No matter what time period of history you look at one thing remains constant:
humans love to have sex. The Middle Ages were no different. However,
sex during this time could cause all sorts of problems, especially concerning the church
and your eternal soul. But that didn’t stop people from having sex,
and whenever there is a lot of sex—and not a lot of medical knowledge—STDs run rampant.
We are going to look at some of the worst STDs of the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, the problems
don’t stop there. The treatments for the STDs were sometimes worse than the infections themselves.
Also, in the Middle Ages sexually transmitted diseases tended to be blamed solely on females;
they were after all where original sin came from according to the Christian church.
First it’s important to mention that sexually transmitted diseases have probably been around
since the beginning of human civilization. There are clay tablets, papyri, and paintings
from ancient times that depict discharge from the genitalia associated with STDs.
So, STDs are a part of human history. This isn’t surprising since humans tend to have a lot of sex,
which is an easy way for pathogens to get from one body to another.
During the Middle Ages physicians in both Europe and Arabic countries
kept records of different diseases of the genitalia. The naming conventions used back
then were different from today, so scientists have had to hypothesize
what the different STDs were based on the descriptions given in the past.
The Christian church promoted a lifestyle of abstinence in Europe, but just like today,
abstinence is never an effective form of sex education or preventing STDs.
Throughout history prostitution, communal baths, and wars were all responsible for allowing
sexually transmitted diseases to proliferate among humans. And the Middle Ages were no different.
What historians and scientists are able to discern from Medieval texts is fairly limited.
This is because it was taboo to discuss STDs,
or even sex itself, during this time. A lot of the information we have comes from clergy members,
as literacy among the common populace was rare. And as you can imagine,
the clergy were not very well versed in sexually transmitted diseases during the Middle Ages.
Most of the time STDs were seen as a moral issue rather than a medical one. They were
punishments for people who were living their lives outside of the teachings of Christ. Unfortunately,
those who were persecuted the most were females. This is again because all the evil in the world
could be traced back to Eve’s original sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge, or so the
Church believed. As we will see it was rarely a woman’s fault that STDs were being passed on. It
will make you sick to find out what some men were willing to do to rid themselves of their STDs.
Let’s start by identifying some of the most common STDs in the Middle Ages. Again, the names we have
for certain diseases today are not what the people of Medieval Europe called them. But
through descriptions and symptoms we have a pretty good idea what was afflicting people at the time.
There was one disease no one wanted to take responsibility for. It was considered a
“foreign disease” in almost every region of the world. For example in England, Germany,
and Italy it was called the “French Disease.” In France they called it the “Neopolitan
disease.” Russians said it was a disease from Poland, Turks said it was a Christian disease,
and so it went around Europe, Africa, and Asia. But what was this mysterious STD?
The disease itself can cover the body in sores. These sores are often painless,
which made the disease even more dangerous, because people didn’t think it was harmful.
However, as the disease progressed things got much, much, worse.
The skin could break out in rashes, and lesions could form in the mouth, vagina, or anus.
The disease could also cause fever, swollen lymph glands, hair loss, muscle aches, and fatigue.
But it was the final stage where things got really dangerous. If left untreated
the disease infiltrated different organ systems including the circulatory and nervous systems.
The mysterious STD could then cause paralysis,
blindness, and dementia. If the disease continued to progress it could eventually lead to death.
So, what was this terrible sexually transmitted disease in the Middle Ages?
The answer is syphilis.
Regardless of what it was called in the Middle Ages
syphilis was one of the most prevalent STDs of the era. It transcended social class and gender.
Obviously social class determined what kind of treatment you could get for the STD,
but none of them were effective at the time anyway since physicians had no idea how pathogens worked.
Syphilis was mostly spread through brothels and prostitutes
as the disease could be transmitted without the infected person knowing they had it. Also,
it was in these establishments that lots of pious Christians went to to engage in behavior that was
frowned upon. It may have been more beneficial for the churches of the Middle Ages to focus
their attention on medicine and science rather than on persecuting people for having sex.
Another sexually transmitted disease of the Middle Ages was the “burning sickness.”
The name itself sounds painful, and it most definitely was.
This STD is better known as gonorrhea today. Although the name “burning sickness” does
make a lot of sense because of the symptoms associated with this sexually transmitted disease.
The “burning sickness” was widely spread across Medieval Europe due to its high infection rate.
If it was found that a woman was carrying the disease, she could be kicked out of
the brothel she worked at. However, this rarely solved the problem or the spread of gonorrhea.
People who contracted the “burning sickness” felt a burning sensation while urinating—hence
the name. There was also a white, yellow, or green discharge from the penis or vagina, so
once someone had progressed to this stage of the disease, it was pretty obvious they had the STD.
Like with syphilis, the blame for the STD fell almost exclusively on women. And again like
syphilis, there was no cure during the Middle Ages for the “burning sickness.” Although,
unlike syphilis, gonorrhea was almost never deadly, only shameful and extremely uncomfortable.
Another disease that was spread through sex during the Middle Ages was not technically an STD.
However, it was associated with the carnal act by people of the time.
Leprosy was not uncommon during the Middle Ages, and the disease could easily be passed from one
person to the next during sex. The problem was that the bacteria could be transmitted
without someone showing any symptoms. With this disease, like all the others,
women were blamed for the spread of leprosy when it was transmitted sexually.
The term leprosy was actually used in the Middle Ages, however, it was kind of a catch-all term
for any disease that caused sores or lesions. So, if a doctor wasn’t sure what a disease actually
was, he recorded it as leprosy. What we do know is that the disease itself causes sores and swelling,
which can eventually lead to the destruction of nerves. This can cause paralysis,
shortening of toes and fingers due to reabsorption, blindness, and disfigurement.
You may be wondering what cures were available for STDs during the Middle Ages. Surprisingly,
going to a doctor could actually be worse for your health than the disease itself.
Most doctors of the time worked under what was known as humor theory. Basically the idea was
that everyone is composed of certain elements that must be in balance to be in good health.
Therefore, treatments weren’t necessarily developed to treat the STD itself,
but instead to rebalance the different elements of the body. As we know now
from modern science this is not, and never was, an effective way to treat illness.
Oftentimes mercury was given to a person with syphilis to help cure the STD. The patient
would rub the deadly poison right on the parts of the skin where sores and lesions developed.
This allowed the chemical to get into the bloodstream, and made them even more sick.
But the practice continued to be used even though its success rate was zero.
Another way to treat STDs in the Middle Ages was through leaching. This is when the body is
covered in leeches, which were thought to suck the disease out of the body. This obviously did
not work, but yet again, it continued to be a common practice throughout the Middle Ages.
For men there was an incredibly painful—and incredibly ineffective—treatment for STDs.
Doctors sometimes recommended hitting the genitals with a heavy object.
This would cause massive amounts of pain, and would not benefit the person with the STD at all.
Oftentimes the solution to an STD was to cover up the symptoms instead of treating the illness.
This was done for a couple of reasons. If you were a male, and were engaging in adulterous behavior,
you probably didn’t want your wife to find out you had an STD from frequenting a bath house or
brother. On the other hand, you definitely didn’t want the church to find out you had been engaging
in unlawful carnal affairs either, because then you ran the risk of your soul being sent straight
to hell. Or you’d have to pay a lot of money to a priest so they would absolve you of your sins.
Women who’s only means of income was working in brothels needed to cover up their infections so
they could continue to work. If given the choice between hiding an STD, or starving to death, the
choice was easy. The covering up of symptoms was done using dyes, animal fats, and even earthworms.
It was suggested by physicians that the genitals should be washed before
and after sex to prevent the transmission of diseases. These medical professionals
recommended the best substances to clean your private parts were vinegar and urine. These
substances were thought to purify the area, but really they just made them smell bad.
Surprisingly there were some preventative methods that may have worked in the Middle Ages. In the
1500s a man named Gabriele Fallopius developed a condom that could be used to prevent the spread
of certain STDs like syphilis. The condom was made from linen that was soaked in chemicals. Accounts
from the time say that out of the 1,100 men who used the primitive condoms, none contracted
syphilis. We can’t verify the validity of this experiment, or if a rigorous scientific method
was utilized, but the fact that there was a condom available during the Middle Ages is kind of neat.
Out of everything we’ve discussed about STDs from the Middle Ages so far there
is one practice that was worse than all others.
It is reasons like this why it’s so important to listen to science and medical professionals.
It was widely believed, and practiced, that to get rid of an STD a man should have sex with a virgin.
There is so much wrong with this idea that it’s difficult to choose where to begin.
It was though that since STDs were a punishment for doing something bad,
like having sex outside of your marriage, the cure for the disease might be the cleanliness
of a virgin. This meant men with syphilis, gonorrhea, or even leprosy sought out virgin
women to have sex with. The most messed up part was that these women were not given a choice,
and forced to have sex with the STD infected men. Let that sink in for a moment.
There were probably hundreds of different STDs spreading around the world during the
Middle Ages. The two main ones were most likely syphilis and gonorrhea.
Both of these STDs are preventable and treatable today thanks to advances in medicine and science.
Now watch “Why Life During The Dark Ages Sucked.” Or check out “Why Do We Actually Have Sex.”