How were menstrual cycles perceived in pre-Medieval Europe?

by foryia-yiaandpappou

This is a very specific question which I imagine has been asked before, but I’ve always been curious about how women dealt with periods and how societies treat them before the advent of modern technologies (aka pads and tampons). I already know a bit about medieval attitudes towards periods (and, consequently, about Biblical attitudes towards them). I was wondering how different this might be from pre-Medieval Europe attitudes, especially those separate from the Biblical/Christian paradigm

lcnielsen

Since you ask about it generally, you might be interested in this post of mine on the status of women in pre-Islamic Persia: https://old.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/9yv28n/in_general_did_the_position_of_women_improve_in/ea6ko26/

Menstruation is a huge deal in Zoroastrianism, with varying justifications for its significance but all relating to ritual purity. Let me know if you want more specifics!