What did they use during medieval for menstrual cycles? ?

Question

What did they use during medieval for menstrual cycles? ?

Answer 1

I've done some research on my ancestors in the 1600 and 1700's in Europe. It was not unusual for women to have 11 children. Often most of them died very young or at childbirth. Also people didn't live very long. So I think the answer is that women were pregnant most of the time.

Answer 2

There was a really interesting exhibit a few years ago in Australia with the early settlers -- they had found some old sea chests & diaries.  Anyway, they found all these bits of wadding & torn old linens etc with blood...for that same reason you ask.  I would guess that the same thing occurred in the middle ages--women used whatever they had and since hygiene was not what it is today, things got a bit messy.  However, many women were pregnant or post partum much of the time as well; so there were fewer cycles going on as well. (They also died much earlier).

Answer 3

For starters they didn't have nearly as many cycles as we do, between malnourishment, pregnancy and breastfeeding (IMO one of the least touted benefits of nursing lol!)  But they would use rags/fiber, etc. (Ancient Egyptians even used a form of tampons). There is also a theory that they didn't use anything. I had read a while back that well to do women might have sat on a birthing stool like thing during that time of the month, and recently read something about how poor women just leaked.

This link is to information from the Menstration Museum http://www.mum.org/pastgerm.htm.

Answer 4

I dont know but I am curios to find out.  Maybe in cave times they just sat on a rock all day and pads were only invented in the late 1800s.

Answer 5

I would think they would have used a rag.