Medieval Studies on Sex

The Catholic Church had a tremendous influence in Medieval society. This did not mean that folks didn’t write about sex, however. These two figures from a 14th-century manuscript show a monk and a nun canoodling with each other. They weren’t supposed to be doing that, btw.

The writings about sex undertaken by Constantinus Africanus (died approximately 1098) were not as taboo, but were infamous enough that Geoffrey Chaucer referred to the author as “the wicked monk”. While Constantinus wrote a number of medical texts in the 11th century, he is most famous for his work _De Coitu_, _On Sexual Intercourse_. Africanus translated (and perhaps added to) De Coitu from a now-lost Arabic medical work by Ibn al-Jazzār, and it is the first medical text written soley about sex in Latin.

De Coitu focused on male sexuality, and argued that sex was a healthy part of God’s plan: “all animals are overcome with delight in intercourse — for if they disliked it, their race would surely perish”. In the text, Constantinus writes about when sex is healthy to have, how the sperm is generated and made fertile, and gives recipes to help with infertility and erectile disfunction.

And wowy, did he get his anatomy wrong. Referring to Ancient physicians (who were also very wrong), he thought sex involved liquid humors created by the brain, which filtered from the head down some veins behind the ears to the testicles (!).

For him, the liver brought the desire for sex, the heart allowed for the spirit of sex (erections), and the brain the material effluences (aka sperm). And sexual problems could develop in any one of these areas.

Here is an example of a nice little recipe he gives for male sexual health:

“An ointment made from ants: take large black ants, put them alive in the sun in a glass bottle. Pour elder-oil on them and hang them in the sun for several days. Filter. Anoint the testicles and the soles of the feet. This is very good.”