Adam and Eve by Peter Paul Rubens
During this time in history a woman's period was considered to be a punishment from God for Eve's temptation in the Garden of Eden. In Leviticus in the Bible it states that a woman who has her menstruation is impure and unclean. As a result, the Church dictated that women were not allowed to take any form of pain killer during their period as they had to suffer the cramps and pain given to them by God. Despite this order from the Church, women of the time did use a variety of herbs to help relieve any pain they had associated with menstruation. These remedies were often passed down via word of mouth. The Church also dictated that women should refrain from taking the Holy Communion while they were menstruating.
There were also many wild and what we would consider nowadays to be quite ridiculous beliefs about menstrual blood. Some people of the age believed that a woman’s menstrual blood was dangerous, even poisonous and that it could do a man's penis harm. Some also believed that if a child was born from having sexual intercourse while a woman was menstruating then the child would be born with red hair and could even be deformed. These beliefs were not held by everyone of the time and did not always put people off having sexual intercourse. What happened within the home was often different than what the Church dictated!
Yet what did people understand of menstruation during the Tudor age? A woman's reproductive cycle and genitals were seen to be imperfect versions of the male sexual organs. A woman's sexual organs were turned inwards, inside of their body. A woman's internal body was considered to be cold and wet while a man's was dry and hot and thus a woman needed the dry hot seed of a man to balance her. This of course could only come from her husband as sex outside of marriage was strictly forbidden by the Church. A woman's monthly bleeding, otherwise known as “courses”, was believed to be the womb ridding itself of excess blood. If this did not happen the womb could become overrun with blood and could possibly drown the woman .While these ideas may seem quite preposterous nowadays one must keep in mind that we have hundreds of years of medical research and changing ideas of the roles of men and women that have educated us on all things to do with the female body. During the Tudor period, women were considered to be imperfect reflections of men and inferior to men.
The onset of menstruation for many young women during the age was considered to be the time in which a young girl transformed from a child into a woman. It is interesting to note that the age of consent for the time, approximately 12 – 14 years also coincided with the average onset of menstruation. Women who did not have regular periods or failed to have a period were considered to be too much like a man and there were several remedies used to help bring about a woman's period. These included hot baths, herbs placed up into the v*gina or drinking herbs such as rue which was believed to bring on a woman's monthly menstruation. Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife, suffered from irregular periods and this was believed to be due to her excessive fasting and religious dedication which affected her monthly cycles.
The age old question remains, how did women of the time cope with their monthly periods without the use of tampons or sanitary napkins? The most common form of sanitary item was the use of rags. These were pieces of cloth that were bundled together and placed between the legs up against the v*gina. These of course would soak up the blood and hopefully stop any unforseen stains. Another form was the use of cotton or wool instead of cloth rags. Depending on a person's status and access to material these rags may have had to have been washed and reused. Unfortunately there is little evidence to suggest how these rags or pieces of wool were held in place, although it has been suggested that women of the age wore some form of girdle or rough underwear.
Another note that should be pointed out is that one of the primary functions of a woman during the time was to bear children. If a woman was pregnant regularly this would have reduced the amount of times she menstruated. For example, Thomas Boleyn, father of Anne Boleyn, wrote that “When I married I had only £50 [nearly £25 00] a year to live on for me and my wife, as long as my father lived, and yet she brought me every year a child” (Weir 2011, p. 11). Being pregnant for nine months out of every year would have meant that Elizabeth Boleyn would have experienced only a few “courses” each year.
Although menstruation was a taboo subject during the Tudor age it was an everyday and very common occurrence. All girls of the time expected to get their period and as such it was believed when they did that they had come of age and that they had the capability to conceive. A woman's ability to conceive was vital to the furtherment of a family line and thus, although often not spoken about, the menstrual cycle was a very important part of Tudor society.
You can also see a Claire Chats video on Menstruation in Tudor times - click here.
Sarah Bryson is the author of Mary Boleyn: In a Nutshell. She is a researcher, writer and educator who has a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education with Honours and currently works with children with disabilities. Sarah is passionate about Tudor history and has a deep interest in Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn, the reign of Henry VIII and the people of his court. Visiting England in 2009 furthered her passion and when she returned home she started a website, queentohistory.com, and Facebook page about Tudor history. Sarah lives in Australia, enjoys reading, writing, Tudor costume enactment and wishes to return to England one day.
Notes and Sources
- Hindson, Bethan (2009) ‘Attitudes towards menstruation and menstrual blood in Elizabethan England’, Journal of Social History, http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Attitudes+towards+menstruation+and+menstrual+blood+in+Elizabethan...-a0209577950.
- Licence, Amy (2012) To Bring on the Flowers: Medieval Women Menstruating, viewed 16th April 2014 http://authorherstorianparent.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/to-bring-on-flowers-medieval-women.html.
- Medieval Lives: Birth, Marriage and Death 2013, BBC Scotland.
- Weir, Alison (2008) Henry VIII King and Court, Vintage Books, London.
Great article – very interesting.
Though I do note one biological inaccuracy which you mention with Elizabeth Boleyn’s annual child – in the understanding of post-child bleeding.
After childbirth, one bleeds for six weeks to cleanse the body of all the womb remains. This would be the period which Jane Austen referred to as “her confinement.”
Even after this “confinement” period, the body often doesn’t have another period for months depending on how long the woman breastfeeds for and other more genetic factors.
I know of women who, fully breastfeeding, were able to conceive only 8 weeks after the birth, but that’s pretty unusual. For myself, the time was between 9 months and even over a year of “courses-free” living, so it would have been quite common to become pregnant again, having never had another period.
the body doesn’t bleed for 6 weeks after childbirth! if it does a dr needs to be seen pretty damn quick!!!!
Lochia, post-partum bleeding, can last up to 6-8 weeks after childbirth and is completely normal. Mine lasted about six weeks. A doctor doesn’t need to be consulted unless it suddenly becomes heavy or changes in any way. I was warned by midwives in each of my pregnancies about it lasting that long. It can be as short as three weeks.
Six weeks is excessive. I have had five pregnancies that resulted in five beautiful huge and healthy children (all over 9lbs each) they are ages 8 to 18 currently today. I never bled for longer than 2 and 1/2 to 3 weeks with each of my children nor did either of my sisters with the eight children between the two of them. 6 weeks is the standard time they tell you not to engage in sexual intercourse again and to wait but bleeding that long may happen to some but is not the norm.
I’m happy for you, but please stop telling others that only your experience is “normal” and what we know is “excessive”. Your anecdote doesn’t invalidate our medically supervised experience, it just shows we have different experiences.
This was a fantastic read! I often discuss such issues with my world and American history classes. Hopefully we can use your article this coming semester.
It is a very nice article thank you 🙂
The beliefs about menstural periods during the Tudor Era is all considered superstition and the church in those day were hypocritical just because they believed a woman should suffer pain during their menstural period is insane. Today I am glad that people are more open about the monthly menstural period that could discussed about occasionally. Of course today times have changed since the 1400’s through early 1900’s ERA. There are so many conditions relating to women’s health in our time that all women have to be aware of.
Yes, I’m so glad that we can discuss menstruation openly today and that women’s health is taken seriously, but sometimes I do wonder if we have moved on all that much with things like the tampon tax still affecting women in some countries and genital mutilation in others.
Are you sure it is courses and not curse? In Victorian times it was called the curse. Having trouble locating info on this.
Hi Kate,
There are lots of names for menstruation and some women refer to them as their monthly courses. The Free Dictionary (online), citing the Collins English Dictionary: “courses (ˈkɔːsɪz)
pl n (Physiology) (sometimes singular) physiol another word for menses.”
Monthly CURSE is a modern play on words for “courses” which they have been called for over 500 years, in English. They did, however, believe in Tudor time that menstruation was actually a curse in a way; Residual punishment from Eve’s choice to defy God and tempt Adam. So therefore, the play on words hold a sarcastic meaning as well today especially for atheists. You’re not finding info on that because it was not called curse, even during Queen Victoria’s reign, until very recently. The v*gina monologues made this “play on words” you’re thinking of, especially in America, in 1996 when it was written and the play debuted. It was first joked about the “curse of women” not necessarily meaning menstruation, but that being a woman with female sex organs was a curse in and of itself in relation to the sexual violence women endure, by the playwright of The v*gina monologues.
May I ask a question? Was it permitted to attend church during one’s menstrual period?
Yes, women could attend church during their period.
I’m curious (having done a very brief search and not having found any obvious answer), do we know how woman of the age dealt with the menstrual blood that caught/lingered on the pubic hair? I read someone suggesting that Tudor era women might have ‘burned’ excess hair off…although that seems risky. Did all women shave? It just seems that a perfunctory wipe might be potentially insufficient, at least if a good christian woman and hubby are going to be intimate again, given how ‘bad/evil’ menstrual blood was presumed to be. Or was there more time for general hygiene and washing than I presume.
I’m sure they would have washed it as we do today. It’s a myth that Tudor people were dirty and smelly, personal hygiene was important, they just didn’t have full baths that often as you needed a lot of water and it was a real hassle to fill a bath. We know from books of the time that they used soap and washing bowls, they polished their skin with linen cloths and used fine-toothed combs to remove oil and dirt from their hair.
A woman wouldn’t have had sexual relations during her period anyway.
People washed then, as they have always done and animals do. They had exactly as much time in the day then as we do now today. Maybe even found more time to dedicate to hygiene than people today do with modern schedules today. Bidets in some form have always been the standard in wiping after #1 or #2 for the entirety of human history before toilet paper was invented and widely accepted for use. Wash basins and bidets are still used today in 2/3 of the world accommodating 7.9 billion humans, every time someone goes potty. They were much cleaner downstairs than people think. I myself, during covid-19 toilet paper shortages over two years ago, switched to a portable bidet and washing everytime and not only never went back to toilet paper but have gotten my entire family switched because it “feels better and cleaner” as well as more natural – because it is. Bacterias, viruses, infections, yeast infections, STDs and cancers seem to be more widespread today with the use to toilet paper and improper use of when wiping. Did you know 97% of people who use toilet paper today don’t wipe correctly? That’s especially a problem and very unsanitary with #2 for females because you smear fecal matter into your v*ginal area where it sits and toilet papers themselves are transferring micro particles down there with use that are equally as toxic as powders can be to female sex organs internal and external. I have always had natural hair and never had a problem with anything getting stuck to it or lingering. I always used a wet cloth rag I wash everytime, during my period with soap, to ensure I was super clean between daily showers if that happened. I would say poop stains are more of a thing than natural pubic hair being dirty. It’s all chalked up to not being taught correctly how to clean and wipe the proper way whichever way you choose to.
you know, and since there were blind people then, how the blind knew if they were Clean or not after a BM.
This was incredibly fascinating to read and I’m so thankful that an article out there like this exists! I’ve always been so gravitated to learning about this topic (how women during the early times dealt with their periods and how society perceived it) and this article was really enlightening and informative. I’m definitely going to keep reading more about this and educating myself; with that being said, do you know any books that might talk about this topic more substantially and more in-depth? I’ve been trying to look for some, but I haven’t really found one (perhaps I just have to spend more time searching) that specifically talks about women’s menstruation especially during the Tudor period. Thank you in advance!
What about the different attitudes about menstruation in religions. I read that the Jewish faith, the women are expected to fully immerse in a special bath before they are allowed near there husband again. Why is this?
The bath is to purify themselves again. I think it is described in the book of the Bible 2 Samuel chapter 11 where a woman is bathing and the king at the time, David, sees her and sleeps with her.
This is an ancient spiritual sensibility — applicable to both men and women – that we moderns do not completely understand. After bodily emissions people would immerse themselves in a body of water that collected in a natural way — either a river, or the ocean, or nowadays into a specially. constructed underground pool called a mikveh that has contact with rainwater. Women immersing after their periods is the only obligatory immersion today, but many men choose to immerse themselves each week before the sabbath.
I do have a question, and I am thinking my answer is No, but I’m uncertain. If a woman was invited to a ball, party etc.. Yet, she was having her period, could she attend the party? I just keep picturing possible blood showing through her skirts no matter how layered they were. Thank you so much!
I’m very late in reading your article, but would like to congratulate you on a right scholarly piece of work. Another possibility in the church and its predecessors for suppressing the mention of menstruation, would, perhaps unknowingly, be the suppression of ancient matriarchal religions. The fact that menstruating women were unclean or unholy, could be associated with the ancient moon goddess and the uncanny similarity in length of the female cycle to the old common law months of 28 days, still active in rural England up to the 18th century. Of course the church would have done everything to erase any pagan associations. Graves remarked that any dietary proscribed beast can be associated with matriarchal religious rites. E.g. Shellfish-Aphrodite, pigs-Isis etc.
Considering the ban on sexual relations for all church holy days and any position other than missionary, I’m surprised anyone “fell pregnant”.