The Use of Birth Control in Early Modern Europe

by Antayzha Wiseman

This image is the inside cover and index of Lady Ayscough: Receipts of Physcik and Chirurgery, compiled in 1692 in London. The text reads “The Lady Ayscough Booke Anno Domini 1692”. This image was obtained from Wellcome Library, Shelfmark MS1026.

In early modern Europe, women were primarily seen as agents of reproduction and homemaking. As such, they were often pressured to produce children and be at the sexual subordination of their husbands, ministers, and more broadly the nation. The early modern period saw high infant mortality rates and decreased fertility lasting until around 1750, thus contributing to the sense of reproductive urgency amongst the public. Similarly, sex was seen only as an tool of reproduction and any participation in sexual acts for the purpose of pleasure was widely discouraged. These reproductive and sexual expectations, however, did not stop all women from seeking control of their own reproductive and sexual functions. Evidence from guidebooks, apothecary recipes, and other manuscripts of the time suggests that early modern women exercised reproductive and sexual agency. Much of this evidence indicates the usage of herbal and folk medicinal methods which may have been seen as superstitious in some places. Due to the taboo nature of fertility limitation and the unorthodoxy of birth control methods, much of the knowledge procured about the usage of abortifacients and contraceptives is scarce and highly disguised in existing literature. Nonetheless, early modern documentation indicates the widespread knowledge, existence, and usage of birth control methods despite its relative absence from literature of the time. Furthermore, I will depart from the claims of early modern scholars by asserting that birth control knowledge was indeed both well-known and accessible to all classes of women in early modern Europe.

Early modern methods of birth control could largely be divided into two main categories: abortifacients and contraceptives. There was no clear distinction made between these methods because definitions of pregnancy differed from those of today. The technologies of today identify pregnancy as the moment of conception while early modern women weren’t designated pregnant until they experienced quickening or those first moments of fetal activity. However, by modern scientific understandings, these two methods functioned in very different ways. Abortifacients were used to produce the expulsion of the embryo from the uterus when it had already been conceived. Contraceptives on the other hand would be used to stop conception from occurring in the first place. Some modern birth control measures were in practice during the early modern time period such as abstinence or coitus interruptus (also known as the pull out method). Methods of birth control often called upon the use of magic and folk medicinal practices such as bloodletting or the use of amulets and potions which were documented in records of the church court which deemed them acts of witchcraft or superstition. Another well documented form of birth control was the use of objects such as iron fillings, herbs, and spices, some of which acted as poison within the body. Documentation indicates that the administration of birth control was often done through the vaginal insertion or wearing of these objects before, during, or after sexual intercourse to protect against or terminate pregnancy.

Evidence of communal knowledge on the subject of birth control was often hidden or alluded to in guidebooks, advertisements, and household apothecary texts. The best examples of common place birth control knowledge were warnings about the abortive properties of commercial products. According to historian Caitlin Scott, “printed herbals and texts intended for midwives frequently counseled on things for pregnant women to avoid, indicating that mainstream advice may have been purposefully ignored or reversed in order to induce an abortion”. In his book The English Physitian, Culpeper advises women in the late stages of pregnancy against the use of Bay Leaves for pregnant women. The text called for the use of seven Bay Leaves to essentially induce labor in women that were past term or as he stated “in sore travel of Childbirth…”. Culpeper acknowledges the abortive properties of the plant in this book through his inclusion of the warning that the Bay Leaf should not be used “lest they procure Abortment, or cause Labor too soon”. Recipes that sought to prematurely induce labor doubled as guides for procuring the abortment of a pregnancy. Culpeper inclusion of this warning was also indicative of an awareness in the medical community of the ways in which these pieces of advice may be subverted to fit the needs of women seeking abortifacient knowledge. These statements and warnings are indicative of a common knowledge of birth control in the medical community of products and techniques which could terminate or prevent pregnancy.

In apothecary texts, abortifacients were often disguised as emmenagogues, which were remedies used to bring about menstruation. This practice of restoring menstruation was often referred to as “bringing down the flowers” and was seen as a popular topic in apothecaries. Presumably, describing abortifacients as emmenagogues would have been rather simple because pregnancy did often result in the cessation of the menstrual cycle albeit likely for a different purpose than intended. Furthermore, menstruation was seen as playing an integral role in reproduction, balance, and bodily health which made it a popular topic in apothecary literature of the time. Apothecary texts of the time dealt with the clearing of “obstructions or impurities” of the womb which could have been read as advice on how best to terminate an unwanted or illegitimate pregnancy. The stated purpose of these recipes for purging the womb often sought to restore fertility in barren women, however, when used by women who were already impregnated were used as abortifacients. One example of the prominence of abortifacients in apothecary literature was a recipe within the handwritten recipe book manuscript of a presumed member of the gentry by the name of Lady Ayscough. In Lady Ayscough: Receipts of Physcik and Chirurgery the recipe entitled “To cleanse the reines” called for the use of parsley, a known abortifacient herb, to provoke menstruation and clear obstructions of the womb. Recipes such as these are indicative of a more neutral attitude toward the purging of the womb as it was seen as being akin to cleansing which was thought to improve fertility. The rebranding of abortifacient knowledge in apothecary texts allowed for them to remain largely protected.

Medical literature such as guide books, cookbooks, and recipe books were likely the means through which literate women accessed birth control knowledge. Conversely, illiterate women relied heavily upon knowledge from other women as well as references to these practices in popular culture. These mentions of contraceptives and abortifacients in early modern plays and music were indicative of an awareness of the availability of birth control options. One example of these references could be found in the 1609 play entitled Epicene by Ben Johnson. This play featured a scene in which college aged women were engaging in conversations about recipes and one of them is prompted with the question: “‘and have you those excellent receipts, madam, to keep yourselves from bearing of children?”’. This simple question, alluding to contraceptives, was but one example of the acknowledgment of the existence and use of birth control in popular culture. Similarly, there were references to birth control in ballads of the time. In the 17th century ballad entitled “The Skillful Doctor of Glocestershire”, the story is told of a doctor and husband tricking his wife to accept his illegitimate child as their own by pretending to be pregnant himself. The doctor in the ballad prescribed a “physick” which would effectively remove the child. This reference to a physician prescribed abortifacient may have indicated a willingness of doctors to prescribe medications for the purpose of abortion. Furthermore, this reference signifies an acceptance of the practice when recommended by a doctor. References to birth control in early modern European popular culture served both in acknowledging and informing public opinion and knowledge of the subject amongst the public, both learned and not.

Through an examination of early modern recipes, guidebooks, and other vehicles of popular culture, it can be asserted that birth control knowledge was both accessible to and utilized by all classes of women in early modern Europe. Consequently, it is asserted by historians that the primary use of herbals was not for cooking but rather for procuring contraceptive cocktails within the household. Despite the scarcity associated with the vague nature of allusions to these practices in literature and entertainment of the time, historians have managed to collect an astounding amount of information indicating the existence of methods for limiting fertility and reproduction. Indeed, existing documentation indicates that abortifacients and contraceptives, acting alongside traditional birth control practices such as coitus interruptus, allowed early modern women to exercise control of their sexual and reproductive functions.

Endnotes:

Evans, “‘Gentle Purges Corrected with Hot Spices, Whether They Work or Not, Do Vehemently Provoke Venery.’” 4.
McTavish, “Reproduction and Regulation in Early Modern Europe.” 351.
Scott, “Birth Control and Conceptions of Pregnancy in Seventeenth-Century England.” 73.
Scott. 73.
Scott.74.
Scott. 83.
Crawford, Blood, Bodies and Families in Early Modern England. 71.
Crawford. 71.
Scott, “Birth Control and Conceptions of Pregnancy in Seventeenth-Century England.” 73.
Evans, “‘Gentle Purges Corrected with Hot Spices, Whether They Work or Not, Do Vehemently Provoke Venery.’” 1.
Evans. 1.
Scott, “Birth Control and Conceptions of Pregnancy in Seventeenth-Century England.” 73.
Culpeper, The English Physitian.
Culpeper
Scott, “Birth Control and Conceptions of Pregnancy in Seventeenth-Century England.” 77.
Evans, “‘Gentle Purges Corrected with Hot Spices, Whether They Work or Not, Do Vehemently Provoke Venery.’” 2.
Evans. 3.
Evans. 1.
Ayscough, Lady Ayscough: Receipts of Physcik and Chirurgery,.
Scott, “Birth Control and Conceptions of Pregnancy in Seventeenth-Century England.” 74.
Jonson, “Epicoene.”
The Skilful Doctor of Gloucestershire.
Scott, “Birth Control and Conceptions of Pregnancy in Seventeenth-Century England.” 76.
Scott, “Birth Control and Conceptions of Pregnancy in Seventeenth-Century England.” 76.

References

Ascough, Lady. Lady Ayscough: Receipts of Physcik and Chirurgery,. London, 1692.

Crawford, Patricia. Blood, Bodies and Families in Early Modern England. London, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group, 2004. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wfu/detail.action?docID=4045428.

Culpeper, Nicholas. The English Physitian, 1652.

Evans, Jennifer. “‘Gentle Purges Corrected with Hot Spices, Whether They Work or Not, Do Vehemently Provoke Venery’: Menstrual Provocation and Procreation in Early Modern England.” Social History of Medicine 25, no. February 2012 (n.d.): 2–19.

Jonson, Ben. “Epicoene: Or, The Silent Woman. A Comedy,” 1609.

McTavish, Lianne. “Reproduction and Regulation in Early Modern Europe.” In The Routledge History of Sex and the Body in the West, 1500 to the Present, 351–71, 2013. https://www.academia.edu/9922040/Reproduction_and_Regulation_in_Early_Modern_Europe.

Scott, Caitlin. “Birth Control and Conceptions of Pregnancy in Seventeenth-Century England.” Retrospectives 2, no. 1 (May 2013): 13.