Sex:

Attitudes on sexual matters are not easy to reconstruct. Most writers deferred to religious authority in defining the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Church leaders stressed the importance of chastity and viewed sexuality as an impediment to spiritual growth. Virginity was seen as the ideal human state and an expectation of marriageable girls. Female public dress was help to the same high standard of modesty and included long, flowing clothes and head scarves; the epitome of chaste attire, of course, was the monastic habit. Sexual relation were sanctioned onle between married men and women for the purpose of producing children. Intercourse without the intention of conceiving a child was likened to prostitution. The church mandated that couples refrain from sexual contact on Saturdays, Sundays and during times of Lent. Women were considered impure while menstruating and for 40 days after giving birth; only in life-threatening circomstances could such a woman receive communion. Popular belief held that sexual intercourse during menstruation could produce deformed children.

Of course the reality of human behavior was another matter. Emperors and high court officials were widely known to keep concubines and mistresses, often within the palace itself. Unaccompanied virgins and nuns ran the risk of assault in the streets of Constantinople. Prostitution was prevelant among public entertainers and tavern workers, from the theaters and shops of the capital to remote roadhouses along state highways. Monasteries and churches were not immune from sexual tensions, and administrators went to great lengths to seperate the sexes and protect younger residents. Erotic epigrams, poems, and romances reflect amorous feelings of the period. Writing in sixth-century Constantinople, Peul the Silentiary urges, "Let us throw off these cloaks, my pretty one, and lie naked, knotted in each other's embrace. Let nothing be between us; even that thin tissue you wear seems thick to me as the wall of Babylon." Dream books were used to interpret the complex imagery of supressed longing. Aphrodisiacs, amulets, and magical spells were available to stimulate affection, maintain potency, and supress one's own desire as well as the unwanted advances of others. As with other medieval peoples, the greatest liberties were permitted at opposite social extremes, with sexual licence considered the perogative of elites and the affliction of the lower classes.

The discrepancy between public attitudes and private practice extended also to same-sex relations. These were expected to remain within the bounds of dispassionate friendship (philia). Homosexual relations had been widely tolerated in classical Greek and Roman society, primarily as a temporary association of an older man with a youth. From the beginning the church had strongly condemned such contact. Monastic regulations make clear the widespread suspicion of homosexuality among groups of cloistered men and women, especially when young adults or enuchs were present. Such liaisons ran counter to biblical tradition and posed serious distraction from the individual's spiritual quest. A medieval ceremony acknowledging ritual brotherhood (adelphopoiesis) provided an acceptable framework framework for cultivating close spiritual friendships between friends of the same sex.

Family Planning:

The state encouraged large families, and church leaders forbade almost all methods of preventing pregnancy, yet many parents felt the need to limit the number of children they raised for economic or health reasons. Classical doctors knew contraceptive methods that had long been practiced by women across the Mediterranean. Dioscorides and Galen mention plants that were helpful in preventing pregnancy. The most common of these were asafetida (assa), juniper, pennyroyal, squirting cucumber, and the wild carrot known as Queen Anne's lace. Most of these grew in the wild and could be readily gathered by knowledgeable peasants. Soranus of Ephesus recommends applying astringent, fatty oitments to close the womb before intercourse. Later autorities describe the contraceptive properties of different materials, including olive oil, honey, cedar resin, alum, balsam gum, and white lead. Wool plugs soaked in herbal and miniral preparations were used as vaginal sponges. The sap of the domestic cedar could be applied by men as a contraceptive. Less risky, if generally ineffective, folk measures included observing phases of the moon, the rhythm method, wearing protective amulets (Aetius of Amida recommends one containing a cat's liver), or holding one's breath during intercourse.

The uneven success of contraceptive techniques meant that some women needed to end their pregnancies by other means. Abortion was strongly condemned by leaders of church and state, who did not hesitate to compare it to murder. Official prohibition aside, the hasards of abortion seem to have been well knownand were chanced mainly when there were questions of legitimacy, particularly among unfaithful spouses, entertainers, and prostitutes. Medical writers describe several ways of inducing abortion, which ranged from soaking in hot baths, performing strenuous exercices, and placing a heavy weight on the abdomen to undergoing harrowing surgical procedures. Several authorities list herbal abortifacient that were effective through the third month of pregnancy. Most women may have lacked theoretical knowledge of such matters but knew where to turn in times of need.

The abandonnement of unwanted children was widely know in ancient society and coninued through the Middle Ages. Illegitimacy, health, and poverty were the main reasons for giving up an infant. In most cases the child was not deliberately exposed but left in a public place where he or she could be claimed by others. Inevitably the church came to play a significant role in caring for foundlings. Eastern bishops, emperors, and lay patrons established groups homes for infants (brephotropheia) and older children (orphanotropheia). Municipalasylums like the famous Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence were founded throughout Italy. Orphans who survived might eventually be taken in by foster parents, adopted by lay families, or remain in a monastic setting all their lives. Church leaders and emperors consistently comdemned parent abandonning their children, equating it with murder in legal terms. At the same time their well-meaning institutionalized philantropy may have encouraged the practice.

Childbirth:

Women were the chief facilitators of childbirth. Greek and Roman doctors received some obstetrical training but normally left delivery to the family and a neighborhood midwife. Competent midwifery had a long tradition in the classical world and was seen as a respectable profession for Roman and Byzantine women. Family members prepared for the occasion by providing the woman's bedroom with a supply of warm water, oil, ointments, aromatic herbs, and bandages. Delivery was supposed to take place while the mother lay on a hard bed or sat in a special birthing chair that speeded the process. The midwife helped by providing cervical massage, pressing on the abdomen, and encouraging deep, rythmical breathing. Immediately after birth the infant was washed with water mixed with salt or nitron and swaddled in clean linen cloths. The mother was left to rest on a mattress for a weeklong period of lying-in (locheia). Protective folk traditions, amulets, incense, icons, and prayers all had their place at the time of delivery, yet even routine childbirth presented risks. Comparative data suggest that without the benefits of modern hygiene, maternal mortality may have averaged two to three percent, with levels of neonatal death reaching five to eight percent. Both infant and mother were thought to be especially vulnerable for the first 40 days after childbirth, a period when physical and spiritual threats were believed to be at their peak.