WI: Frederick II of Hohenstaufen introduces eunuchs to Europe

Frederick II of Hohenstaufen employed moorish eunuchs after he conquered Sicily.

What if he had adopted the custom of castrating young men to serve as court officials in the imperial administration?

Would other european rulers adopt it? Would their be eunuchs in Europe today?
 
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen employed moorish eunuchs after he conquered Sicily.

What if he had adopted the custom of castrating young men to serve as court officials in the imperial administration?

Would other european rulers adopt it? Would their be eunuchs in Europe today?

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Certainly eunuchs were an important part of early modern European ecclesiastical and temporal courts. Castrati were retained in the most famous choirs of Europe. This is well known, of course, and a slightly disingenous answer since I am applying a logical fallacy. Nevertheless, your question does not specify the role of these eunuchs.

I'm not familiar with the many roles of eunuchs in the courts of North African realms. Would Frederick employ the eunuchs in a manner similar to the "Moors"? How would Frederick square the unique requirements of Christianity to the presence of eunuchs? Remember, only intact men may be ordained. Hence, eunuchs would likely have little or no influence in the hierarchy and ecclesiastical affairs.
 
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The Byzantine Empire made extensive use of eunuchs in important positions in church and at court. Several Patriarchs of Constantinople were eunuchs.

Therefore, Frederick could have used a system of castrated officials to turn the Empire of the west in a more eastern direction. Thereby, diminishing the popes power. As Frederick intended exactly to do this, having a administration of loyal eunuchs could have been a good way to change the western world.

Probably Frederick did not try it, because he was afraid that the pope would fight such a step with all means, further deteriorating the empires cohesion.

But asume that Emperor Frederick suceeded in establishing a new gouvernment system, based on castrated officials. What would have happend?

Would he have to buy castrated slaves and educate them for their new roll or would free men from the empire volunteer to have the snip, in order to aquire power and money?
 
The Byzantine Empire made extensive use of eunuchs in important positions in church and at court. Several Patriarchs of Constantinople were eunuchs.

I didn't know that the Eastern Church ordained eunuchs. I don't understand why the Western Church required (still requires) priests to be intact. This tangent might be interesting or important in a possible TL.

Southern Italy and Sicily was liturgically Byzantine for many years. Southern Italy was also a liturgical mixing bowl that blended Roman and Byzantine liturgical forms. Frederick likely encountered this liturgical culture in Palermo.

Therefore, Frederick could have used a system of castrated officials to turn the Empire of the west in a more eastern direction. Thereby, diminishing the popes power. As Frederick intended exactly to do this, having a administration of loyal eunuchs could have been a good way to change the western world.

Frederick would have to place Southern Italy and Sicily under the aegis of the Patriarch of Constantinople. I doubt he would be able to Hellenize his German holdings. I'm not sure how the temporal employment of eunuchs would challenge papal temporal influence. I can think of only one readily apprehensible advantage of eunuchs versus cardinals. The papal court administrators, though technically bound to celibacy, often violated their vows flagrantly. A corps of impotent priest-administrators would not have the problem of nepotism endemic in the late medieval papal court.

Would he have to buy castrated slaves and educate them for their new roll or would free men from the empire volunteer to have the snip, in order to aquire power and money?

Good question. I suspect that freed men, especially noble-born freed men, would not go under the knife given the strong temptation to perpetuate personal wealth.

Perhaps Chinese culture roughly contemporary with Frederick might offer a glimpse into the benefits of castration. He Zheng, the famous eunuch navigator of the 15th century, commanded ships of great wealth and resources on behalf of the Ming emperor. While he was captured and forcibly castrated, he was able to achieve great status in the imperial court despite being an outsider to the Ming culture. It's important to note that He was Muslim and possibly from a non-Han ethnic group. Frederick would have to employ eunuchs from a wide range of backgrounds in order to establish relationships with Muslim and Christian kingdoms.
 
Frederick could try to use several older agreements between the Holy See and the Patriarch, that placed southern Italy under Constantinoples control, to get rid of the popes influence. As the papal clerics would never be loyal to such a plan Frederick would have to build his own system of ecclastical and temporal power.

Here the eunuchs would be helpful, as Fredericks new system should be totaly detached from any old structur. If he would buy talented young men on the slave markt, have them trained and gelded he could get such a system. Slavery would sever any old family bonds to parents and siblings, whereas the cut of the castration knife would sever the possible future family bonds an uncastrated man could form to his wife and offsprings. Additionaly, the despise with which the european society would look on eunuchs would further isolate them. Therefore, they would be loyal only to the emperor and to no other party.

The new eunuchs would probably be very thankful to Frederick. Also they had to loss their gonads, they would aquire positions of power and wealth, far beyond what they would have had otherwise in their lives. As Frederick had access to very skilled arabian surgeons the castrations should have been just a routin procedure. Mount Aetna could have provided snow to anesthise the scrotums of the future eunuchs by cooling it down before the testicles were cut out. This could have helped to make castration less traumatic for Fredricks eunuchs.
 
Additionaly, the despise with which the european society would look on eunuchs would further isolate them. Therefore, they would be loyal only to the emperor and to no other party.

I'm not sure of this last assertion. Indeed, the eunuch predates medieval Christianity and Islam by millennia. Both Roman and Hellenistic cults (i.e. Cybele, but one example) featured eunuchs. Even with the marked, though not complete, decline in awareness of late antiquity during the western European medieval period, some conceptual knowledge of the practice existed even among those removed from contact with the Islamic sphere.

Certainly, most learned Christians (i.e. educated clergy), even if they had never met a eunuch, would have known of eunuchs at least conceptually from Acts 8:26-40. The Vulgate word used to describe the Egyptian eunuch in Acts 8:27 is eunuchus (Greek εὐνοῦχος, eunouchos). These words are identical (Greek ou ---> Latin u consistent in the Vetus and the Vulgate.)

Conceptual knowledge, cultural interchange, and regard are mutually exclusive. To prove that European society despised eunuchs, one would have to first establish widespread knowledge of eunuchs in diverse European subcultures outside of mere scriptural context. There would also need to be a trace of the cultural interchange between Christian and Muslim cultures over the practice. Only then could a person assert whether certain European groups accepted or rejected the practice of castration.

Remember that the "Islamic ummah" and "Christendom" were in quite close contact with each other from the advent of Islam.

The new eunuchs would probably be very thankful to Frederick. Also they had to loss their gonads, they would aquire positions of power and wealth, far beyond what they would have had otherwise in their lives.

This is quite possible. Parallels exist in later Ottoman society, where ostensibly Christian boys obtained from the Balkan states and Greece converted to Islam and obtained very high places within the state system. To my knowledge, janissaries were not castrated. We have excellent Ottoman scholars here at AH that can clarify the janissary process for you -- just write a question about the process.

As Frederick had access to very skilled arabian surgeons the castrations should have been just a routin procedure. Mount Aetna could have provided snow to anesthise the scrotums of the future eunuchs by cooling it down before the testicles were cut out. This could have helped to make castration less traumatic for Fredricks eunuchs.

Hippocrates and Galen both knew of more effective anesthetics such as crude opiates. The main issue with surgery in antiquity and the medieval period is sepsis. I have read that in some areas of Italy in the 17th through 19th centuries over 90% of castrated boys died from septicemia (blood infection). Frederick and his doctors would have been well aware of the risks of surgery. He and his advisors would have accounted for the inevitable deaths from castration, including shock, infection, and secondary symptoms (i.e. fever).
 
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As opiats were quite dangerous to dose they would probably only be used as an analgetic, but not in a dosage neccessary for a full anasthetic. But together with local methods this should have been enough to dramatically decrease the pain experianced during castration.

The arabic scientists were able to distill alcohol and thereby provide a useful disinfectant. Thus, septic shock should be a rare problem with a minor operation like castration. Because only the scrotum was opend and not the abdominal cavity itself it was quit controlable for arabic surgeons.

Its true that janissaries were not castrated, but white eunuchs for the ottoman administration were recruted from the same source. At least one, Gazanfer Aga, voluntered in the 16th century to be castrated. He became wezir and was very sucessful, until being murdered during a revolt. But thats the risk of politics.:D
 
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