Prof. Catherine Rider says study revealed Medieval doctors 'saw fertility as variable throughout the reproductive years,' with a definite end date

A study by the University of Exeter of medieval medical texts found that fertility was considered to have a "cut-off point" instead of a gradual decline with age, with men thought to remain fertile longer than women.

The study, conducted by Dr. Catherine Rider, was published Dec. 22 in the Journal of Aging Studies, and could provide valuable insights into historical knowledge on fertility practices during that era, during which men were thought to remain fertile longer than women, and there was more flexibility in how men’s old age was defined: 60, or 70, or even 90, compared to a woman’s 45 to 50, according to the study.

“The Pantegni, the Viaticum, the Book of the Conditions of Women, and many other medical texts into the 17th and 18th centuries stressed the importance of regular menstruation for fertility, and included many remedies to bring on menstruation if it had ceased, as well as to reduce excessively heavy periods," Rider wrote in the study.

The study involved the examination of western European medical texts from the medieval era, which were utilized as reference books for teaching medicine at universities and were read by some ministers who sought interesting facts and anecdotes for their sermons. Rider and her team analyzed the texts to unravel the prevailing beliefs on fertility during the age, the study stated. 

"Age was therefore presented as one among many factors that affected humoral balance and menstruation, and so fertility," Rider added in the study. "They saw fertility as variable throughout the reproductive years, and potentially threatened by humoral or menstrual problems at any time, but only with the end of menstruation in women – or at a later age in men – did it definitively end."

Medieval medical writers held a belief that fertility ceased suddenly rather than declining gradually with age, a stark contrast to modern concepts of the "biological clock," which defines women's fertility as declining over time before menopause. Instead, reproductive aging was considered as a variable process dependent on a person's humours, with menopause marking the definitive end of fertility for women, and men experiencing it at a later and less defined stage of "old age."

The ancient texts considered male and female reproductive aging as parallel processes, and while Medieval writers acknowledged that fertility did come to an end, particularly for women, they did not view it with the same urgency that modern perspectives do. Rather, they perceived fertility as influenced by a person's humoral balance and menstrual cycles, implying that it could be potentially threatened by these factors at any time.

 Rider's research could help deepen our understanding of medieval medical beliefs, but it  also challenges modern assumptions about fertility and reproductive aging. It showcases the significance of considering historical perspectives while examining medical knowledge, opening new new avenues of study of the attitudes towards health and reproduction in historical periods.