These days if someone needs a little help getting in the mood, they are likely to use wine, chocolate, oysters, or maybe even certain pharmaceuticals. But what about our ancestors? Well, across...
Contrary to popular belief, medieval attitudes towards sex were often far from puritanical. Surviving sources, largely influenced by the Catholic Church, give a skewed impression of the era. In...
Cultures across the world and throughout history have attributed Spanish fly with aphrodisiacal qualities, used to cure erectile dysfunction , generate desire and enhance sexual performance. Even...
Often referred to as the author of the Mediterranean Kama Sutra , little is known about Philaenis of Samos, who likely wrote this work around the 4th century BC. She is the most mentioned author of...
Prostitution is often described as the world’s oldest profession. Although this isn’t true – hunters, farmers, and shepherds predate prostitution – the sale of sex traces back to time immemorial. The...
In 1494, King Charles VIII of France launched an all-out war against the republics of the Italian peninsula, a watershed moment in history. Within months, 50,000 soldiers from his army had fled, not...
In her book The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI , historian Lauren Johnson claimed that the prudish 15th century king of England needed a helping hand to do the deed when it came to...
These days, sex is everywhere. It's in our books, films, songs, TV shows, and now, even our history articles. Although some countries still impose strict rules upon sex, the fact is most western...
There is a curiosity that belongs to ancient Roman history which historians are yet to solve; there exists a collection of Roman brass coins or tokens that depict sexual acts on one side and a...
The Silk Road created a convergence of cultures like no other. The route is deemed influential by historians because of the contributions it made to trade and the economy, as well as society in...
The Moche were a mysterious civilization who ruled the northern coast of Peru beginning 2,000 years ago. Little was known about the Moche civilization until the 1980s when archaeologists began...
When people think about love and sex in ancient Rome, it tends to be pretty scandalous: orgies here, there, and everywhere! But the truth is rarely black and white. Were the Romans more sexually...
Self-declared “anarchist archaeologists” are warning archaeologists not to assume the gender or race of ancient skeletons because they see the categorization of sexes as discriminatory to the dead...
People often have the strange idea that people in the “olden days” were much more conservative when it came to sex than they are today. However, if modern history tells us anything it is that people...
About 60,000 years ago, a human had a sexual encounter with a Neanderthal. Now, a genetic scientist has claimed that this single sexual act caused the deaths of up to a million people during the...
The jus primae noctis , droit du seigneur , or “right of the first night,” is an alleged medieval custom which permitted lords to engage in sexual intercourse with the brides of their male subjects...
People in Europe in the Middle Ages boosted libidinal sexual intimacy through the use of medieval aphrodisiacs, some of which are truly bizarre. Dr. Eleanor Janega, a medieval historian based in...
Health authorities in Peru are teaching men how to inspect their genitals to catch early cancers. To achieve this goal they are using ancient Mochica artifacts depicting sexual scenes. Would you...
Sex is a primal urge humans share with animals. In the ancient world, human fertility had implications for safety and prosperity. However, as the search for birth control methods went hand in hand...
On October 30, 1501, the most decadence of festivals occurred in the papal palace of Cardinal Cesare Borgia. A party that his own father, Pope Alexander VI, not only attended but participated in. The...
The institution of marriage dates back to almost the beginning of written history, with countless variations on how it has been practiced throughout the ages in different cultures and religions. The...
Penance has played a prominent role in religions all over the world. And the interesting thing is there are documents spanning the globe which discuss penance and provide clear opportunities to find...
In the 21st century, most people would consider their intimate and sexual relationships to be a private matter. In the Middle Ages however, the division between private and public areas in the lives...
History is peppered with stories of women who disguised themselves as men to fight in wars, to steal crowns and to topple empires. However, in this story we have an 800,000-year-old little boy who...