"Hermaphroditi" : Bodily Different from Both Men and Women (ca. 1100 to ca. 1600)

.In medieval and Early Modern Western Europe, people with the bodily characteristics of both men and women were called ›hermaphrodites‹ in learned discourse. Medieval laws generally assumed that hermaphrodites, even if constituting a separate sex, in practice could be assigned either male or female gender according to the sex that ‘prevailed’ in their bodies; in practice, many aspects (including individual choice) played a role in assigning binary gender. ‘Hermaphroditism’ was also used to describe and explain changes of sex or gender. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, ‘hermaphroditism’ was increasingly associated with deviant sexuality, partly because changing perception of male and female sexuality more generally.