Thus Tedia and John tried to enlist the help of others when John’s affliction became apparent. To be unpleasantly graphic, this involved John’s brother trying to aid him in achieving an erection. Yes, this was still in front of the community generally. Clearly the attempt failed.
Next, then, came the court’s actions. The unfortunate John was to be examined per aspectum corporis. This involved three women chosen by the court trying to arouse him. It was a special trial, and one can only imagine the feelings of the poor groom, already forced to endure the ribald amusement of his neighbours, now expected to perform in front of a bunch of women whom he may or may not have desired.
The object here was to see whether John was in fact impotent, or whether the two had merely grown tired of each other and sought an easy release from their vows. In John and Tedia’s case, from what the women reported, the impotence may have had a physical explanation: hypospadias. This is a congenital deformity of the penis, in which a small fissure occurs in the lower part of the urethra, caused by arrested development. For more details read Frederik Pedersen’s ‘Marriage Disputes in Medieval England’.
In this story I have assumed that Isok suffered from this same malformation. Any errors of description are, of course, entirely my own.
Michael Jecks
The Outlaws of Ennor: (Knights Templar 16) Page 43