medical VIEWS OF WOMEN IN THE

UPIDARIO OF ALFONSO X
Katherine Gyekenyesi Gatto

; Xbe thirteenth century maiiced die triumph offte Christian leconquest of

which limited die Arab presence to the kingdom of Granada. It also was a
lone century of cultural advancement With die reduction of the Moors'
goal power to a level of relative insignificance, the focus of attention shifted
1 military to intellectual endeavors. The court of Alfonso X, the Learned, king
rCastile (1221-84), became a scientific and literary hub renowned diroughout
• forproducing a plethora of works: works of alchemy, astrology, astronomy,
V world and national histories, mineralogy, poetry, and religion, as well as games
fcalculus. It attracted Jewish, Italian, and Spanish scholars as well as troubadours
om Provence, who engaged in compiling a comprehensive, encyclopedic body of
%I knowledge considered to be important at that time. Aldiough Alfonso was not
l^e author of most of these works, but rather their patron,' it is due to his
IjnteTvention that Spanish and world culture has been gready enriched. Alfonso
the works, originally written in Arabic or other inaccessible languages, and
I diem translated into Castilian. He himself chose die translators and later
Ifeviewed die translations, making necessary changes in order to achieve a clarity
" of exposition and a polished, literary style. Above all, Alfonso was greatly
responsible for the movement to have Castilian-language scientific documents
i^lace the traditional Latin ones.

Alfonso had the Lapidario (1250) translated fiom Arabic into Castilian in
Older that “men could understand it better and leam to make better use of it” (21).^

1. The Lapidario MS h-I-lS housed in the library of El Escorial, on its first page, shows a
white-bearded man with a pointed hat, tiademaric of scholars, seated in a chair and holding
a book. He is addressing a group of sixteen men, whose beards and pointed hats identify
them as his congeners and who are seated on the ground, listening with rapt attention. Ibe
initial letter “A" ofthe introduction is adorned by another grouping: a king, clean-shaven and
wearing a crown, with a book on his lap and two scribes to whom he seems to be dictating.
It is more dien likely that the figure in die miniature is Alfonso himself in the midst of his
literary or scimtific productivity.

1 All die quotations taken fi'om the Lapidario come fiom Ingrid Bahler and Kadierine
Gy^cfoyesi Gatto’s edition. The Lapidary ofJ^g Alfonso Xthe Learned, published by the
University Press of the South in 1997.
 44
Its purpose was to show the beneficial and die hannflil effects of stones as they
were influenced by the signs of the Zodiac and its distinct phases, the planets ZI
constellations, and the positions of the stars. The Lapidario, which is beautifally
illuminated, describes each stone’s physical characteristics, tells where it can be
found and how it has to be prepared to be of benefit Recommendations for a )
stone’s use reveal a pattern of diseases that must have been prevalent at the time, 3
such as ulcers, migraine or gout, as well as concerns about sexual fimetion and ^
fertility. The gynecological applications of certain stones—among them waxstone, i
chrjsoprase, talc, whetstone, and camelian—are among the most telling fo 3
elucidating foe politics of gender-body and how female identity took shape in ^
Alfonso s time. In The History of Sexuality, Michel Foucault sees sexuality as a S
product of history and reminds us that medieval sexuality was a product of ;
medieval discourses, customs, and institutions: it was therefore a construction and
not a natural category ofhuman experience (Lochrie, McCracken, and Schultz ix-x).
Thus, as a constraction, it was also related to other constractions, such as racej
gender, ethnicity, and religion. Paramount to foe discourse of female sexuality were
foe theories of Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen, especially Hippocrates’s theory
of foe four humors, which were later elaborated by medieval Jewish and Arab
commentators. According to this theory, foe universe is made up of foe four basic
elements of fire (hot and (^), water (cold and wet), earth (cold and dry), and air (hot
and wet), which also have their equivalents in foe human body: choler or yellow
bile, phlegm or mucus, black bile, and blood. Good health could be achieved if one
kept foe humors carefully balanced, although most of foe time, one or more of foe
humors were predominant giving an individual his or her “complexion” (Raweliffe
13). Women were viewed as cold, wet, and incomplete, and therefore by nature
sought heat, purgation of moisture, and union with the male (Lomperis and
Stanbury 142). They tended toward the slow, heavy, and phlegmatic, which should
have spared them from melancholia (black bile), foe worst of foe four humors.
Tdeally, any superfluous and potentially harmful humors would be excreted in foe
sweat, tears, urine, and feces, as well as by sneezing, which was seen as a valuable
way of clearing impurities fi-om foe head” (Raweliffe 14).
Women had a special advantage in that they menstruated, thus giving
them an opportunity to regularly reduce excess feminine moisture and to purge foe
body of impurities. In addition, different kinds of moisture were interchangeable,
an idea that led to foe medieval theory of fluids and appears in foe Lapidario. This
theory held that blood is transformed into milk, and bofo these substances are
related to semen. Thomas Laqueur explains:
Ancient medicine bequeathed to foe Renaissance [and the Middle Ages]
a physiology of flux and corporeal openness, one in which blood,
mother’s milk and semen were fungible fluids, products of foe body’s
45
I to concoct its nutriment Thus, ...as writers fiom Pliny to
Montaigne . • .bodily fluids could turn easily into one another...
I .at—j —.j moreover, regarded as no
I
Thus we read in foe Lapidario that foe stone axufaraquid, when smeared
foe warm blood of a billy goat, dissolves and mixes wifo it Then, when this
\is smeared on a woman’s breasts, it will greatly increase their milk (Bahler and
113). The significance of menstruation in foe reproductive process and its
I problems are also mentioned.
Although menstrual retention was foe most commonly discussed ailment
’^medieval texts because it was regarded as an impediment to conception (Cadden
^73) in foe Lapidario it is excess menstrual flow tiiat is emphasized. For example,
topdo will stop foe bleeding in women whose menstrual flow is excessive (193).
tsomelina, or camelian, is also good for stopping bleeding, OBpndally in women
Lwhose menstrual flow is too great (188). iapis hra/i, when taken in a drink or when
^^uerted in foe vagina will make a woman’s menstrual flow come at its proper time
* (197-98). Talc, besides stopping excessive menstrual flow in women, is also good
for abr”*!” that form on foe breasts (191). Finally sedinech, vfoen given in a
drink of wine, will cure foe disease caused by foe retention of urine, and it will also
cure women who suffer fiom excessive menstrual flow (166). In another context, foe
relationship between gout and maistruation was also pointed out by Hildegard of
Bingen, who observed tiiat women were less susceptible to gout because of the
Biiroative effects of menstruation (Cadden 175).
Overall, the eTTipha.«ri.s on menstruation in foe Lapidario, like the emphasis
on conception or contraception, reinforced foe notion of women as childbearers.
For example, if a woman wean the stone secutarica which means “maker of
pregnancy,” she will get prepant foe first time she is wifo a man (140). Another
^npi» a type ofjasper, called fyeme, whai pulverized and mixed with mother’s milk
and then used to moisten a little piece of wool that is inserted into a woman when
she lies wifo a man, will cause her to become prepant foe very first time (39). The
sex of foe child could also be determined through foe virtue of the stone tarmicaz,
which, when placed in psyllium water, will become soft like warm wax. “When it has
become soft like this and is given to a woman to drink, she will, from then on,
conceive only female offspring, and foe same holds tme for any female anunal who
takes this drink” (95). The waxstone, called centiz, if worn as an amulet by a woman
when lying wifo a man, will cause her to conceive a male child (27).
The Lapidario also gives evidence that medieval people were aware of
effective means of birth control, although it would have gone against the rehgious
 46 47
theolop^ t«chings of the day. John M. Riddle tells that ‘Vhile the,^ t mneris and Standbury 147). Overall, it can be said Aat enhancement
during the Middle Ages a gradual trend away from explicit mentionina
COTtrac^ves and abortifecients, there never was a period during the Middled' was a commonplace in meAeval meAcal treatises because it was
^ male sexual reductive fimetion, while Ae subject of a woman’s
when birth control agents were not recorded” {Manuscript Sources 149) %
^though recognized, was never clarified to Ae same extent as that of a
^1^ the Stone cdun when pulverized and mixed with ile, and to toL A*
^ of an acorn and placed into a woman’s vagina, will prevent the woSl®
becommg pregnant (193). Meymenyez, or the “attractor of sperm” stone, beS^
i^hi adAtion to Ae treatment of menstruation, conception, and pleasure,
’s Lapidario addresses Ae question of pregnancy and childbirth. Many
medical tote, the desire and pleasure of the male vs. the desire and pleasure of?
r^e dynastic and economic considerations of Ae sex of Ae child caused
female. This ^ne does yet another thing: ‘Vhen, after a man has
^ A physicians and surgeons to take a great interest in Ae female reproductive
? f ® it will SS
^ alAou^ for Ae most part midwives and skilled women were usually Ae
”y ITiis is what women do when th^^S^
to deliver babies (Raweliffe 105). Prayers, charms, and mcantations were
fulfill their desire with men wiftout getting pregnant” (138).
ariv employed to ease Ae pain of labor and delivery (106). Amulets, such as
made from Ae stone Mi, mentioned m Ae Lepidario, were abo worn to
^otoer aid in awakening female desire is die stone bevti- wh«,
^^off evil and any harm to Ae fetus. It is recommended Aat Ae moAer wear it
pulv^andmadeeasytopour, Aen mixed with something to makeTpaste aS
ETred silk Aread so that it touches her belly (41). The stone abietityz ‘s virtue b
will dry the v^inaand
jijgf «^i,en it b wrapped inside Ae Wde of a deer and tied to Ac left thigh of
tigbten It and make the woman wish for a man. It will also make her^me
^ woman who is to give birth, she wUl give birth easily and without danger, and Ae
F^t^ (212-13). The stone lurita, which means “oily,” has an aphrodisiac
^eWldren are bom without defects, unless nature had erred before m forming Aem”
eff^ ontoth men and women: “People of that land (Premised Land) use this
(40). The stone zexegt, when tied to Ae leg of a woman m labor, will help her give
to ntoe utenab, md those who eat and drink from them will gain a lot of weight
Aar feces and b^es will have good color, and men will feel inaeased desire tott fferth easily (99). When a pregnant woman wears geirari/ez on her person, it will
protect Ae baby from any harm until Ae time when it is bom; moreover, Ae stone
wiA women, and women wife men” (71).
Ae baby’s birth easy and wiAout any danger, and helps it grow rapidly and
wiAout any harm (158). A contrast, Ae stone ceraquiz prevents birth m Ac
followmg manner “when it is wrapped in Ae skin of a lamb, whose head has been
Hildegard of Bmgen and Constantine fee African had raised questions about
cut off wiA a fine steel knife, and hung over Ae genitals of a woman, it will hinder
IS It for? What is its relation to conception, as intimated by fee
her so that she will not be able to give birA. Hence it b necessary to take it away
stOTe beyti in the Lapidanol Constantine’s view was Aat pleasure is attach^ to
at Ae time of birth, because if not, Ae woman will per force, explode and Ae” (41).
in^urse so feat it will be more desired, and Aus Ae human species will
Perhaps most unusual of all is Ae stone abarquid, which not only makes a woman
»e. Giles of Rome suggested Aat Ae greata pleasure women received in
bum wiA such desire for a man Aat she can control it only wiA great effort, but
mtwourse would encourage Aem to engage m it and offset Ae pain of cMdbirA
abo—ifpulverized and given to a woman m a drink-Hnakes her belly swell little by
little so that she looks pregnant, but when it is time for her to give birth, Ac
women thm m men, because in men, pleasure and Ae emission of seed were
swelling Asappears. Thb is tmly a magical stone since necromancers make beheve
coSe to take Ae position Aat women could indeed
that Arou^ Aeir art and knowledge a pregnancy is caused and undone. This
ronc^ve wiAout expenracmg pleasure, whereas Aristotle felt Aat female secretion
particular use of Ae term necromancers (wiA Aeir po^^ A create and undo
and Ae accon^anymg pleasure leave Ae mouA of Ae womb open and make Ae
pregnancies) speaks of Ae meAeval practice of erotic magic for gynecological
purposes and woman’s possible manipulation of male affection. What b inferred
i 1 “ Atercouise, except to effect
m Ais stone’s description is Ae empowerment of a woman who could use her
better reprod^on m a better way” (Cadden 143-44). On Ae oAa hanA since
worn® were believed to be cold and moist and m need of heat, Aey wae perceived pregnancy to gain control over a man.

to e^ m a conAtion of ^tual desire. This belief m a conAtion of insatiable

Various female Almente can also be treated wiA stones. For example, Ae
desire m women permeated meAeval Aought and reinforced Ae male fear of female
baA stone, when pulverized and applied to Ae cancer that affects women s sexual
 48

oigans, will cure it (169). The stone zequeth will also cure a woman with pain in her ^ climatic conditions are adverse, then creation is not perfected and a female
womb, for it penetrates very readily (165). Abscesses that form on women’s breasts ilts” (Lomperis and Standbury 144).
or on their genitals can be cured by mixing the stone azde with water and rubbing
it on those body parts (191) and also by using talc (191). If parents wished to keep Given the importance of the body in the Middle Ages, it is curious then to
their little girl little, they might exploit the magical qualities of aguzar, or oil the subtext of a particular “historical crystallization of a sexed identity” as
whetstone, which—when rubbed on die breasts of little girls, would emit a moisture ited throu^ the discourse of die Lapidario, sponsored by Alfonso the
to prevent their breasts from growing (189-90). Trying to surmise the intent of this led. The politically charged discursive construct diat emerges is one in which
practice can lead to endlessly &scinating conjectures. ])ody-gHider functions of the woman are seen as dependent and lacking,
(gnan’s illnesses and sexual concerns are presented through the paradigms of
In contrast, die use of several stones for what is called sophistication— istruation, fluid theory, fertility and contraception, desire and pleasure,
i.e., the restoration of lost virginity—is clear in its intent Galen, for example, icy and childbirth, and sophistication. All these processes are linked to and
recommends inserting perfumed pessaries into the vagina to alter and revitalize its an integral men’s physiology, resulting in the marginalization of the
appearance (Salisbury 65). The loss of virginity was directly linked to society’s le and the construction of an identity of “odiemess” that has pervaded
valuation of women, and the notion that her virginity was to be sacrificed only to iptlestem schools of medical thought to the present day.
her husband or to God went hand in hand with an increasing control over her life
by men (67). The passages in die Lt^idario that treat sophistication address the TABLE I
various reasons for it, clearly pointing to patriarchal dominance. The stone
camiruca is so powerful in this respect that when one takes its powder, mixes it Medical Views of Women in the Lapidario of Alfonso X
widi a liquid, and inserts it into women who are not virgins, it will tighten them in
such a way that they will be harder to penetrate dian the ones who are still virgins
Use: Menstruation
(66). Married women can revitalize their parts by placing the stone marmurda in
fire, which then will give off a smoke. If they expose themselves to this smoke, Sign Element Characteristics
Stone
taking care not to breathe it in either by nose or by mouth, it will tighten them a lot
and make them much drier, so that their husbands will have renewed pleasure with Sedinech Sagittarius Fire Hot and dry
them (113). The stone baran, pulverized and mixed with vinegar to make a paste
Comelina Capricorn Earth Cold and dry
and then shaped into acom-shaped balls and placed in a woman’s genitals, will
maka them dry up. The earthstone known as caoz smells like vinegar; it will stick
Talc Capricorn Earth Cold and dry
to die tongue when placed on it. It too dries a woman’s vagina and also heals
ulcers by closing them over (201). Capeia Capricorn Earth Cold and dry

It is obvious fi^om these last examples how the theory of women being cold Lapis lazuli Capricorn Earth Cold and dry
and wet came to dominate medical thinking in the Middle Ages. In contrast, men
were seen as hot and dry and, as such, far superior to women—who needed them Use: Fluids

for sexual heat, which was also a must for procreation. Men were viewed as
Axu&raquid Virgo Earth Cold and dry
complete unto themselves while women needed men to complete diem. In the
reproductive process males were the true parent in that their semen provided die
form, impetus, and direction of die embryo’s growth (Horowitz 105). Ian Maclean
summarized Aristotle’s theory, which lay at the heart of medieval thinking on male
and female sexuality; “Nature would always wish to create the most perfect thing,
which is the most completely formed, die best endowed with powers of procreation,
and the hottest Such a creature is die male, who implants his semen in the female
to the Hid of procreating males. If, however, there is some lack of generative heat
 51
50 r#.
Use: Illness, Disease and Other
Use: Conception
Sagittarius Fire
Centiz Aries Fire Hot and dry
Fire Hot and dry
Sagittarius
Lycme Aries Fire Hot and dry
Barth Cold and dry
Capricorn
Tarmicaz Cancer Water Cold and wet
Earth Cold and dry
Capricorn
Secutarica Libra Air Hot and wet
Earth Cold and dry
Capricorn
Beyti Aquarius Air Hot and wet
Earth Cold and dry
Capricorn
Use: Contraception
Use: Sophistication
Stone Sign Element Characteristics
Element Characteristics
Sign____________
Ceraquiz Aries Fire Hot and dry Stone
Eardi Cold and dry
Taurus
Meymenycz Libra Air Hot and wet
Cold and dry
Camiruca Taurus___________ Earth
Calun Capricorn Earth Cold and dry
Earth Cold and dry
Virgo
Use: Desire and Pleasure
Earth Cold and dry
Capricorn
Abarquid Taurus Eardi Cold and dry
Air_____________ Hot and wet
Aquarius
Lurita Gemini Air Hot and wet

Marmunia Virgo Earth Cold and dry

Theory of Humors
Beyti Aquarius Air Hot and wet
Hot and dry Choler or yellow bile Choleric
Use: Pregnancy and Childbirth
Phlegmatic
Cold and wet Phlegm or mucus
Abietityz Aries Fire Hot and dry Melancholic
Cold and dry Black bile

Lubi Aries Fire Hot and dry Sanguine

Hot and wet Blood

Abarquid Taurus Earth Cold and dry

Zauarget Taurus Earth Cold and dry

Zexegt Cancer Water Cold and wet

Gebratifez Scorpio Water Cold and wet

 KATHERINE GYEKSNYESI GATTO
AND
INGRID BAHLER
(EDS.)

Spain’s
Literary Legacy

Studies in Spanish
Literature and Culture

From the Middle i^es

To the Nineteenth Century

ESSAYS IN HONOR OF

JOAQUIN GIMENO CASALDUERO

University Press
Ofthe^uUi

2005
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication................................................................................................................

Foreword............................................................................................................. xii

Preface.............................................................................................................. xiii

Acknowledgments...................................................................................... xxiv

1. El imaginario colcctivo cn los Milagros de Nuestra

Senora de Gonzalo de Berceo...................................................................... 1
Juan Jose Pod Ferrer

2. De los nombres que Berceo da a San Millan ..................................... 19

Silvia Rosa Zamora

3. Medical Views of Women in flie Lapidario of Alfonso X ................. 43

Katberine Gyekenyesi Gatto

4. La 3bula del cuervo y el r^oso en tres escritores medievales............53

C&ar G. Lopez

5. The Hebrew Literary Production of Pablo de Santa Maria....................67

Judith G. Kiieger

6. Taking Another Look at Alfonso Alvarez de Villasandino................... 77

Ingrid Bahler

7. El didactismo en Juan Rodriguez del Padron: Una nueva lectura del

Siervo litre de amor................................................................................. 95
AnaM. A&ali

8. Encina and Virgil: Modeling Across Millenia.......................................... 107

Rosalie H. Gimeno

9. La salida de Meh'bea (Jean de Meung, Juan Ruiz y

Fernando de Rojas).................................................................................. 139
Francisco Marquez Villanueva

10. Nuevas dimensiones de espacio y tiempo en La Celestina................169

Roberto Ruiz
 VUl IX

11. Sentencias, Persuasion, and the Perversion of Authority in 22 The Inf^asing Emancipation of Luck A Study in
LaCelestina ................................................................................................177 Narratological Ownership and Permission in
Kathleen Palatucci O’Donnell Pardo Bazan’s Un viaje de novios ..................................................... 383
Philippa Brown Yin
12. Imagen apocaliptica de la historia: De la alabanza de Espafia
medieval a La Numancia de Cervantes.............................................. 207 23. Blasco Ibafiez as a Travel Writer..............................................................413
Francisco Vivar Paul C. Smith

13. Composicion y significado en el Polifemo de Gongora: 24. Arroz y tartana de Blasco Ihafiez: ................................................... 427
Un homenaje manierista al neoplatonismo.........................................225 Valencia al brillo de falsos idolos
Luis Miguel de Vicente Garcia Theodore Alan Sacked

14. “Relaciones de sucesos” y propaganda en la epoca de Felipe 11: 25. Tabula Gratulatoria 441
El caso de la Armada Invencible (1588)............................................ 243
Agustin Redondo

15. “Que hay porcios si porcias hay,” or Tirso’s Genius:

Imitation and Creation .............................................................................273
Anita K. Stoll

16. Juan de Palafox: teoria y prktica del discursosagrado......................... 285

Jose Pascual Bux6

17. Don Quijote y Sancho en Sicilia................................................................. 297

Denah Levy Lida

18. El final problemdticode las iVbve/as^’emp/ares ..................................313

Julio Rodriguez-Luis

19. Becquer y las coplas: La venta de los gatos ...........................................335

Ruben Benitez

20. Enrique Caspar: Conflicto entre realismo y fentasia

enelsigloXIX........................................................................................... 351
Ignacio Soldevila Durante

21. A/idu de Galdos: Vigencia del analisis de la funcidn

publica en Espana.......................................................................................365
Francisco Javier Diez de Revenga