Chopped: about eunuchs

It's astonishing to think that in the past men would have their testicles cut off in order to fulfill some societal role or as punishment. But hey, it was a cruel world back then. I think eunuchs are an interesting construction of gender in ancient times and seen in neo-medieval media.

Eunuchs of the Ottoman court's harem

Eunuchs were men who had their testicles removed shortly after birth, or as a punishment of some transgression against the law. Those castrated at birth were forever impotent as well as removed from the hormonal changes that come with growing as a man. No testosterone means a drastic difference between eunuchs and men. Eunuchs often fulfilled a societal role as harem guards, civil servants, ministers, and beautiful pre-pubescent voices to sing in church. The value of eunuchs can be seen in how raiders of the Abbasid caliphate (750 CE-1258 CE)  “deliberately targeted Greek churches and monasteries during his own time, a time when the Greeks castrated some young boys to keep them as singers in the Church, and a time when the Arab world wanted eunuchs” (Tracy).Who better to guard your harem then a sexless and sterile person you can trust with no ambition to start a “dynasty”? However, it wasn't simply the physical aspects of a eunuch that gave him a certain role, but “a gender distinctiveness that was built on much more than castration alone”(Bennet, Karras). It's also important to note how much effort went into protecting concubines, as they were considered property.Eunuchs were both inside members and fringes of the royal court. They didn't participate in the “kinds of desires medieval people felt” (Bennet, Karras).

Those who were castrated for punishment were seen as “lesser than a man” because they would never be able to venture to charm a young maiden, often times this venturing was the reason they were castrated in the first place, castration was the “ironic punishment” for rape or having sex with the wrong woman. Peter Abelard, a French philosopher of the 12^th century, after being castrated for accusations that he mistreated Héloïse d'Argenteuil, went into a monastic order. Again, a sexless life that was completely different from the red blooded tales of courting a lady with the knight's handy sword.

A gelding knife in the Game of Thrones tv series. These were the standard knives used in castration within the series as well as real life

Looking towards neo-medieval media, we can see the sort of roles that eunuchs have in fantasy. Game of Thrones eunuch characters have been influenced by depictions of eunuchs from ancient times. Varys, a spymaster of the council that advises the Iron Throne, was castrated by a sorcerer during his childhood. He is described as effeminate, powdering his face and smelling “as foul and sweet as flowers on a grave”(A Game Of Thrones, chapter 20). So, his castration has led to him acting in a category separate from men. “A eunuch has no honor”, no family, nothing to be loyal to (A Game Of Thrones, Chapter 58). In a series so focused on the dynasty ties of families, eunuchs are outsiders. 

Sources:

Castration and Culture in the Middle Ages, Larissa Tracy

"Women, gender, and Medieval historians", Judith Bennet, Ruth Karras

A Game Of Thrones, George RR Martin