| | | Chastity Belt (with lock) | Chastity Belt replica
collectible. Probably
the most infamous
form of
contraception, the
Chastity Belt proved
to be a crude but
effective means for
medieval knights,
nobles and gentry to
ensure the fidelity
of their wives and
daughters. These
cumbersome devices
were sometimes used
willingly by women
who sought a means
for protection
against rape in times
of war or during
perilous journeys.
Chastity belts are
surrounded by myths
and folklore, the
most common of which
is that they were
first used by
crusading knights on
their wives. Their
actual use, however,
is likely to have
been quite limited;
the crude
metalworking of the
times would have made
it difficult to
produce a belt safe
for long-term wear.
It also is not known
whether or not these
referred to actual
physical devices in
use.
The Bellifortis
sketch.The first
known mention of
chastity belts in the
West is in Konrad
Kyeser von
Eichstätt's
Bellifortis, a book
describing the
military technology
of the era. In it is
included a rough
drawing, accompanied
by the text: 'Est
florentinarum hoc
bracile dominarum
ferreum et durum ab
antea sit reseratum.'
('These are hard iron
breeches of
Florentine women
which are closed at
the front.')
In 1889, a leather-
and-iron belt was
found by A. M.
Pachinger—a German
collector of
antiquities—in Linz,
Austria in a grave on
a skeleton of a young
woman. The woman was
purportedly buried
sometime in the 16th
century. Pachinger,
however, could not
find any record of
the woman's burial in
the town archives.
The belt itself,
along with most of
the rest of
Pachinger's
collection, has been
lost.
Two belts have been
exhibited at the
Musée de Cluny in
Paris. The first, a
simple velvet-covered
hoop and plate of
iron, was supposedly
worn by Catherine de'
Medici. The other—
said to have been
worn by Anna of
Austria—is a hinged
pair of plates held
about the waist by
metal straps,
featuring intricately
etched figures of
Adam and Eve. There
are other such belts
at the Germanisches
Nationalmuseum in
Nuremberg and the
British Museum in
London. The
authenticity of these
exhibits as medieval
devices has since
been called into
question.
| Product Details:
NAME: Chastity Belt (with lock)
TYPE: Reproduction
MANUFACTURER: Deepeeka
SKU: AH3865: |
|
