Infertility was a source of stress and sadness for some medieval couples, as it is for modern ones. It was a personal matter, but also a public one. Both families and the church assumed that the purpose of marriage was to have children. Couples who did not conceive often faced questions and scrutiny.

My research on infertility in the middle ages uncovers the ways in which medieval people explained reproductive problems and tried to enhance their fertility.

A merchant couple from 14th-century Italy – Francesco and Margherita Datini – were childless after several years of marriage. A family friend wrote to Francesco to praise the couple’s financial success and added “but I would rather see [Margherita] become fatter by making children than in gathering money”.

In this situation, medieval people drew on the knowledge and tools available to them. They did so within a very different social, medical and religious context from modern families – but like modern couples they had to make sense of different kinds of information and advice.

We know from their letters that the Datinis consulted a physician, but their friends and family also recommended other solutions. Margherita’s sister offered to buy her a poultice (a mixture of herbs and fats placed on the........

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