From monks thought to have died from a lack of sex, to priests conjuring demons to lure women into bed, a new book offers fascinating glimpses into the history of sex in the Middle Ages.
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Katherine Harvey's illuminating novel The Fires of Lust: Sex in the Middle Ages offers a peak into the bedrooms of ordinary mediaeval men and women living in western Europe.
Harvey is a London-based historian and author specializing in the medieval period and Honorary Research Fellow specializing in history, classics and archeology at Birkbeck, University of London.
The book explains how the majority of ideas and attitudes towards sex and relationships were rooted in two dominant belief systems: Roman Catholicism and Galenic medicine.
From women trying to reduce their breasts to look more virginal to drinking wine mixed with powdered hare testicles in a bid to conceive a son, the book reveals many astonishing practices.
As well as some surprises, like an emphasis on female pleasure when it came to reproduction, there are shocking anecdotes of brutal punishments for behavior considered immoral during the period.
Religious beliefs played a huge part in shaping medieval attitudes and understanding towards sex, with Roman Catholic dogma stating that humans were never meant to feel lust.
God-fearing medieval people believed that humans were not supposed to derive pleasure from sex, women were not meant to menstruate and men not supposed to ejaculate - however did so thanks to the sins of Adam and Eve.
With this biblical story as a guiding principle when it came to sex, it's no surprise that it was believed the only certain way to achieve salvation was to remain pure and chaste until the day you died.
While being married was better than having sex out of wedlock, medieval people did not assume this was an automatic ticket into heaven - with many women staying chaste until death despite being married.
In fact, being a true virgin didn't just mean abstaining from sex and masturbation, but having no thoughts of a sexual nature at all.
For example one young monk claimed to be taunted by a demon who would rub against his genitals while he prayed until he ejaculated.
Despite never having had sex with another person, he was considered by Bishop Hildegard of Le Mans (1096–1125) to no longer be a virgin after participating in the 'shameful act of fornication'.