Reproductive Functions of Women, Pregnancy, and Childbirth in the Polish Natural History Literature of the 16th Century

Abstract

Polish Humanism flourished through most of the 16th century. That was a time of cultural, religious, and scientific revolution. New ideas spread rapidly in various fields of knowledge, including medicine. According to the beliefs of the era, diseases were treatable, and medicine was seen as a path to healing. Particular attention was now paid to women’s health. European cities began to employ midwives, alongside physicians, on a permanent basis. In the gamut of scientific and popular literature, botanical and medical treatises held a special place. In the 16th century, Polish-language herbals (initially compilations and/or translations) became popular in Poland. The first known original Polish herbal was a treatise by Marcin from Urzędów. Literature of this type was a Renaissance phenomenon, read most avidly by townsfolk. The humoral theory stayed in vogue and served as the foundation of almost every medical treatise. It was predominantly herbals that discussed women’s health at length. However, women were still regarded as inferior beings. In botanical and medical literature, the subject of women’s health was usually reduced to the reproductive functions. Diseases of genitals, successful pregnancies and miscarriages, childbirth, and infertility were addressed. Women were often blamed for the latter. To improve women’s reproductive health were recommended both various herbal remedies and suppositories, compresses, steam baths, thermal waters. Many recipes passed from one herbal to another. The extant sources are inconclusive on two important questions: 1) how often the advice given in the herbals was put to actual use; 2) if so, how effective it was. Whatever the answers are, this type of literature enjoyed great popularity among various social groups, including burghers.