Who do you think was the first woman to write a description of the female orgasm? A literary figure like Virginia Woolf? A medical practitioner like Elizabeth Blackwell?
In the western canon at least, the earliest surviving description is actually by a medieval nun called Hildegard of Bingen. Alongside her theology, music, and morality play, she also wrote medical works. In these she wrote a lot about reproduction, both the role that the four humours played (see my blog about medieval herb gardens for more on medicine) and the impact of Adam and Eve’s Fall.
Without further ado, here is her description of the female orgasm:
When a woman is joined to a man, the heat of her brain, which has delectation in it, first announces the perception of delight in that joining, and the pouring forth of seed. After the seed has fallen into its place, that heat attracts and holds it. Soon the woman’s sexual organs contract; all the organs, prepared for opening at the menstrual period, are now closed; like a strong man enclosing something in his hand.
Hildegard of Bingen, Causae et curae (c.1152-1158)
You might be thinking, how on earth did she know this? There’s a few explanations.
- Inherited knowledge. A lot of medieval writings on what we consider science were compendiums of existing knowledge, so she may have read this information elsewhere. However, there aren’t many earlier descriptions of the female orgasm and we don’t know that she had access to any medical writings, only religious ones.
- Her work as a medical practitioner. Part of the duty of Benedictines (the monastic order Hildegard was part of) was to provide medical care for their local community. Hildegard’s nuns would have offered reproductive care to local women. As she was compiling her medical works, it seems likely she would have asked women about their experiences she she could provide a manual for future care.
- Lesbian nuns. We do know that Hildegard had a very close relationship with another nun called Richardis. When Richardis left Hildegard’s convent, Hildegard wrote to Richardis’ mother, brother (a powerful archbishop), and even the POPE to try and get her to come back. Sadly, Richardis died shortly after and Hildegard wrote a heart-breaking letter mourning her loss. However, as Hildegard was so devout it seems very unlikely she would have engaged in sexual practice.
Further reading:
Podcast: Hildegard of Bingen, In Our Time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxMxRnb1N-M
Hildegard’s letter to Richardis’ brother Archbishop Bremen, Medieval Hollywood: https://medievalhollywood.ace.fordham.edu/items/show/108
Joseph L Baird (ed.), Personal Correspondence of Hildegard of Bingen (2006)
Kittredge Cherry, “Hildegard of Bingen and Richardis: Medieval mystic and the woman she loved”, QSpirit: https://qspirit.net/hildegard-bingen-richardis/
Sabina Flanagan, Hildegard of Bingen: A Visionary Life (1998)
Fiona Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen: The Woman of Her Age (2013)
Barbara Newman, Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard’s Theology of the Feminine (1989)
Michelle M. Sauer, Gender in Medieval Culture (2015)
If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting my work by tipping me on ko-fi. Thank you!
Medieval Lauren 