• New User ISO Medical Info

Posted: **Mon Sep 30, 2002 7:22 pm**

Hullo, all!

Well, let's just get the facts out now, shall we? I'm a twentysomething author in search of information. I am currently working on a novel with a main character who has been eunuched, and I'm looking for any good books or websites for sources of information. My main trouble is that the details are a bit specific--the novel is set in the iffy Middle Ages (around 1300; "iffy" meaning that this is a work of fantasy, not specifically set in any real-life time or place), and there is next to no widely available source material regarding surgical procedures, treatment, or recovery for eunuchs in this time period. If anyone on this board knows any kind of information that might be useful, please contact me at my email address, and I'll give fill you in on the exact sort of information I'm looking for.

Many thanks in advance!

Studious

Posted: **Mon Sep 30, 2002 9:13 pm**

Studious (imported) wrote: Mon Sep 30, 2002 7:22 pm Hullo, all!

Well, let's just get the facts out now, shall we? I'm a twentysomething author in search of information. I am currently working on a novel with a main character who has been eunuched, and I'm looking for any good books or websites for sources of information. My main trouble is that the details are a bit specific--the novel is set in the iffy Middle Ages (around 1300; "iffy" meaning that this is a work of fantasy, not specifically set in any real-life time or place), and there is next to no widely available source material regarding surgical procedures, treatment, or recovery for eunuchs in this time period. If anyone on this board knows any kind of information that might be useful, please contact me at my email address, and I'll give fill you in on the exact sort of information I'm looking for.

Many thanks in advance!

Studious

Two good books about castration, with extensive notes and bibliographies for further research, are...

CASTRATION, by Gary Taylor and EUNUCHS AND CASTRATI by Piotr O. Scholz

Posted: **Tue Oct 01, 2002 4:12 pm**

There are a number of good books on medical history that treat the surgical techniques of the period you are interested in. I have found NONE that discusses castration, though it certainly was practiced at that time. The closest work that I could suggest would be the 6th century treatise by Paulus Aegineta, which you can find in a LARGE university library. The only translation that I have found is about a century old, though it does include the woodcuts of surgical instruments of the day. Aegineta describes both the circumstances resulting in castration and the various surgical techniques used. There were probably only minor changes (if any) in castration techniques by 1300.

I hope you plan to post information about where to find your story once it is published, if it is not on the Archive.

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