, the relation to coitus, the method of extraction, and the part of the herb (e.g., roots, berries, or leaves) (Riddle, 1992).  The implied default mode of application for many of the herbal contraceptives was oral (Riddle, 1992).  Much of the contraceptive knowledge of herbs and plants is oral tradition: mothers tell their daughters; therefore, it is less likely that the information must be written down.  As Bullough and Brundage (1996) report, "the difference between now and the Middle Ages is that during the Middle Ages most women knew the antifertility purposes for which these plants could be used."  As Tannahill (1980) indicates, "another method of population control that may … have been used during the latter part of the Paleolithic era was contraception…  Women were intimately acquainted with the properties of most of the plants that grew near their settlements, and primitive people who have survived into the modern world have been using contraceptive plant drugs since long before the Pill was ever heard of."  As Riddle (1992) discusses, "many of the antifertility plants fall into the category of pot herbs, the mints (e.g., pennyroyal, dittany, and sage) and rue, and were served in salads or placed on meats.  The woman's salad may have been her control over her own life and her family's life, which the men and non-childbearing women ate from the same bowl and saw it as simply a nourishing, tasty meal course.  If the salad was prepared correctly and eaten in the correct amounts, a woman would likely avoid pregnancy."  Many of the herbal birth control methods could be utilized with little or no knowledge by the husband or priest: the application of a suppository or pessary and the use of herbs in a salad or a tea are examples of clandestine birth control methods (Riddle, 1992).

Common herbal contraceptives used as a pessary or suppository or a douche include the use of animal matter (Himes, 1936; Bullough, 1976; McLaren, 1990), herbal matter and other plant-stuffs (Himes, 1936; Bullough, 1976; McLaren, 1990; Riddle, 1992), food-stuffs (Himes, 1936; Bullough, 1976; McLaren, 1990; Riddle, 1992), or metals (Himes, 1936; McLaren, 1990), and the wearing of amulets of various ilk (Himes, 1936).  A more complete list is provided in a table of contraceptive agents, below.

The scientific research of using animal dung and honey or acacia gum illustrates the fact that the dung tends to neutralize the acidity of the vagina, the honey decreases the motility of the sperm, and the acacia gum produces lactic acid, a known spermaticide (Himes, 1936; Bullough, 1976).  The success of pessaries or suppositories lies in that the substances were either resins, which blocked the mouth of the cervix, or spermicides, which altered the acidity or alkalinity of the vagina (Himes, 1936; Riddle, 1992).  

Common herbal/natural contraceptives are listed in the following table.  The numbers specified in each row equates to the times mentioned in each publication.

Contraceptive Agent	Himes, 1936	Bullough, 1976	Tannahill, 1980	Weed, 1986	McLaren, 1990	Riddle, 1992	Bullough and Brundage, 1996	Riddle, 1997	Friedman, 2001	
Absinthe/ wormwood	2				1	4				
Acacia, gum or tips	1	1	1		1					
Almonds								1		
Aloes	1					1		1		
Alum	1				1					
Alum, mixed with perfume	1									
Alum, mixed with wine					1					
Ammoniacum						1				
Anise						1				
Apple, seeds						1				
Artemisia						3	1	3		
Arum, root						2				
Asafetida						1				
Asarum								3		
Asparagus	1									
Asplenon	1					1				
Axe-weed					1					
Balsam						1				
Barrenwort	2									
Beets						1				
Betony						2		1		
Birthwort						8		3		
Black ivy, berries	1									
Blackberries						1				
Borage						1				
Brake, roots	2									
Brine and vinegar, mixed					1					
Brya	1									
Bryonia/ bryony	1				3					
Butter, clarified (ghi)			1							
Cabbage	1					4				
Calamint						3		2		
Camphor					1					
Caper						1				
Caraway, seeds							1			
Cardamom						1				
Carlina								1		
Cassia						1				
Castor						1				
Castoreum	1					1				
Cedar, gum or oil or rosin	3		1		2					
Celery							1			
Chalk, red			1							
Chamomile						1				
Chaste tree					1	3		1		
Chervil						1		1		
Chick pea						1				
Cinnamon						3		1		
Clove,  male	1									
Clymenus	1									
Colewort					1				1	
Colocynth	1					1		1		
Columbine					1					
Condrion	1							1		
Coriander								1		
Costmary						1				
Costus						1				
Cow parsnip	1									
Cretan thyme					1					
Cucumber						2				
Cumin						2	1			
Cumin, black						1				
Cyclamen						1				
Cyperus						1				
Cypress								2		
Cyrenaic juice/ sap	4					4				
Darnel	1									
Date palm seeds, pollen						1				
Dill	1							3		
Dittany						2		1		
Dung, crocodile	1	1	1		1					
Dung, elephant	3	1								
Edderwort					1					
Elderwort						1				
English balsam	1									
Epimedion	1									
Fennel						1	1			
Fennel, giant						1				
Fennel, Persian						1				
Fenugreek						1				
Fern						1		1		
Fern, roots	1									
Figs, dried, pulp	2									
Frankincense	1		1							
Galabanum						2				
Galingale								1		
Gallnut, ripe or unripe	2									
Gentian/ gentiana, roots or other source					1			1		
Geranium							1			
Gilly flower, seeds	1									
Ginger	1						1			
Gourds						1				
Granate, fresh, pulp	2									
Grape, juice, sour	1									
Greek cyclamen					1					
Gum	1									
Hartwort						1				
Haselwurtz							1			
Hedge-mustard, seeds	1									
Hedysarum	1									
Heliotrope, leaves	1				1					
Hellebore, white and/or black	1				1					
Hempseed	1									
Henbane	1				1					
Honey	10	1	3		3	3				
Illyrian iris						1				
Iris						1		1		
Iron, filings, rust, scoria, or slag	4				2					
Ivy	1					2				
Ivy, berries	1									
Juniper, berries						2	1	3		
Kermes, with vinegar	1							1		
Larch								1		
Laurel, oil or other source						2				
Lavender	1									
Lead	2		1							
Lead, white	1									
Leek, seeds						1				
Lentils						1				
Lettuce, whole or seeds					2	2				
Ligustrum						1				
Lily						1				
Linseed					1					
Love-in-a-mist								1		
Luffa						1				
Lupins, lupine					1	1				
Madder					1					
Mallow						1				
Marjoram	1					2				
Melons						2				
Mint	1									
Mother of thyme								1		
Mountain parsley								1		
Mulberry						1				
Mule's hoof	1									
Musk						1				
Mustard								1		
Myrrh	2				2	7		3		
Myrtle	1				2	1				
Nasturtium	1									
Natron	2		1							
Niter	1									
Nymphea	1									
Oleaster						1				
Olive, oil	2		1							
Opium poppy							1			
Opopanax fennel	1					5				
Orchids	1									
Ostracite	1									
Ox-gall	1									
Oxymel	1									
Palāśa tree, seeds			1							
Palm, leaf			1							
Parsley	2					1	1	2		
Pennyroyal, juice or other source				1		3		4		
Peony					1	1		1		
Pepper			1		1	1				
Pepper, white	3				2	6	1			
Peppermint, juice or other source	1				3	1				
Pine, bark	2									
Pitch	1									
Pomegranate, pulp, skins, seeds, peel, rind, pith, or other source	6					2		3		
Poplar, white	4				1	2				
Pteris	1									
Purslane	1					1				
Queen Anne's lace, seeds				1		2	1	1		
Reed						1				
Rennet, of hare, doe, mule, or stag	5				1					
Rhus coraria	1									
Rocket	1									
Rose, oil	2							1		
Rosemary								1		
Rue	5				5	9		2		
Saffron	1					1				
Sage						3		2		
Salt			1							
Salt peter					1					
Savin juniper	1					1				
Scammony	1					1				
Scincus, and honey	1									
Scoria	1									
Sea madder								1		
Sea water					1					
Shepherd's purse					1					
Sickle-wort	1									
Silphium								2		
Soapwort					1					
Solanum	1									
Southernwood						1		1		
Spearmint						1				
Sphondylium	1									
Spikenard						1				
Spleenwort, leaves	1									
Spurge laurel								1		
Squirting cucumber								1		
St. John's wort					1					
Stinking ferula						1				
Sweet basil					1					
Sweet flag						1				
Tamariscus	1							1		
Tansy							1	1		
Testicle, wolf	1									
Thelypteris	1									
Thyme	1					2		2		
Urine, ox					1					
Valerian						1				
Vervain					1					
Vinegar						1				
Vitex	1									
Wallflower, stock or seeds					2	2				
Whitewash	1									
Wild horehound								1		
Willow	3				2	5		2		
Wine	1				1					
Woodbine, root	1									
Wool, oiled or other method	2									

Other birth control methods include the application of herbs or oils on or in certain body parts (Bullough, 1976; Tannahill, 1980; McLaren, 1990; Riddle, 1992; Bullough and Brundage, 1994), the use of animal matter (Himes, 1936; Tannahill, 1980; McLaren, 1990; Riddle, 1992), herbal matter and other plant-stuffs (Himes, 1936; Bullough, 1976; Tannahill, 1980; McLaren, 1990; Riddle, 1992; Bullough and Brundage, 1994), food-stuffs (Himes, 1936; Tannahill, 1980; McLaren, 1990; Bullough, 1976; Riddle, 1992; Bullough and Brundage, 1994), or metals (Himes, 1936; Tannahill, 1980; McLaren, 1990), and the wearing of amulets of various ilk or performing certain actions, such as coitus interruptus, oral or anal sexual intercourse, or sexual relations with eunuchs (Himes, 1936; Bullough, 1976; Tannahill, 1980; McLaren, 1990; Riddle, 1992; Friedman, 2001).

The ancient Greeks employed birth control methods, such as douching with urine, inserting oils or ointments into the vagina, and coitus interruptus (Himes, 1936; Bullough, 1976; Tannahill, 1980; McLaren, 1990; Riddle, 1992).  Abortion and infanticide were also practiced, but usually because of a pregnancy through extramarital sexual intercourse (Himes, 1936; Bullough, 1976; Tannahill, 1980).  Ancient Greeks also recognized the safe period, when a woman could not become pregnant and urged citizens not wishing to procreate to engage in sexual intercourse during that time, identified as just before or just after menstruation (Bullough, 1976).  The fallacy with this belief is that a woman's fertile time is just prior to menstruation, combined with the fact that some women can become pregnant while experiencing menses.

Pregnancy testing, according to Tannahill (1980), was performed using seeds and using of urine and observing the subsequent presence of sprouting on various seeds.

History of Birth Control Methods – Abortifacients

Abortifacients are agents that, when taken, terminates a pregnancy.  In modern medicine, these are known as ecbolics, oxytocics, and emmenagogues (Riddle, 1992).  Abortifacients come in the form of a pessary, a suppository, or fresh or dried herbs.  In the 6th century AD, the aborting of a fetus was fined, according to the laws of the Salian Franks, 4000 denarii (Ant, ed., 1993).

Common herbal/natural abortifacients are listed in the following table.  The numbers specified in each row equates to the times mentioned in each publication.

Abortive Agent	Himes, 1936	Weed, 1986	McLaren, 1990	Riddle, 1992	Bullough and Brundage, 1996	Riddle, 1997	
Acorus				1			
Alexanders				1			
Almonds				1		1	
Aloe				1		1	
Ammoniacum				3			
Anise				2	1		
Artemisia, oil or other source				10	1	7	
Arum				2			
Asafetida				2		1	
Asarum				3		6	
Aster				1			
Barrenwort				2			
Batrachion			1				
Betony/ woundwort				5		1	
Bindweed				1			
Birthwort				7		10	
Bitter lupines				1			
Blackberries				3			
Borage				1			
Brake, root	1						
Bryonia/ bryony						1	
Bull feces				1		1	
Cabbage				3			
Calamint				3		5	
Caper spurge				1			
Caraway, seeds					1		
Cardamom				3			
Cassia				6			
Castor				1			
Castoreum				1			
Celadine						1	
Celery				2	2	2	
Century plant, greater and lesser				5		1	
Chalbane			1				
Chamedraeos				1			
Chamomile				5			
Chaste tree				3		2	
Chervil				1			
Chick pea				1			
Chicory				1			
Cinnamon				4		1	
Cocula sedita				1			
Colocynth				3		1	
Colubrine				1			
Condisi				1			
Coriander						2	
Costmary				1			
Costus				3			
Crocodilium				1			
Cumin				2	1		
Cyclamen				2			
Cyperus, oil				4			
Cypress						4	
Death carrot				2			
Dill				2		1	
Dittany				7		3	
Dodder				1			
Elecampane				1			
Ergot						1	
False dittany				1			
Fennel				1	1		
Fenugreek				1			
Fern				1			
Fern, male				1		1	
Ferula						1	
Feverfew				1			
Galbanum fennel				2			
Gentian				1		1	
Geranium					1		
Germander				1			
Giant fennel				3			
Ginger					1		
Great arum				1			
Great burdock				1			
Ground pine				2			
Hartwort				1			
Hasce				1			
Haselwurtz					1		
Hellebore, black				1			
Hellebore, white or black				4			
Hemlock				1		1	
Henbane				1			
Honey				2			
Horned poppy				1			
Hulwort				3			
Hyssop						1	
Illyrian iris				1			
Iris				4		1	
Italian catnip				2			
Jimson weed						1	
Juniper				2	1	5	
Juniper, common				1			
Laurel				2			
Lavender	1						
Lettuce						1	
Lichen				1			
Licorice						1	
Ligustrum				1			
Lily				1			
Lovage				2			
Love-in-a-mist				1			
Luffa				1			
Lupine				2		2	
Madder, common				1			
Mandrake				1		1	
Marjoram	1			3		2	
Mint				5		1	
Mother of thyme						1	
Musk				1			
Mustard				1			
Myrrh				14		3	
Myrtle				4			
Nard				1			
Nasturtium				1			
Nightshade						1	
Oleaster				1			
Onions, domestic and wild				1			
Opium poppy					1		
Opopanax fennel				8		1	
Parsley	1			3	1	5	
Pennyroyal		1		10		7	
Peony				1		4	
Pepper				4		1	
Pepper, white				1	1		
Persian fennel				1			
Peruvian (or Jesuit) bark				1			
Phillyrea				1			
Pimpernel						1	
Pomegranate, pulp or seeds						2	
Queen Anne's lace, seeds		1		5	1	3	
Radish				1			
Reed				2			
Rocket				1			
Rosemary						2	
Round-leaved birthwort						1	
Rue				12		5	
Saffron				1			
Sagapinium				1			
Sage				7		4	
Savin juniper				6			
Savory				2			
Scammony				3			
Serapinia				1			
Seseli				1			
Signel, seeds				2	1		
Silphium				2		1	
Sisymbrium				1			
Soapwort				1			
Southernwood				1			
Spearmint				1			
Spikenard				1			
Spurge						1	
Squill				1			
Squinantum				1			
Squirting cucumber				3		2	
St. John's wort				1			
Stone bugloss				1			
Stone parsley				2			
Storax, oil				2			
Sulfur				1			
Sulfur				1			
Tansy		1			1	2	
Thelupteris				1			
Thyme	1			5		3	
Valerian				2			
Violet, seeds				1			
Wallflower, stock or seeds				5			
Water germander				1			
Water mint				1			
Wild cucumber			1				
Wild thyme				1			
Willow				2		2	
Worm fern	1						
Wormwood				6			
Wormwood, oil				1			
Woundwort, annual				1			

Other abortion methods include the application of poultices or pessaries of various herbs (Riddle, 1992), drinking cold drinks of copper (Riddle, 1992), jumping vigorously so that the bottoms of the feet touch the cheeks of the buttocks (Himes, 1936), taking of daily warm baths (Riddle, 1992), and taking of herbs with either white lead (Riddle, 1992) or white wine (McLaren, 1990).

History of Birth Control Methods – Prophylactics

The documented history of the use of prophylactics is not as prolific as the documented use of herbal remedies and other birth control methods, such as coitus interruptus.  Condoms, as used in the late 1500s-1700s, were more valued for their prophylactic nature (preventing the spread of syphilis), not their contraceptive nature (Bullough, 1976).

Research (albeit not easily identifiable as scholarly) identifies that people throughout history have used some sort of prophylactic to prevent pregnancy (e.g., Minos, the czar of Crete, in 3000 BCE, the ancient Egyptians, in 1350-1200 BCE, ancient Roman legionnaires, the Pharaoh Tutankhamen, the ancient Chinese, and the ancient Japanese).  These prophylactics were primarily made of leather, animal intestines, or oiled silk paper.  The ancient Romans are credited with making condoms from the muscles of their fallen foes.  By the 17th century, Dr. Condom, a Colonel in the Royal Army of Charles II, made contraceptive caps of sheep intestines and by the 18th century, production lines began manufacturing condoms; the vulcanization process of rubber made it possible to produce condoms on a mass scale.  

Scholarly research reveals extant condoms from the 1600s, found in England and Sweden.  These extant condoms were made of animal intestine, shaped, and sewn, with a ribbon casing for fastening.  The common "natural" contraceptive agents were lactic acid (through the use of milk or the herb, acacia), lemon juice, or vinegar, all of which altered the pH level in the vagina, thereby, preventing pregnancy.  Gabriello Fallopio, in the late 1500s AD, invented a linen sheath, cut to shape and designed to fit over the glans or into the cervical canal: 

As often as a man has intercourse, he should (if possible) wash the genitals, or wipe them with a cloth; afterward he should use a small linen cloth made to fit the glans, and draw forward the prepuce over the glans; if he can do so, it is well to moisten it with saliva or with a lotion.  However, it does not matter; if you fear lest caries (syphilis) be produced (in the midst of) the canal, take the sheath of linen cloth and place it in the canal; I tried the experiment on eleven hundred men, and I call immortal God to witness that not one of them was infected (Fallopio, 1564, as cited in Bullough, 1976)

Fallopio divulged that the linen sheath that he invented was small enough "that it could be carried in the trouser pocket" (Himes, 1936).  At this point in time, the prophylactic invented by Fallopio was more valued for its disease prevention successes (against syphilis) than its pregnancy prevention successes.   Casanova, a 1700s AD lothario, used prophylactics to prevent infection and pregnancy.  His prophylactics were tested for efficacy by inflating them with air (Himes, 1936).  He also reported success with using lemons to detect venereal disease in his conquests: the small lemons (cut in half) were used to detect chancres or raw surfaces on the labia and then were used as cervical caps during sexual intercourse (Himes, 1936).  

History of Birth Control Methods – Magic and Magical Potions

Documented throughout the Middle and Renaissance Ages was the use of magic to prevent conception.  In the 6th century AD, the giving of a magic potion to prevent conception was fined, according to the laws of the Salian Franks, 2500 denarii (Ant, ed., 1993).

Common magical potions that were used to prevent or terminate a pregnancy include drinks of various herbs, the use of magical potions and amulets, talismans, and sterilizing potions or incantations (McLaren, 1990).  The Atharva Veda, a Hindu manuscript, contained harmful spells to make men impotent and women barren (Bullough, 1976).  According to Trotula of Salerno, in her text "The Diseases of Women," if a person wears around their neck or tastes a Galgates stone, conception will be prevented (Ant, ed., 1993).  Arnald of Villanova, in his treatise Brevarium practice (no foliation), discussed many birth control techniques that are more magical in nature, e.g., the wearing of an amulet or the burning of a mule's hoof over hot coals: the chapter's title is 'Things so that a woman may not conceive in order that she might be seen marriageable' (Riddle, 1992).   

Magical potions tended to include the number 'seven' or 'nine,' e.g., the number of successions or frequency of an action.  Abortive methods that Himes (1936) discusses in "Medical History of Contraception" involve spitting three times in the mouth of a frog or eating bees.  Other methods include jumping backwards a specified number of times or repeating an action for seven days in a row (Himes, 1936).  It was also believed that drinking a tea made of seeds of a fruitless tree would render the drinker sterile, in that barren begets barren (Himes, 1936).  

History of Birth Control Methods – Religious or Literary References

Documented throughout the Middle and Renaissance Ages were rules or commandments prohibiting various sexual vices, contraception, and abortion.  

In penitentials of the Early Middle Ages, the priest was instructed to ask confessors about herbs or other medicinal agents that were drunk so that antifertility was obtained; if the answer was in the affirmative, the penance was forty days (Bullough and Brundage, 1996).  Talmudic commandments prohibited male masturbation, but allowed women to use contraceptive methods (Himes, 1936; Bullough, 1976).  In 830 AD, from a French monastery, a canon law pertaining to the use of contraceptives was passed down: "If someone to satisfy his lust or to make deliberate hatred does something to a man or woman so that no children be borne of him or her, or gives them to drink, so that he cannot generate or she conceive, let it be held as homicide (Riddle, 1992).  Penitentials from the sixth to the ninth centuries indicate that sexually deviant behaviors required penances ranging from three to fifteen years (Tannahill, 1980).  English penitentials demanded the following from sinners: ten years' penance for coitus interruptus, fifteen years' penance for anal sexual intercourse, and lifelong penance for oral sexual intercourse (Friedman, 2001).  The term "member not granted for this" was used to indicate a sexual act not specifically performed with procreative intentions (Friedman, 2001).  Interestingly enough, aborting a fetus less than forty days in utero required a lighter penance than the required penance for contraceptive activities (Tannahill, 1980).  The seventh-century Cummean Penitential, which is Frankish in origin, discusses various homosexual acts, e.g., kissing, mutual masturbation, interfemoral connection, fellatio, and sodomy, and the related penance, respectively, special fasts, twenty to one hundred days' penance, two years' penance, four to seven years' penance, and seven years' penance (Tannahill, 1980).

Biblical accounts from Canaan indicate the use of oral birth control methods for cosmetic, not merely for family planning, reasons: "And they gave some of their wives to drink a potion of barrenness, in order that they might retain their figures and whereby their beautiful appearance might not fade" (based on Midrash Genesis Rabba 23:3, explaining Genesis 4:19-22; as cited in Riddle, 1997).

Birth control methods, in the Islamic world, could only be used with the woman's consent (Bullough, 1976).  Scholarly Qua'ranic research indicates that the Prophet Muhammed used birth control (Bullough, 1976).  Islamic religious law is fundamentally different than Christianity's religious practices or teachings in that the fetus is not considered a human being until "it has reached a distinct human form" (Himes, 1936).  

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, in Act IV, scene 5, Ophelia tells her brother, Laertes: "There's fennel for you, and columbines.  There's rue for you, and here's some for me.  We may call it herb-grace o'Sundays.  O! you wear your rue with a difference" (Wells and Taylor, eds., 1988).  Commentary by Riddle (1997) discussed the herbs mentioned in her short monologue: rue is seen, in Shakespearean times, as an herb of remorse.  But the Renaissance play-goers recognize that fennel, columbines, and rue are all herbal contraceptives and abortifacients.  When one reads this line with that knowledge, one could surmise that Ophelia took rue to prevent, or terminate, a pregnancy by Hamlet and that the use of the herbs might have made her go mad.  

Other Shakespearean references (Wells and Taylor, eds., 1988) to some of the herbal contraceptive or abortive methods mentioned in this research paper include the following: belladonna (Romeo and Juliet), blackberry (As You Like It), burdock (King Lear), chamomile (King Henry IV), columbine (Love's Labour's Lost), hemlock (Macbeth), herb of grace (also referred to as rue) (All's Well That Ends Well), honeysuckle (A Midsummer Night's Dream), hyssop (Othello), lavender (A Winter's Tale), lily (King John), marjoram (All's Well That Ends Well; A Winter's Tale), mint (A Winter's Tale), pomegranate (Romeo and Juliet), poppy (Othello), rosemary (Hamlet), rue (Richard II; Richard III), savory (A Winter's Tale), vetch (The Tempest), wild thyme (A Midsummer Night's Dream), and wormwood (also referred to as eisel or eysell) (A Midsummer Night's Dream; Hamlet; Sonnet CXI; Romeo and Juliet).  It is not clear that these herbs were used for contraceptive or abortive purposes, but this list indicates that these herbs were known by Renaissance play-goers, regardless of the purpose.

One will also recall the song, "Scarborough Faire."  There is no easy way to confirm the age of the lyrics, as the lyricist is anonymous and there are no dates of writing associated with the song.  However, the refrain, "parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme," combined with the lyrics of each verse (where the lover must perform seemingly impossible tasks) is indicative of, as the lyrics state, "love impos(ing) impossible tasks, … though not more than any heart asks" (anon, no date).  Recall that parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme are all members of the mint family and are documented contraceptive and abortifacient herbal methods.

Conclusion

Similar to birth control methods of the modern day, people of the Middle and Renaissance Ages had quite an arsenal of methods to prevent or terminate pregnancies, as well as prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, such as syphilis.  This research paper has presented herbal contraceptive methods, herbal abortifacient methods, and magical potions and methods, as well as presented information based in religion, law, and literature, to support the hypothesis that birth control and population control is not a modern-day invention.  Herbal contraceptives and abortifacients have been used for eons (the first documentation of herbal contraceptives was found in Petri or Kahun Papyrus from 1850 BCE, with the Ebers Papyrus and Berlin Papyrus in 1550 BCE and 1300 BCE, respectively [Himes, 1936; Riddle, 1992; Riddle, 1997]), and some of the herbs that were used in ancient times are similar or the same type that are used in modern day (Weed, 1986).  Also, theatrical works of the Renaissance identify herbs that have documented success in preventing or terminating pregnancy.  The historical examination of contraceptives and abortifacients does involve some extensive research, as the medical authors of the eras were not as forthcoming as one would hope.  Some piece of the contraceptive or abortive recipe is omitted, leaving the population to depend on guess-work, common-sense, or the oral chain of knowledge, passed from mother to daughter.

Works Cited:

Anon.  No Date.  "Scarborough Faire."  Retrieved on 1/26/07 from http://sglyrics.myrmid.com/scarborough.txt.

Ant, E., ed.  1993.  "Women's Lives in Medieval Europe: A Sourcebook."  New York, NY: Routledge.  ISBN: 0-415-90628-8.

Bullough, V.L.  1976.  "Sexual Variance in Society and History."  Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.  ISBN: 0-226-07994-5.

Bullough, V.L., and J. Brundage.  1994.  "Sexual Practices and the Medieval Church."  Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.  ISBN: 0-87975-268-8.

Ibid.  1996.  "Handbook of Medieval Sexuality."  New York, NY: Garland Publishing, Inc.  ISBN: 0-8153-3662-4.

Friedman, D.M.  2001.  "A Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis."  New York: The Free Press.  ISBN: 0-965-030394.

Hall, M., and S.W. Silliman, eds.  2006.  "Historical Archaeology."  Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.  ISBN: 1-4051-0751-0.

Himes, N.E.  1936.  "Medical History of Contraception."  Baltimore, MD: The Williams & Wilkins Company (rpt. 1963, New York, NY: Schoken Books).  LCN: 70-102799.

Lancaster, R., and M. di Leonardo, eds.  1997.  "The Gender/Sexuality Reader."  Oxford, England: Routledge.  ISBN: 0415910056.

Macrone, M.  1990.  "Brush Up Your Shakespeare!: An Infectious Tour Through the Most Famous and Quotable Words and Phrases from the Bard."  New York: Cader Company, Inc.  

McLaren, A.  1990.  "A History of Contraception from Antiquity to the Present Day."  Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers.  ISBN: 0-631-18729-4.

Riddle, J.M.  1992.  "Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance."  Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.  ISBN: 0-674-16876-3.

Ibid.  1997.  "Eve's Herbs: A History of Contraception and Abortion in the West."  Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.  ISBN: 0-674-27026-6.

Tannahill, R.  1980.  "Sex in History."  New York: Stein and Day.  ISBN:  0-8128-6115-9.

Weed, S.S.  1986.  "Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year."  Woodstock, NY: Ash Tree Publishing.  ISBN: 0-9614620-0-0.

Wells, S., and G. Taylor, eds.  1988.  "William Shakespeare: The Complete Works."  Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.  ISBN: 0-19-811747-7.

Withers, B., and J. Wilcox, eds.  2003.  "Naked Before God: Uncovering the Body in Anglo-Saxon England."  Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Press.  ISBN: 0-937058-68-8.
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Copyright 2009 by Kate Daniel. <thlmaimuna at gmail.com>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited.  Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the author is notified of the publication and if possible receives a copy.

If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

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