Читать книгу Medicine in the Middle Ages. Extracts from "Le Moyen Age Medical" by Dr. Edmond Dupouy; translated by T. C. Minor онлайн

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“Should a man declare his wife just wedded be pregnant and she deny the charge, it is well to conduct the accused woman to the house of some prudent female friend, and then that three ventrieres be summoned who may regard the suspect. If they declare her to be in a family way, the provost shall call the midwives as witnesses as before stated; but if the sage femmes declare the accused is not pregnant, then shall the wife have cause against her husband; but better is it when the husband, seeing the wrong wrought, shall humble himself and beg pardon.”

Midwives were sworn, according to statutes and ordinances, which contained formulæ reports to be presented to the judges, to visit girls who complained of having been raped; fourteen signs of such deflowerment were admitted in testimony. Laurent Joubert has transcribed three of such reports, of which we will reproduce only one that was addressed to the Governor of Paris on October 23d, 1672:

“We, Marie Miran, Christophlette Reine, and Jeannie Porte, licensed midwives of Paris, certify to whom it may concern, that on the 22d day of October in the present year, by order of the Provost of Paris, of date 15th of aforesaid month, we visited a house in Rue Pompierre and there examined a girl aged thirty years, named Olive Tisserand, who had made complaint against one Jaques Mudont Bourgeois, whom she insisted deflowered her by violence. We examined the plaintiff by sight and the finger, and found as follows: