Katherine Harvey’s illuminating novel The Fires of Lust: Sex in the Middle Ages offers a peek into the sexual beliefs and bedrooms of ordinary medieval men and women living in western Europe. Erections were believed to be the result of a “windy spirit,” meaning those suffering with impotence were advised to eat foods which caused wind and bloating like chickpeas. Too much sex was said to be very dangerous because it could cause the body to dry out, leading to hair loss, heart and lung problems, and kidney failure.  

German Dominican friar Albertus Magnus recounted the story of one unfortunate monk who died because he lusted over a woman so much his “brain had shrunk to the size of a pomegranate, and his eyes had been destroyed.” Medieval doctors believed, however, that there was a connection between sexual pleasure and reproduction: it was thought that both men and women had to have an orgasm simultaneously for conception to occur. With this in mind, foreplay was encouraged by medieval doctors—with some even suggesting men apply chewed peppers to his penis to cause his wife “incredible delectation.”

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Check out more about the history of sex in the middle ages: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10268783/The-raunchy-history-sex-Middle-Ages-revealed-new-book.html