Klaus van Eickels

Sterility in Medieval Noblemen

The social competence of the medieval nobleman was closely associated with his male sense of honour. One essential aspect of his masculinity was the ability to produce progeny. The childlessness of a good ruler needed special justification, the childlessness of a bad ruler was seen as God’s punishment. In terms of canon law, the inability to procreate was irrelevant as long as the marriage could be consummated. Considering the importance of the procreative capacity and its symbolic significance one must ask to what extent it was possible to ascertain sterility in the Middle Ages. In the case of noblemen one can assume that they could obtain certainty about their fertility through their premarital and extramarital intercourse. This might explain why some rulers and nobles accepted a childless marriage without deeming it necessary to take another wife (or plan their itinerary in a way that enabled them to produce progeny).

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