History of Chastity
Copyright of Chastity UK used with permission and Written by Elizabeth Finnis 2004

The history of the chastity belt is difficult to prove. With little documentary evidence available until the 15th Century any myths, legends and stories before that time can only really be considered as conjecture.

Some of that conjecture includes:

Stories of Roman female slaves who were locked into chastity belts and were only granted release for the sexual pleasure of their masters and mistresses.

Tales of Roman prostitutes being forced to wear chastity belts which exposed their vulvas, these were worn to tease potential male customers, the belts only being removed once money had exchanged hands! 

Legends and myths of Medieval Ladies being locked within chastity belts until their Knights and Lords returned from fighting in the Crusades to free them.  Chaucer does mention chastity in his writings, and medieval knights of the Crusades did swear vows of obedience, loyalty, poverty and chastity. However, chastity belts which claimed to have been manufactured around that time have since been proven to be 19th Century "replicas", "curiosities" or "fakes.  In 1996, Felicity Riddy, a representative of Medieval Studies at York University said "There is no medieval evidence, from Chaucer or anyone else. It all points to an early urban myth brought back to life by the Victorians". 

Two of the best examples of so called Medieval chastity belts can be found in Musée National du Moyen, the Cluny Museum of Paris.  The photograph, left,  below is a belt originally thought to be made in the 12th Century, which has been proven to be a "curiosity".   It has it has a metal waist band covered in velvet and a crotch guard made of ivory which is supposed to press firmly against the vagina.  To the right of that is another in the Cluny collection.

Chastity Facts:
The first documented reference to the term "chastity belt" is credited to R'gine Pernoud, a Medieval historian who, in the 14th Century  explained that a simple cord worn around the waist was a symbol of chastity (such as the robes of a monk or priest - the cord around his waist is a symbol of his vows of chastity and purity). 

The first written evidence of a chastity belt was recorded by Keyser von Eichstad, a retired solider  who compiled a manuscript in 1405 about the art of war and military equipment.  In his book "Bellifortis" he included a drawing of a chastity belt (picture below), with the inscription "Est florentinarum hoc bracile dominarum ferreum et durum ab antea sit reseratum"  ("breeches of hard Florentine iron that are closed at the front").  This chastity belt was worn by the women of Florence, Italy as a method of preventing rape.   The Bellifortis manuscript is held in the library of Goettingen University, Germany.

The emergence of the Male Chastity..........
Unlike female chastity belts, the development of the male chastity belt or device has been much easier to follow.  It's history is much more recent and can be traced through patients records.  Below are 4 examples - the top 2 are American and the lowest one is of a patent held at Leeds County Council, Yorkshire. The middle called "The Timely Warning" is also an American design of 1905 and is similar to the "Kali's Teeth Bracelet" (an anti-erection device).

Between the 1850s and the beginning of the Second World War male chastity devices were developed for the purpose of preventing masturbation which the Victorian’s believed was a cause of insanity.   It is at this point where we can see a distinct difference between male and female chastity belts/devices.

The Victorian view of the female chastity belt was to protect the wearer from rape, and where therefore considered as a method of security. However male chastity belts and devices were developed to prevent "self abuse", “self pollution”, "nocturnal emissions" and "insanity, imbecility and feeblemindedness" which were considered to be the natural fate of any young man with lax moral attitudes! 

Today's modern stainless steel chastity belt was developed by improving upon the Florentine design by Hal Higginbottom in the late 1950s.  Since 1958 Hal produced male and female chastity belts from his workshop in Sheffield, England, under the brand name of Tollyboy.  His craftsmanship was of excellent quality and his belts were considered to be the "Rolls Royce" of chastity belts.  It is Hal Higginbottom who was credited with bringing the chastity belt into the 20th Century.

However, due to demand and the increased interest in chastity, Hal had a long waiting list and his speed of production seemed slow to the eager, impatient buyer.  With the demand for chastity belts increasing others were encouraged to manufacturer belts.  The Tollyboy design was adapted in the USA by Jones and Access Denied (01/07/1997), and in Germany by Neosteel.

Hal Higginbottom became very ill with respiratory problems, and passed away on 21/05/98.  Today the Tollyboy name lives on with Richard Davies (apprentice to Hal) continuing to produce the "Florentine" design, made to measure, steel chastity belts for men and women.

Since the late 1990s the availability of male chastity devices is much higher.  Major Players have been Frank & Doris Miller who launched the CB-2000 in 1998.  It was the world's first easily available hygienic male chastity device.  The Millers have since gone from strength to strength adding the Curve to their range for the "larger" man and in August 2003 introduced the third design the CB-3000.  World-wide sales of the CB-3000 currently far out weigh any other single design.

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A interesting tidbid from Fox:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,26578,00.html

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FORESKIN PIERCING (INFIBULATION)

The practice of piercing of the foreskin for the insertion of jewellery is as old as circumcision, and is of immemorial antiquity, going back far beyond the earliest recorded history. During the games of Ancient Greece, the athletes performed nude, and to prevent their penises moving about they bound the foreskin with a ribbon and tied it to the base of the penis. This ribbon. or leather thong was called the "Kynodesme" from the Greek "Kuon" foreskin, and "Desmos" fastening band. This temporary practice probably led to the permanent piercing of the foreskin, either to prevent slaves and athletes from having sex, or to prevent them from having erections. The Roman's used a practice called Infibulation, it involved two piercings going through the foreskin (or Labia in women) and a lock (Fibula) being placed therein.

The Roman historian Mensius declares that Infibulation may be traced back to the time of the siege of Troy (12th Century BC) for he points out that according to "The Odyssey" (Bk. VIII, Line 477) Agamemnon departed for the Trojan War, and left his wife Clytemnestra, in the care of the singer Demodecus, seeing that he had been infibulated.

The prevalence of the practice is attested to by the number of references to it, to be found in ancient writings. The roman writers Juvenal, Martial, Strabo, Fallopio, and Hieronymus Mercurialis all make mention of the practice. The piercing process is described in detail by the famous 1st Century Roman physician Celsus, in his treatise on medicine "De Medecina"