"Castration in the Middleages"

[germar (imported)]

Susan Tuchel: Kastration im Mittelalter; Droste-Verlag, 1998, 357 pages.

This book is based on a doctor thesis. It starts with the subject of castration in the antic mythology and the political and juristic status of eunuchs in the Roman empire. The second chapter deals with castration as a punishment of the medival government and also with the laws for punishing somebody who castrated somebody else willingly or accidentally. The next chapter refers to castration in the church history and the canon law. The christian church has always condemned selfcastration, but at the same time claimed asceticism. In the spiritual literature of these times, castration was often feared as a punishment in hell mainly for sexual sins. On the other hand castration was often regarded as a "heavenly gift" by the monks suffering from sexual abstinence. A whole chapter is devoted to Abaelard, the castrated church intellectual and his poetry. In a symbolic way castration is a subject in the poetry of the Holy Grail. Both, the bad magician Klingsor and the wounded king Amfortas suffer from a not closer described defect of their virility. The book closes with the issue of castration in the medival popular poetry and plot stories. With her work, Tuchel gives an interesting insight in history, politics, culture, religion and literature regarding the subject of castration. A critical remark for the publisher: The large number of quotations in latin and ancient German should be translated for the reader and best be presented as footnotes.