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THESE MEN ARE AFRAID TO DEFLOWER THEIR WIVES

■ Introduction
Whilst reading from the famous account of the trip that Sir John Mandeville professed to have made around the world in the 14th century, I stumbled across the following passage. On his travels this medieval globetrotter put to shore at, among other places, a large number of islands. On one of these islands the inhabitants practised a very unusual custom:
The following customs prevailed there: if the woman is getting married for the first time, her husband lets another man sleep with her to take away her virginity and they give this man a good reward for deflowering her, in every town there are certain young men that do nothing other than taking the virginity from the women: these young men are called 'cadeberis', that is to say 'the fathers idiot'. Because the men are afraid to deflower the women. And the person that does this puts his life on the line. And if it turns out that the man during the nights that follow, finds out that the young man that had slept with his wife had not deflowered her - whether it was because of drunkenness, or whether it was because of other matters - he shall then bring charges against him, that he has not fulfilled his duty. (…) But beginning from the first night following her deflowering, he guards her meticulously, so that she talks to no one. And we asked why this was so. And they told us that long ago there were a few men that died just at the moment they were about to deflower their wives, because some of the women had a snake inside their bodies to kill the men. And therefore it is customary to let the vagina of their wives be tested before they begin themselves.
(The Journey of Sir John Mandeville - translated from Dutch dated circa 1150 - 1500; Mandeville Netherlands, 245; Mandeville English, 175.)

Mandeville describes a principle of marriage consummation that was highly contradictory, at that time, of the 'ius primae noctis' (the 'right to the first night') that land barons in our European culture demanded for themselves from their perceived female 'inferiors'. But more remarkable than the phenomena whereby a new bridegroom prefers the second night of marriage to that of the first, and would rather let a 'professional deflowerer' take the virginity of his bride, is the reason why. She could accommodate a snake in her vagina. The bridegroom gladly let a 'cadeberis' check this for him. It seems to me that such a fact could cause tremors in men as well as women readers of this article that may register on the Richter scale!

Is this yet another typical Medieval fable, at which you can laugh because of its stupidity? Or is there more behind this? Of course Medieval man was certainly not crazy, although some people may think so these days. Explanations for the sort of behaviour mentioned above are not lying within easy reach and are nearly always impossible to show from a purely herpetological point of view.

However, currently there are not any really useful points of exchange of information between herpetology and other disciplines such as, psychology, anthropology, medical science (other than the combating of venomous bites) and such like. Interesting conclusions may be formed from comparison of such participating disciplines.
I will take a look into the peculiar goings-on on Mandeville's Islands later, because it is possible - which is more often the case (see Van der Voort 1993) - to discover a certain amount of truth in the quoted accounts. The essence of the story has grown into a blend of truth and fiction that is difficult to separate. For this I shall make use of the possibilities that other disciplines have to offer. This I'll do without either pretending to be well informed about the latest developments from other areas, or that I have a more than average knowledge.


■ The first line of approach
It seems to me, no bold assumption to assume that some will interpret the quotes from Mandeville, that are directed towards women, in a condemning way: a somewhat refined manner to be rid of a potentially unwanted spouse. Supporters of such theories can then refer to similar cases in nature, because the act of mating is, for the male of the couple, not always a completely pleasant experience. The black widow (Latrodectus mactans) is probably the most renowned example. The female animal attracts the male with a scent trail. And for the first male that arrives to the female she is saying quite appropriately 'it is the pace that kills' because whilst it is true that the female rewards the winner with mating, afterwards she bites him to death and eats him, unless the male cautiously takes to his heels.
And the female praying mantis also has the same morbid reward for mating: the male can fall into her arms, but he finally ends up in her stomach. The female starts to consume the father of her future offspring, on most occasions, during mating itself: whilst the rear end of her spouse imperturbably continues to impregnate her, the female begins to nibble away at his head (Grzimek 1974, II, 143).

The same - but now considering an ancient folk religion - happens to the male viper. Herodotus wrote about this:
So there could also be, if the adders and the winged snakes from Arabia where as numerous as their natural fertility allowed, for man no possibilities to live there. But now it is so, that, as they pair off and the male is close to ejaculation, the female, as he releases his sperm, grabs his throat and holds fast and does not let go before she has bitten it through. The male dies in this manner, but the female is repaid in the following way: the young avenge their begetter, by biting through the womb and eating their way out through her intestines, whilst still in the mothers body.(Herodotus, III, 109; see also Van der Voort 1993, 135 - 139).

Mating for humans is not always an unqualified pleasure. According to Freud (okay, he also has his opponents) in a man's subconscious there is castration-anxiety: mating carries the risk of dying. In psychology there is the occurrence of vagina-dentata, the 'the vagina with teeth', the vagina robs the man of his penis during sexual intercourse, with all the consequences for his fertility, and even his life. In the Tsimshian and Kwakiutl Indian tribes in America a woman's vulva is pictured as the mouth of a rattlesnake (Minton 1971, 193).

The psychological counterpart of male castration-anxiety is the feminine penis envy: women can be jealous of men, because they have the feeling of being castrated. With the consequences that they are always out to rob men of their penis (Carver & Scheier 1996, 219). I will not withhold the suggestive drawing that the deceased cartoonist Yrrah in the weekly 'Vrij Nederland' has made from you. Currently there still exists a medical-sexual problem that could be the actual breeding ground for these fears: (psychological) vaginismus which has a penis captivus aspect. The result, so I was told, is an unpleasant, painful experience for both parties. Vaginismus is a painful cramp in the vagina that can be caused by an infection or an over-sensitivity in some parts of the vagina, and that, in the case of the psychological variant, can be for example, a heartfelt aversion against the partner (Coëhlo 1986, 788).

With information from several disciplines to go on, the women whom Mandeville described in the worst scenario could be accused of (attempted) murder. Those who thought better of them, indicated the medical-psychological problems that the women have - think in terms of arranged marriages - and the problems theirpartners could have. But there is more.


■ The second line of approach
It is noticeable, how important the snake was for humankind in earlier days. In numerous cultures it played an important role in the creation of the world, and its upkeep; primitive man has from a religious point of view attributed it god-like qualities and its role in medical areas is difficult to overestimate (see Howey 1955, Schouten 1963); it also has a positive contribution in judicial matters (see Van der Voort 1993, 23-26; Van der Voort 1996), and also in sexual grounds it can pull its weight (it's ironic, that an animal which is such an unmistakably erotic male symbol, is grammatically in Dutch of the female gender). A reader of ancient works comes almost continually across examples of the sexual connotation. I'll give a (very concise) anthology.

It was thought to be the year 357 BC when Olympias the spouse of the Macedonian king Philippus became pregnant. After the usual number of months she gave birth to a son, Alexander, who later lived up to his epithet 'the Great'. Olympias must have been a high-spirited woman. She devoted herself fanatically to the Orphic mysteries, during which she danced with snakes around her neck and head.

Why Alexander became so famous, is among other things something to do with the way in which he was fathered. It's true Olympias was marriedto Phillippus, but that does not say that he was the father of Alexander. Olympias's relationship with snakes was after all very close. If we are to believe the Greek history writer Plutarchus, then Olympias did not only dance with the snakes but also shared her marital bed with them. She was found at least once with a dragon at her side, a reason that insured that Philippus took the appropriate steps to subsequently distance himself from his wife (Plutarchus, 12-13).

The dragon who functioned as the cause for discord within the marriage of Philippus was the exiled Egyptian pharaoh Neptanabus. In the form of a magnificent dragon with a crest as a crown on his head, assisted by magical powers, he gained access to the bed of Olympias and presented himself to her as a god. No wonder that Olympias was very willing.

You can find on numerous occasions, examples of peculiar impregnations in classic literature.The god Zeus himself makes a good example. After all, in the form of a snake he made his sister Demeter, the Greek goddess of corn and agriculture and as such also a fertility goddess, pregnant. Demeter, who considered snakes as her sacred animals, gave birth in the course of time to her daughter Persephone, the goddess that was named Proserpina by the Romans, which is derived from the Latin verb 'proserpere', which roughly translated is 'to appear crawling' (cf. 'serpent' and Walter Getreuer's 'Serpo').

And think of the Romanking Faunus: who sought refuge in a herpetological form changing when his daughter Bona Dea would not accept his erotic, therefore incestuous, advances. First he chastised her with a myrtle-branch, but she continued to reject him; then he plied her with wine until she was intoxicated, but this attempt had little success. Only when he took the form of a snake, was she willing (Der Kleine Pauly I, 925-926).

There are even folk that carries the most fitting name of Ophiogenis. These folk are the offspring of intercourse between Halia, daughter of Sybaris, and an immense godlike snake. This snake lived in a cave at Artemis in Phrygia (Aelianus, XII, 39).

Gods that originally had nothing to do with snakes often took the form of a snake, because it was in this way easier to seduce the defiant woman. For early man the snake was a mysterious animal: it had control with its poisons over life and death. It also renewed its skin regularly. And because of this it kept itself eternally youthful. It's no wonder, that primitive man seized the ritual of the periodic shedding of the skin, as the chance to obtain immortality: he offered a part of his body in order to stay eternally young. The body-part that was ideally suited for this purpose was his penis. This was not only similar in appearance to a snake, but just like a cobra could, rise up producing a magical life giving force. He therefore offered his foreskin in an attempt to equal the snake and in so doing obtaining immortality (Egli 1982, 58 ff.; Minton 1971, 194-195). It is therefore not so strange that in classic folk religion man sees the phallus as synonymous with the snake. (Küster 1913, 149 ff.).

So in this summary it is understood, that - in particular infertile - women could be made not only fertile, but also pregnant by a snake. The women of the Sabazios-cult (Sabazios, Phrygian-Thracian god of the vegetative fertility - see Pauly IV, 1478-79; Küster 1913, 148) during their worship, took a living snake - or a golden image of a snake - and pulled it under their robe believing that the snake-god could in this way enter their vagina. This still takes place today in India: during the yearly snake festival women encourage living cobras to crawl into their vaginas, believing that this act would give Shiva, the fertility god, the means to give them a fruitful year (Minton 1971, 194).

In Transvaal, South-Africa, there are legends circulating where pythons play an important role in conception: in one legend there is talk of a python that married two women and in another is told that in every womb there lives a python. In the Venda-tribe young girls imitate a python in an fertility dance: they stand one behind the other holding each others elbows forming a long row, and slowly dance around a fire in such a way that you have to think of the majestic movement of a python (televised broadcast (Discovery Channel), The Ultimate Guide: Snakes, Sunday 18th May 1997, 23.00-00.00 hours).

And finally, back to classical antiquity: women that laid down on the holy ground in the temple devoted to Asklepios in Epidauros and were visited by snakes in their dreams, believed, that the children that they bore after this were fathered by these snakes, thus from Asklepios himself. It could not be otherwise, so the fathered children should turn out to be very special children - look at Alexander the Great (Küster 1913, 151).


■ Conclusion
It is possible to interpret the behaviour of the inhabitants of Mandeville's island from the second line of approach, which is for me the more convincing, there seemed to be no sign of perversity, or a refined way to murder. My opinion is that this is something to do with a fertility ritual. Instead of portraying the women on Mandeville's island as man-haters with a bizarre way to get rid of an unwanted spouse, it is more likely that these are women that love their husbands and with the desire to blessed with a number of children. With this they go so far, that they, the symbol of fertility - a symbol where people from the modern western world can only shudder - have given access to the place that explicitly concerns their fertility. Should these women be seen as sufferers of penis-envy, then it seems only reasonable that the male island inhabitants had devised an appropriate punishment for the women that had given a snake access to their vagina. Mandeville had after all told what there was waiting for an 'cadeberis' that had failed. But there was not one mention of 'guilty' women!


■ Bibliography
Aelianus, On the characteristics of Animals. With an English Translation by A.F. Scholfield. London, 1972. Loebserie. XII, 39.
Carver, Ch. & Scheier, M., Perspectives on Personality. Boston, 1996³.
Coëhlo, M. & Kloosterhuis, G., Zakwoordenboek der geneeskunde. Amsterdam, 1986. Translation: Coëhlo, M. & Kloosterhuis, G., Medical Pocket-Dictionary. Amsterdam, 1986.
Egli, H., Das Schlangensymbol. Geschichte, Märchen, Mythos. Wisschenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1982.
Translation: Egli, H., The snake sign. Stories, fairy tales, Myths. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt, 1982.
Grzimek, B., Het leven der dieren. Deel II. Utrecht, 1974. ranslation: Grzimek, B., The life of the animal. Part II. Utrecht, 1974.
Herodotus, Historiën, III, 109. Vertaling dr. O. Damsté. Fibula Klassieke Reeks. Haarlem, 1978. Translation: Herodotus, History,III, 109. Translation dr. O. Damsté. Fibula Classic Series. Haarlem, 1978.
Howey, M.O., The encircled serpent. A study of serpent symbolism in all countries and ages. New York, 1955.
Kleine Pauly, Der. Lexikon der Antike in fünf Bänden. Auf der Grundlage van Pauly's Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft unter Mitwirkung zahlreicher Fachgelehrter bearbeitet und herausgegeben von Konrat Ziegler und Walther Sontheimer. München, 1979. Translation: Little Pauly, The. The Antique Lexicon in five volumes. Based on Pauly's Real-encyclopaedia of classical archaeology with co-operation from numerous experts adapted and re-published by Konrat Ziegler and Walther Sontheimer. Munich, 1979.
Küster, E., Die Schlange in der griechischen Kunst und Religion. Giessen, 1913. Translation: Küster, E., Snakes in the Greek Art and Religion. Giessen, 1913.
Mandeville, De reis van Jan van Mandeville. Naar de Middelnederlandsche handschriften en incunabelen. Vanwege de Maatschappij der Nederlandsche Letterkunde te Leiden. Uitgegeven door Dr. N.A. Cramer. Leiden, 1908. Translation: Mandeville, The travels of Jan van Mandeville. According to Mid-Netherlands handwriting and books that were published before 1501 AD. On behalf of the Dutch literature association of Leiden. Published by Dr. N.A. Cramer. Leiden, 1908.
Mandeville, The travels of Sir John Mandeville. Translated with an introduction by C.W.R.D. Moseley. Penguin Books. London, 1983.
Miller, H., 'The cobra, India's Good Snake'. In: National Geographic, Vol. 138, no. 3, September 1970, page. 393.
Minton, Sh. & Minton, M., Venomous Reptiles. London, 1971.
Plutarchus, Alexander de Groote. Uit het Grieksch door Dr. B.H. Steringa Kuyper. Tweede druk, herzien door dr. M. Th. Hillen. Zutphen, 1927. Translation: Plutarchus, Alexander the Great. From Greeks by Dr. B.H. Steringa Kuyper. Second print, revised by Dr. M. Th. Hillen Zutphen, 1927.
Schouten, J., De slangenstaf van Asklepios, symbool der geneeskunde. Amsterdam, 1963. Translation: Schouten, J., The snake-staff of Asklepios, symbol of medicine. Amsterdam, 1963.
Voort, M. van der, Van serpenten met venine. Jacob van Maerlant's slangenboek hertaald en van herpetologisch commentaar voorzien. Hilversum, 1993. Translation: Voort, M. van der, From serpents with venom. Jacob van Maerlant's book about snakes: revised and provided with herpetological comments. Hilversum, 1993.
Voort, M. van der, 'Herpetologische Sprokkelingen deel 6, Over slangen en vadermoordenaars'. In: Litteratura Serpentium, Vol. 16, 134-137. Translation: Voort, M. van der, 'Herpetological Archives part 6, about snakes and father-killers'. In: Litteratura Serpentium, Vol. 16, 134-137.
Voort, M. van der, Dat seste boec van serpenten. Een onderzoek naar en een uitgave van boek VI van Jacob van Maerlants Der naturen bloeme. Hilversum, 2001.

Translation: Marjon Jasker
Corrections: Lawrence Smith and dr. Michael John Smit.