historieofbeafts
Some Renaissance Birth Control Methods*

  • Heart ripped out of a live mouse and tied to the left arm
  • Fat from the ‘secret’ parts of a lion, placed in ivory
  • Worm removed from a mule’s womb and tied to any part of the body
  • Mule’s womb fried and eaten without the woman’s knowledge**
  • Mule stones wrapped in mule skin and tied to the body
  • Harts-tongue and mule spleen tied to the body on a moonless night**
  • Mule ears, carried
  • Mule urine, drunk
  • Left stone of a weasel tied in mule skin and left in a drink to steep
  • Horse sweat soaked into wool and worn in the underwear**
  • Spitting 3 times in a frog’s mouth (this lasts a year)
  • Salamander heart strapped to the thigh (this seems more like a deterrent than a contraceptive. like a really disgusting chastity belt)

** permanent results

*these were unlikely to be in common use, since herbal remedies were far easier to obtain and far less unpleasant.  also, every single one of Topsell’s sources was a man, so. that explains some things?