Description
Greek theories and practical knowledge surrounding contraceptives and abortifacients were passed along from the Greeks and Romans to later civilizations. This information was transferred to the Islamic world with the translation movement during the Abbasid Caliphate in the eighth and ninth centuries. The subsequent incorporation of that knowledge within Islamic medicine and culture was then transferred back to Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Firstly, this analysis delves into the Greco-Roman, Islamic World's, and Medieval Europe's understanding of contraception, and the role of contraception and abortion in these societies. Secondly, it looks at the continuities and discontinuities in the Greco-Roman tradition as the contraceptive knowledge moved between various cultures and over time. The focus will be on key Greco-Roman texts that had a significant influence on Islamic and later European medical knowledge, as well, as the works produced as a result of the transmission of information.
