![Chevalier Auguste de Henikstein - Kislar Agassi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Chevalier_Auguste_de_Henikstein_-_Kislar_Agassi._Grand_eunuque_du_G._Seineur._Bakadgi_S%C5%B1l%C5%B1sl%C5%B1._Astahi._Cuisinier_du_G._Seigneur.jpg)
A eunuch ( ) is a
male
Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization.
A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...
who has been
castrated
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmac ...
. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function.
The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the
Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ian city of
Lagash
Lagash (cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian: ''Lagaš''), was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba) w ...
in the 2nd millennium BCE. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures:
courtier
A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...
s or equivalent
domestics, for
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
or
clandestine operations
A clandestine operation is an intelligence or military operation carried out in such a way that the operation goes unnoticed by the general population or specific enemy forces.
Until the 1970s, clandestine operations were primarily political in ...
,
castrato singers, concubines, or sexual partners, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials, and guardians of women or
harem
Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...
servants.
Eunuchs would usually be servants or
slaves who had been castrated to make them less threatening servants of a
royal court
A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...
where physical access to the ruler could wield great influence. Seemingly lowly domestic functions—such as making the ruler's bed, bathing him, cutting his hair, carrying him in his
litter
Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. Litter can also be used as a verb; to litter means to drop and leave objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, ...
, or even relaying messages—could, in theory, give a eunuch "the ruler's ear" and impart ''de facto'' power on the formally humble but trusted servant. Similar instances are reflected in the humble origins and etymology of many high offices.
Eunuchs supposedly did not generally have loyalties to the military, the aristocracy, or a family of their own (having neither offspring nor in-laws, at the very least). They were thus seen as more trustworthy and less interested in establishing a private "dynasty". Because their condition usually lowered their social status, they could also be easily replaced or killed without repercussion. In cultures that had both harems and eunuchs, eunuchs were sometimes used as harem servants.
Etymology
''Eunuch'' comes from the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
word (), first attested in a fragment of
Hipponax, the 6th century BCE comic poet and prolific inventor of compound words. The acerbic poet describes a particular lover of fine food having "consumed his estate dining lavishly and at leisure every day on tuna and garlic-honey cheese paté like a
Lampsacene
Lampsacus (; grc, Λάμψακος, translit=Lampsakos) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek city strategically located on the eastern side of the Hellespont in the northern Troad. An inhabitant of Lampsacus was called a Lampsacene. The name has ...
"
The earliest surviving etymology of the word is from
late antiquity
Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...
. The 5th century (CE) ''Etymologicon'' by
Orion of Thebes Orion of Thebes (Greek: Ώρίων ό Θηβαίος, died c. 460s) was a 5th-century grammarian of Thebes (Egypt), the teacher of Proclus the neo-Platonist, and of Eudocia, the wife of Emperor Theodosius II. He taught at Alexandria, Caesarea in Cap ...
offers two alternative origins for the word eunuch: first, , "guarding the bed", a derivation inferred from eunuchs' established role at the time as
"bedchamber attendants" in the imperial palace, and second, , "being good with respect to the mind", which Orion explains based on their "being deprived of intercourse (), the things that the ancients used to call irrational (, literally: 'mindless')". Orion's second option reflects well-established idioms in Ancient Greek, as shown by entries for , and in
Liddell and Scott
Liddell is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alice Liddell (1852–1934), Lewis Carroll's "muse"
* Allan Liddell (1908–1970)
* Alvar Lidell (1908–1981), BBC radio announcer and newsreader
* Andreas Lidel (1740s–1780s), c ...
's Greek-English Lexicon, while the first option is not listed as an idiom under in that standard reference work. However, the first option was cited by the late 9th century Byzantine emperor
Leo VI Leo VI (or Leon VI, notably in Greek) may refer to :
* Leo VI the Wise, Byzantine emperor 886 to 912
* Pope Leo VI, 928 to 929
* King Leo VI of Armenia (1342 – 1393), of the House of Lusignan, last Latin king of the Armenian crusader Kingdom of C ...
in his New Constitution 98 banning the marriage of eunuchs, in which he noted eunuchs' reputation as trustworthy guardians of the marriage bed () and claimed that the very word eunuch attested to this kind of employment. The emperor also goes further than Orion by attributing eunuchs' lack of male–female intercourse specifically to castration, which he said was performed with the intention "that they will no longer do the things that males do, or at least to extinguish whatever has to do with desire for the female sex". The 11th century Byzantine monk
Nikon of the Black Mountain
Nikon of the Black Mountain (born 1025, died 1105) was a Byzantine soldier, monk and author.
Born at Constantinople around 1025 to a family of '' archontes'', Nikon served in the army under Constantine IX (). He never received a formal education ...
, opting instead for Orion's second alternative, stated that the word came from ( "good" + "mind"), thus meaning "to be well-minded, well-inclined, well-disposed or favorable", but unlike Orion he argued that this was due to the trust that certain jealous and suspicious foreign rulers placed in the loyalty of their eunuchized servants.
Theophylact of Ohrid
Theophylact ( gr, Θεοφύλακτος, bg, Теофилакт; around 1055after 1107) was a Byzantine archbishop of Ohrid and commentator on the Bible.
Life
Theophylact was born in the mid-11th century at Euripus (Chalcis) in Euboea, at th ...
in a dialogue ''In Defence of Eunuchs'' also stated that the origin of the word was from ''eupnoeic'' and ''ekhein'', "to have, hold", since they were always "well-disposed" toward the master who "held" or owned them. The 12th century
Etymologicum Magnum
''Etymologicum Magnum'' ( grc, Ἐτυμολογικὸν Μέγα, ) (standard abbreviation ''EM'', or ''Etym. M.'' in older literature) is the traditional title of a Greek lexical encyclopedia compiled at Constantinople by an unknown lexicogra ...
(s.v. ''eunoukhos'') essentially repeats the entry from Orion, but stands by the first option, while attributing the second option to what "some say". In the late 12th century,
Eustathius of Thessalonica
Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; el, Εὐστάθιος Θεσσαλονίκης; c. 1115 – 1195/6) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica. He is most noted for his contemporary account of the ...
(''Commentaries on Homer'' 1256.30, 1643.16) offered an original derivation of the word from ''eunis'' + ''okheuein'', "deprived of mating".
In translations of the Bible into modern European languages, such as the
Luther Bible
The Luther Bible (german: Lutherbibel) is a German language Bible translation from Latin sources by Martin Luther. The New Testament was first published in September 1522, and the complete Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocry ...
or the
King James Bible, the word ''eunuchs'' as found in the
Latin Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels us ...
is usually rendered as an officer, official or chamberlain, consistent with the idea that the original meaning of eunuch was bed-keeper (Orion's first option). Modern religious scholars have been disinclined to assume that the courts of Israel and Judah included castrated men, even though the
original translation of the Bible into Greek used the word ''eunoukhos''.
The early 17th-century scholar and theologian
Gerardus Vossius
Gerrit Janszoon Vos (March or April 1577, Heidelberg – 19 March 1649, Amsterdam), often known by his Latin name Gerardus Vossius, was a Dutch classical scholar and theologian.
Life
He was the son of Johannes (Jan) Vos, a Protestant from the Ne ...
therefore explains that the word originally designated an office, and he affirms the view that it was derived from ''eunē'' and ''ekhein'' (i.e. "bed-keeper"). He says the word came to be applied to castrated men in general because such men were the usual holders of that office. Still, Vossius notes the alternative etymologies offered by Eustathius ("deprived of mating") and others ("having the mind in a good state"), calling these analyses "quite subtle". Then, after having previously declared that eunuch designated an office (i.e., not a personal characteristic), Vossius ultimately sums up his argument in a different way, saying that the word "originally signified continent men" to whom the care of women was entrusted, and later came to refer to castration because "among foreigners" that role was performed "by those with mutilated bodies".
Modern etymologists have followed Orion's first option.
In an influential 1925 essay on the word eunuch and related terms,
Ernst Maass suggested that Eustathius's derivation "can or must be laid to rest", and he affirmed the derivation from ''eunē'' and ''ekhein'' ("guardian of the bed"),
without mentioning the other derivation from ''eunoos'' and ''ekhein'' ("having a well-disposed state of mind").
In Latin, the words ''
eunuchus
''Eunuchus'' (''The Eunuch'') is a comedy written by the 2nd century BC Roman playwright Terence featuring a complex plot of rape and reconciliation. It was Terence's most successful play during his lifetime. Suetonius notes how the play was stage ...
'', ''
spado'' (Greek: ''spadon''), and ''
castratus'' were used to denote eunuchs.
By region and epoch
Ancient Middle East
The four-thousand-year-old Egyptian
Execration Texts
Execration texts, also referred to as proscription lists, are ancient Egyptian hieratic texts, listing enemies of the pharaoh, most often enemies of the Egyptian state or troublesome foreign neighbors. The texts were most often written upon sta ...
threaten enemies in Nubia and Asia, specifically referencing "all males, all eunuchs, all women."
Castration was sometimes punitive; under
Assyrian law Assyrian law, also known as the Middle Assyrian Laws (MAL) or the Code of the Assyrians, was an ancient legal code developed between 1450 and 1250 BCE in the Middle Assyrian Empire. (E-book edition) It was very similar to Sumerian and Babylonian ...
, homosexual acts were punishable by castration.
Eunuchs were familiar figures in the
Assyrian Empire
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyr ...
(ca. 850 until 622 BCE) and in the court of the Egyptian
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
s (down to the Lagid dynasty known as Ptolemies, ending with
Cleopatra VII
Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...
, 30 BCE). Eunuchs sometimes were used as
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
s for underage heirs to the throne, as it seems to be the case for the
Neo-Hittite state of
Carchemish
Carchemish ( Turkish: ''Karkamış''; or ), also spelled Karkemish ( hit, ; Hieroglyphic Luwian: , /; Akkadian: ; Egyptian: ; Hebrew: ) was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during it ...
.
Political eunuchism became a fully established institution among the
Achamenide Persians. Eunuchs held powerful positions in the Achaemenide court. The eunuch
Bagoas
Bagoas (Old Iranian: ''Bagāvahyā'', grc, Βαγώας ''Bagōas''; died 336 BCE) was a prominent Persian official who served as the vizier ( Chief Minister) of the Achaemenid Empire until his death.
Biography
Bagoas was a eunuch who later b ...
(not to be confused with
Alexander's Bagoas) was the
Vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
of
Artaxerxes III
Ochus ( grc-gre, Ὦχος ), known by his dynastic name Artaxerxes III ( peo, 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ἀρταξέρξης), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 359/58 to 338 BC. He was the son and successor of ...
and
Artaxerxes IV
Arses ( peo, *R̥šā; grc-gre, Ἀρσής), also known by his regnal name Artaxerxes IV (; peo, 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ἀρταξέρξης), was the twelfth Achaemenid King of Kings from 338 to 336 BC.
Arses ascended ...
, and was the primary power behind the throne during their reigns, until he was killed by
Darius III
Darius III ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; c. 380 – 330 BC) was the last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC.
Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Dar ...
.
Marmon (1995) writes "
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
biographies of the eunuchs often praise their appearance with adjectives such as ''jamil'' (beautiful), ''wasim'' (handsome), and ''ahsan'' (the best, most beautiful) or ''akmal'' (the most perfect)."
Ancient Greece, Rome and Byzantium
The practice was also well established in other Mediterranean areas among the Greeks and Romans, although a role as court functionary does not arise until Byzantine times. The
Galli
A ''gallus'' (pl. ''galli'') was a eunuch priest of the Phrygian goddess Cybele (Magna Mater in Rome) and her consort Attis, whose worship was incorporated into the state religious practices of ancient Rome.
Origins
Cybele's cult may have ori ...
or Priests of
Cybele
Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forer ...
were eunuchs.
In the late period of the Roman Empire, after the adoption of the oriental royal court model by the Emperors
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
(r. 284–305) and
Constantine
Constantine most often refers to:
* Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I
*Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria
Constantine may also refer to:
People
* Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
(r. 306–337), emperors were surrounded by eunuchs for such functions as bathing, haircutting, dressing, and bureaucratic functions, in effect acting as a shield between the emperor and his administrators from physical contact, thus enjoying great influence in the imperial court (see
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...
and
Eutropius).
Julian (r. 361–363) released the eunuchs from their service because he felt they were overpaid, and he subsequently realized how much they had contributed to palace operations.
The Roman poet
Martial
Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...
rails against a woman who has sex with partially castrated eunuchs (those whose testicles were removed or rendered inactive only) in the bitter epigram (VI, 67): "Do you ask, Panychus, why your Caelia only consorts with eunuchs? Caelia wants the flowers of marriage – not the fruits." It is up for debate whether this passage is representative of any sort of widely practiced behavior, however.
At the
Byzantine imperial court, there were a great number of eunuchs employed in domestic and administrative functions, actually organized as a separate hierarchy, following a parallel career of their own. Archieunuchs—each in charge of a group of eunuchs—were among the principal officers in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, under the
emperors
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...
. Under
Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
in the 6th century, the eunuch
Narses
, image=Narses.jpg
, image_size=250
, caption=Man traditionally identified as Narses, from the mosaic depicting Justinian and his entourage in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna
, birth_date=478 or 480
, death_date=566 or 573 (aged 86/95)
, allegi ...
functioned as a successful general in a number of campaigns.
Advantages of eunuchs were that they prevented offices from becoming hereditary, allowing appointments to be made on merit; they were more dedicated to their jobs, not being distracted by family obligations; and they were ineligible for the throne, and for that reason thought by emperors to be safe. Those who had been deprived not only of their testicles but also their penises were known in Greek as ''carzimasia'', and were highly prized.
By the last centuries of the Empire, the number of roles reserved for eunuchs had reduced, and their use may have been all but over.
Following the Byzantine tradition, eunuchs had important tasks at the court of the
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...
during the middle 12th century. One of them,
Philip of Mahdia, has been ''admiratus admiratorum'', and another one,
Ahmed es-Sikeli
Ahmed es-Sikeli ( ar, أحمد الصقلي), baptised a Christian under the name Peter, was a eunuch and kaid of the Diwan of the Kingdom of Sicily during the reign of William I. His story was recorded by his Christian contemporaries Romuald Gu ...
, was prime minister.
China
![Prince Zhanghuai's tomb, eunuchs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Prince_Zhanghuai%27s_tomb%2C_eunuchs.JPG)
In China, castration included
removal of the penis as well as the testicles (see
emasculation
Emasculation is the removal of both the penis and the testicles, the external male sex organs. It differs from castration, which is the removal of the testicles only, although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. The potential medical ...
). Both organs were cut off with a knife at the same time.
Eunuchs existed in China from about 4,000 years ago, were imperial servants by 3,000 years ago, and were common as civil servants by the time of the
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...
. From those ancient times until the
Sui dynasty
The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...
, castration was both a traditional punishment (one of the
Five Punishments
The Five Punishments () was the collective name for a series of physical penalties meted out by the legal system of pre-modern dynastic China. Over time, the nature of the Five Punishments varied. Before the time of Western Han dynasty Emperor H ...
) and a means of gaining employment in the imperial service. Certain eunuchs, such as the Ming dynasty official
Zheng He
Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferr ...
, gained immense power that occasionally superseded that of even the
Grand Secretaries. Self-castration was a common practice, although it was not always performed completely, which led to it being made illegal.
It is said that the justification for the employment of eunuchs as high-ranking civil servants was that, since they were incapable of having children, they would not be tempted to seize power and start a dynasty. In many cases, eunuchs were considered more reliable than the scholar-officials. As a symbolic assignment of heavenly authority to the palace system, a constellation of stars was designated as the Emperor's, and, to the west of it, four stars were identified as his "eunuchs."
The tension between eunuchs in the service of the emperor and virtuous Confucian officials is a familiar theme in Chinese history. In his ''History of Government'',
Samuel Finer
Samuel Edward Finer FBA (22 September 1915 – 9 June 1993) was a British political scientist and historian specializing in comparative politics, who was instrumental in advancing political studies as an academic subject in the United Kingdom ...
points out that reality was not always that clear-cut. There were instances of very capable eunuchs who were valuable advisers to their emperor, and the resistance of the "virtuous" officials often stemmed from jealousy on their part.
Ray Huang
Ray Huang (; 25 June 19188 January 2000) was a Chinese-American historian and philosopher who was an officer in the National Revolutionary Army and fought in the Burma Campaign. In 1964, Huang earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of M ...
argues that in reality, eunuchs represented the personal will of the Emperor, while the officials represented the alternative political will of the
bureaucracy
The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
. The clash between them would thus have been a clash of ideologies or political agenda.
The number of eunuchs in imperial employ fell to 470 by 1912, when the practice of using them ceased. The last imperial eunuch,
Sun Yaoting
Sun Yaoting (Traditional Chinese: 孫耀庭, Simplified Chinese: 孙耀庭, Hanyu Pinyin: Sūn Yàotíng, Wade-Giles: Sun Yao-t'ing; 29 September 1902 – 17 December 1996) was the last surviving imperial eunuch of Chinese history. He was cas ...
, died in December 1996.
Korea
The eunuchs of Korea, called ko, 내시, 內侍, naesi, were officials to the king and other royalty in traditional Korean society. The first recorded appearance of a Korean eunuch was in
Goryeosa ("History of Goryeo"), a compilation about the
Goryeo
Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...
dynasty period. In 1392, with the founding of the
Joseon dynasty
Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...
, the ''naesi'' system was revised, and the department was renamed the "Department of ''Naesi''".
The ''naesi'' system included two ranks, those of ko, 상선, 尙膳, Sangseon, translation=Chief of Naesi, who held the official title of senior second rank, and ko, 내관, 內官, Naegwan, translation=Common official naesi, both of which held rank as officers. A total of 140 ''naesi'' served the palace in the Joseon dynasty period. They also took the exam on
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
every month.
The ''naesi'' system was repealed in 1894 following
Gabo reform
The Gabo Reform, also known as the Kabo Reform, describes a series of sweeping reforms suggested to the government of Korea, beginning in 1894 and ending in 1896 during the reign of Gojong of Korea in response to the Donghak Peasant Revolution. ...
.
During the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
, eunuchs became a desirable commodity for
tributes
A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...
.
Eunuchs were the only males outside the royal family allowed to stay inside the palace overnight. Court records going back to 1392 indicate that the average lifespan of eunuchs was 70.0 ± 1.76 years, which was 14.4–19.1 years longer than the lifespan of non-castrated men of similar socioeconomic status.
Vietnam
The Vietnamese adopted the
eunuch system and castration techniques from China. Records show that the Vietnamese performed
castration
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceut ...
in a painful procedure by removing the entire genitalia with both penis and testicles being cut off with a sharp knife or metal blade. The procedure was agonizing since the entire penis was cut off. The young man's thighs and abdomen would be tied and others would pin him down on a table. The genitals would be washed with pepper water and then cut off. A tube would be then inserted into the urethra to allow urination during healing. Many Vietnamese eunuchs were products of self castration to gain access to the palaces and power. In other cases they might be paid to become eunuchs. They served in many capacities, from supervising public works, to investigating crimes, to reading public proclamations.
Thailand
In
Siam
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...
(modern Thailand)
Indian Muslims
Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, approximately 172.2 million people identifying as adherents of Islam in 2011 Census. India is also the country with the second or third largest number of Muslim ...
from the
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent, bounded by the Utkal Plains to the north, the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Kaveri delta to the south, and the Eastern Ghats to the west, extending over an ...
served as eunuchs in the Thai palace and court.
[Peletz (2009), p. 73 ][Peletz (2009), p. 73 ] The Thai at times asked eunuchs from China to visit the court in Thailand and advise them on court ritual since they held them in high regard.
Burma
Sir
Henry Yule
Sir Henry Yule (1 May 1820 – 30 December 1889) was a Scottish Orientalist and geographer. He published many travel books, including translations of the work of Marco Polo and ''Mirabilia'' by the 14th-century Dominican Friar Jordanus. ...
saw many Muslims serving as eunuchs during the
Konbaung dynasty
The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...
period of Burma (modern
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
) while on a diplomatic mission.
Arabian Peninsula
For several centuries, Muslim Eunuchs were tasked with honored roles in
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
and
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
.
They are thought to have been instituted in their role there by
Salah ad-Deen Ayubi, but perhaps earlier.
Their tasks included caring for the Prophet Muhammad's
tomb
A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...
, maintaining borders between males and females where needed, and keeping order in the sacred spaces.
They were highly respected in their time and remained there throughout the Ottoman Empire's control of the area and afterward.
In the present day, it is reported that only a few remain.
Ottoman Empire
![Ottoman eunuch, 1912](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Ottoman_eunuch%2C_1912.jpg)
In the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, eunuchs were typically
slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
s imported from outside their domains. A fair proportion of male slaves were imported as eunuchs.
The
Ottoman court harem—within the
Topkapı Palace
The Topkapı Palace ( tr, Topkapı Sarayı; ota, طوپقپو سرايى, ṭopḳapu sarāyı, lit=cannon gate palace), or the Seraglio
A seraglio, serail, seray or saray (from fa, سرای, sarāy, palace, via Turkish and Italian) i ...
(1465–1853) and later the
Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace ( tr, Dolmabahçe Sarayı, ) located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coast of the Bosporus strait, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 t ...
(1853–1909) in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
—was under the administration of the eunuchs. These were of two categories: black eunuchs and white eunuchs. Black eunuchs were African slaves who served the concubines and officials in the Harem together with chamber maidens of low rank. The white eunuchs were European slaves from the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
or the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
, either purchased in the slave markets or taken as boys from Christian families in the Balkans who were unable to pay the ''
Jizya'' tax. They served the recruits at the
Palace School and were from 1582 prohibited from entering the Harem. An important figure in the Ottoman court was the
Chief Black Eunuch
The kizlar agha ( ota, قيزلر اغاسی, tr, kızlar ağası, ), formally the agha of the House of Felicity ( ota, links=no, دار السعاده اغاسي, tr, links=no, Darüssaade Ağası), was the head of the eunuchs who guarded the ...
(''Kızlar Ağası'' or ''Darüssaade Ağası''). In control of both the Harem and a net of spies among the black eunuchs, the Chief Eunuch was involved in almost every palace intrigue and thereby could gain power over either the sultan or one of his viziers, ministers, or other court officials. One of the most powerful Chief Eunuchs was
Beshir Agha in the 1730s, who played a crucial role in establishing the Ottoman version of
Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...
Islam throughout the Empire by founding libraries and schools.
Coptic involvement
In the 14th century, the Muslim Egyptian religious scholar Taj-al-Din Abu Nasr 'Abdal-Wahhab al-Subki discussed eunuchs in his book ''Kitab Mu'id al-Ni'am wa Mubid al-Niqam'' ( ar, كتاب معيد النعم ومبيد النقم), a title that has been translated as ''Book of the Guide to
ivineBenefits and Averting of
ivineVengeance'' and also as ''Book of Tutor of Graces and Annihilator of Misfortunes''. In a chapter dedicated to eunuchs, Al-Subki made "the clear implication that 'eunuchness' is itself an office," Shaun Marmon explained, adding that al-Subki had specified occupational subgroups for the ''tawashiya''
unuchs the ''zimam'' watched over women, and the ''muqaddam al-mamalik'' over adolescent boys.
Edmund Andrews of
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
, in an 1898 article called "Oriental Eunuchs" in
the American Journal of Medicine
''The American Journal of Medicine'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal and the official journal of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine. It was established in 1946. The journal is published monthly by Elsevier under its Excerpta Medic ...
, refers to Coptic priests in "Abou Gerhè in Upper Egypt" castrating slave boys.
![Sebah, Pascal – Ottoman Eunuch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Sebah%2C_Pascal_%E2%80%93_Ottoman_Eunuch.JPG)
Coptic castration of slaves was discussed by
Peter Charles Remondino
Peter Charles Remondino (February 10, 1846December 10, 1926) was an Italian-American physician, pro-circumcision advocate,
first president of the San Diego Board of Health, and co-founder of San Diego’s first private hospital.
In the course ...
, in his book ''History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present'',
published in 1900. He refers to the "Abou-Gerghè" monastery in a place he calls "Mount Ghebel-Eter". He adds details not mentioned by Andrews such as the insertion of bamboo into the victim. Bamboo was used with Chinese eunuchs. Andrews states his information is derived from an earlier work, ''Les Femmes, les eunuques, et les guerriers du Soudan'',
published by a French explorer, Count
Raoul du Bisson, in 1868, though this detail does not appear in Du Bisson's book.
Remondino's claims were repeated in similar form by Henry G. Spooner in 1919, in the ''American Journal of Urology and Sexology''. Spooner, an associate of
William J. Robinson, referred to the monastery as "Abou Gerbe in Upper Egypt".
According to Remondino, Spooner, and several later sources, the Coptic priests sliced the penis and testicles off
Nubian
Nubian may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Nubia, a region along the Nile river in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan.
*Nubian people
*Nubian languages
*Anglo-Nubian goat, a breed of goat
* Nubian ibex
* , several ships of the Britis ...
or
Abyssinian slave boys around the age of eight. The boys were captured from Abyssinia and other areas in
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
like
Darfur and
Kordofan
Kordofan ( ar, كردفان ') is a former province of central Sudan. In 1994 it was divided into three new federal states: North Kordofan, South Kordofan and West Kordofan. In August 2005, West Kordofan State was abolished and its territory ...
, then brought into Sudan and Egypt. During the operation, the Coptic clergyman chained the boys to tables, then, after slicing off their sexual organs, stuck a piece of bamboo into the urethra and submerged them in neck-high sand under the sun. The survival rate was ten percent. Slave traders made especially large profits off eunuchs from this region.
However, neither "Abou Gerbe", as an actual monastery, nor "Mount Ghebel Eter", as an actual location, are known. Additionally, the cited references from Andrews, Remondino and Spooner appear circular, originating in tales told by a single French explorer. The later cited sources simply copy the earlier ones. Further, the 90% mortality rate seems economically improbable, given that it would require that markets paid at least 15 times the value of an uncastrated slave boy for a eunuch slave boy. A modern peer-reviewed source reports survival in Chinese court castrations of children at 33%, which is quite low, but nevertheless far higher than reported by Remondino. The same source reports later adult castrations as having a survival rate of 98%. Consequently, the accounts of castration by Coptic monks reported above, along with the 90% mortality figure, should be treated with considerable skepticism.
Fatimid Caliphate
In the
Shi'i
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
Fatimid
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dy ...
Empire (909 CE - 1171 CE), eunuchs played major roles in the politics of the caliphate's court. These eunuchs were normally purchased from slave auctions and typically came from a variety of Arab and non-Arab minority ethnic groups. In some cases, they were purchased from various noble families in the empire, which would then connect those families to the caliph. Generally, though, foreign slaves were preferred, described as the "ideal servants".
Once enslaved, eunuchs were often placed into positions of significant power in one of four areas: the service of the male members of the court; the service of the harem, or female members of the court; administrative and clerical positions; and military service. For example, during the Fatimid occupation of Cairo, Egyptian eunuchs controlled military garrisons (''shurta'') and marketplaces (''hisba''), two positions beneath only the city magistrate in power. However, the most influential Fatimid eunuchs were the ones in direct service to the caliph and the royal household as chamberlains, treasurers, governors, and attendants. Their direct proximity to the caliph and his household afforded them a great amount of political sway. One eunuch, Court Eunuch
al-Jawdhar, became ''hujja'' to the Imam-Caliph
al-Qa'im, a sacred role in Shia Islam entrusted with the imam's choice of successor upon his death.
There were several other eunuchs of high regard in Fatimid history, mainly being
Abu'l-Fadi Rifq al-Khadim and
Abu'l-Futuh Barjawan al-Ustadh. Rifq was a black African eunuch general served as governor of the Damascus until he led an army of 30,000 men in a campaign to expand Fatimid control northeast to the city of Aleppo, Syria. He was noted for being able to unite a diverse group of black Africans, Arabs, Bedouins, Berbers, and Turks into one coherent fight force which was able to successfully combat the
Mirdasids
The Mirdasid dynasty ( ar, المرداسيون, al-Mirdāsiyyīn), also called the Banu Mirdas, was an Arab dynasty which ruled an Aleppo-based emirate in northern Syria and the western Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) more or less continuously fro ...
,
Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
s, and Byzantines.
Barjawan was a European eunuch during late Fatimid rule who gained power through his military and political savvy which brought peace between them and the Byzantine empire. Moreover, he squashed revolts in the Libya and the Levant. Given his reputation and power in the court and military he took the reigns of the caliphate from his then student
al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah; then ruled as the de facto Regent 997 CE. His usurpation of power from the caliph resulted in his assassination in 1000 CE on the orders of al-Hakim.
Since imams during this period ruled over a majority non-Shi'a population, the court eunuchs served an important informal role as ambassadors of the caliph, promoting loyalty and devotion to the Shi'a sect and the imam-caliph himself. The multicultural, multilingual eunuchs were able to connect to the commoners through shared cultural ground
Algiers
In the 16th century, an Englishman,
Samson Rowlie
Samson Rowlie (died after 1588), was Chief Eunuch and Treasurer of Algiers during Ottoman rule. Born in Norfolk, England, the son of a Bristol merchant, Francis Rowlie, he was captured aboard of the ''Swallow'' and castrated by the Ottomans in 1 ...
, was captured and castrated to serve the Ottoman governor in Algiers.
Indian subcontinent (Central Asian Muslim conquerors)
Eunuchs in Indian sultanates (before the Mughals)
Eunuchs were frequently employed in imperial palaces by Muslim rulers as servants for female royalty, as guards of the royal harem, and as sexual mates for the nobles. Some of them attained high-status positions in society. An early example of such a high-ranking eunuch was
Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur (died 1316), also known as Taj al-Din Izz al-Dawla, was a prominent slave-general of the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji. He was captured by Alauddin's general Nusrat Khan during the 1299 invasion of Gujarat, and rose to promin ...
. Eunuchs in imperial palaces were organized in a hierarchy, often with a senior or Chief Eunuch (Urdu: ''Khwaja Saras''), directing junior eunuchs below him. Eunuchs were highly valued for their strength and trustworthiness, allowing them to live amongst women with fewer worries. This enabled eunuchs to serve as messengers, watchmen, attendants and guards for palaces. Often, eunuchs also doubled as part of the King's court of advisers.
The hijra of South Asia
![Hidras of Panscheel Park-New Delhi-1994-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Hidras_of_Panscheel_Park-New_Delhi-1994-2.jpg)
Hijra, a
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
term traditionally translated into English as "eunuch", actually refers to what modern Westerners would call
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
women and
effeminate
Effeminacy is the embodiment of traits and/or expressions in those who are not of the female sex (e.g. boys and men) that are often associated with what is generally perceived to be feminine behaviours, mannerisms, styles, or gender roles, rath ...
homosexual men (although some of them reportedly identify as belonging to a
third sex
Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term ''third'' is usually ...
). The history of this third sex is mentioned in the
Ancient Indian Kama Sutra
The ''Kama Sutra'' (; sa, कामसूत्र, , ; ) is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the ''Kama Sutra'' is neither exclusively nor predominantly ...
, which refers to people of a "third sex" (''triteeyaprakrti''). Some of them undergo ritual castration, but the majority do not.
They usually dress in
sari
A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include:
* as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO
* bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO
* gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std= ...
s (traditional garb worn by women in India) or
shalwar kameez (traditional garb worn by women in South Asia) and wear heavy make-up. They typically live on the margins of society and face discrimination. Hijra tend to have few options for earning a wage, with many turning to sex work and others performing ritualistic songs and dances. They are integral to several Hindu ceremonies, such as dance programs at marriage ceremonies. They may also earn a living by going uninvited to large ceremonies such as weddings, births, new shop openings and other major family events, and singing until they are paid or given gifts to go away. The ceremony is supposed to bring good luck and fertility, while the curse of an unappeased hijra is feared by many. Hijra often engage in prostitution and begging to earn money, with begging typically accompanied by singing and dancing. Some Indian provincial officials have used the assistance of hijras to collect taxes in the same fashion—they knock on the doors of shopkeepers, while dancing and singing, embarrassing them into paying. Recently, hijras have started to found organizations to improve their social condition and fight discrimination, such as the Shemale Foundation Pakistan.
Religious castration
Castration as part of religious practice, and eunuchs occupying religious roles, have been established prior to classical antiquity. Archaeological finds at
Çatalhöyük
Çatalhöyük (; also ''Çatal Höyük'' and ''Çatal Hüyük''; from Turkish ''çatal'' "fork" + ''höyük'' "tumulus") is a tell of a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from app ...
in
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
indicate worship of a 'Magna Mater' figure, a forerunner of the goddess
Cybele
Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forer ...
found in later
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
and other parts of the near East.
Later Roman followers of Cybele were called
Galli
A ''gallus'' (pl. ''galli'') was a eunuch priest of the Phrygian goddess Cybele (Magna Mater in Rome) and her consort Attis, whose worship was incorporated into the state religious practices of ancient Rome.
Origins
Cybele's cult may have ori ...
, who practiced ritual self-castration, known as ''sanguinaria''.
Eunuch priests also figured prominently in the
Atargatis
Atargatis (; grc, Ἀτάργατις, translit=Atárgatis or arc, , translit=ʿtrʿth; syc, ܬܪܥܬܐ, translit=Tarʿaṯā) was the chief goddess of northern Syria in Classical antiquity. Ctesias also used the name Derketo ( grc-koi, Δε ...
cult in Syria during the first centuries AD.
The practice of religious castration continued into the Christian era, with members of the early church practicing celibacy (including castration) for religious purposes,
although the extent and even the existence of this practice among Christians is subject to debate.
The early theologian
Origen
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, ...
found evidence of the practice in : "His disciples said to him, 'If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.' But he said to them, 'Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can. ''(NRSV)''
Tertullian
Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...
, a 2nd-century Church Father, described Jesus himself and Paul of Tarsus as ''spadones'', which is translated as "eunuchs" in some contexts.
Quoting from the cited book:
"Tertullian takes 'spado' to mean virgin". The meaning of ''spado'' in late antiquity can be interpreted as a metaphor for celibacy. Tertullian even goes so far with the metaphor as to say St. Paul had been "castrated".
Eunuch priests have served various goddesses from India for many centuries. Similar phenomena are exemplified by some modern Indian communities of the
hijra
Hijra, Hijrah, Hegira, Hejira, Hijrat or Hijri may refer to:
Islam
* Hijrah (often written as ''Hejira'' in older texts), the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE
* Migration to Abyssinia or First Hegira, of Muhammad's followers ...
, which are associated with a deity and with certain rituals and festivals – notably the devotees of
Yellammadevi, or ''jogappas'', who are not castrated, and the Ali of southern India, of whom at least some are.
The 18th-century Russian
Skoptzy
The Skoptsy ( rus, скопцы, p=skɐpˈtsɨ; "eunuch") were a sect within the larger Spiritual Christianity movement in the Russian Empire, best known for practicing castration of men and the mastectomy of women in accordance with their teachi ...
(''скопцы'') sect was an example of a
castration cult
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmac ...
, where its members regarded castration as a way of renouncing the
sin
In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
s of the flesh.
Several members of the 20th-century
Heaven's Gate cult were found to have been castrated, apparently voluntarily and for the same reasons.
In the Bible
The reference to "eunuchs" in Matthew 19:12 has yielded various interpretations.
Eunuchs are mentioned many times in the Bible, such as in the
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...
(56:4) using the word סריס (''saris''). Although the Ancient
Hebrews
The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still no ...
did not practice castration, eunuchs were common in other cultures featured in the Bible, such as
ancient Egypt,
Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...
, the
Persian Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
, and
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
. In the
Book of Esther
The Book of Esther ( he, מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר, Megillat Esther), also known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the wikt:מגילה, Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Judaism, Jewish ''Tanak ...
, servants of the harem of
Ahasuerus
Ahasuerus ( ; , commonly ''Achashverosh'';; fa, اخشورش, Axšoreš; fa, label= New Persian, خشایار, Xašāyār; grc, Ξέρξης, Xérxēs. grc, label= Koine Greek, Ἀσουήρος, Asouḗros, in the Septuagint; la, Assue ...
, such as Hegai and Shashgaz, as well as other servants such as Hatach, Harbonah, Bigthan, and Teresh, are referred to as ''sarisim''. Being exposed to the consorts of the king, they would likely have been castrated.
There is some confusion regarding eunuchs in
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
passages, since the
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
word for eunuch, ''saris'' (סריס), could also refer to other servants and officials who had not been castrated but served in similar capacities.
One of the earliest converts to Christianity was an
Ethiopian eunuch
The Ethiopian eunuch ( gez, ኢትዮጵያዊው ጃንደረባ) is a figure in the New Testament of the Bible; the story of his conversion to Christianity is recounted in Acts 8.
Biblical narrative
Philip the Evangelist was told by an angel ...
who was a high court official of
Candace
Kandake, kadake or kentake ( Meroitic: 𐦲𐦷𐦲𐦡 ''kdke''),Kirsty
Rowan"Revising the Sound Value of Meroitic D: A Phonological Approach,"''Beitrage zur Sudanforschung'' 10 (2009). often Latinised as Candace ( grc, Κανδάκη, ''Kandak ...
, the Queen of Ethiopia, but was already a eunuch at the time of conversion (Acts 8:27–39).
Non-castrated eunuchs
The term ''eunuch'' has sometimes figuratively been used for a wide range of men who were seen to be
physically unable to procreate.
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...
describes the
Scythians
The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern
* : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved f ...
as being afflicted with high rates of
erectile dysfunction and thus "the most eunuchoid of all nations" (Airs Waters Places 22). In the ''Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary'', the term literally used for impotent males is ''spado'' but may also be used for eunuchs.
Some men have falsified the status of their castration to gain entrance into the palace. Chinese eunuch
Lao Ai Lao Ai (; died 238 BCE) was an imposter eunuch and official of the State of Qin during the late Warring States period. Allegedly falsifying his castration in order to gain entry into the court of Qin, he became the favorite of Queen Dowager Zhao, t ...
for instance, became the lover of the mother of
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor ( ...
, who bore him two sons, before Lao Ai and his sons were executed after participating in a rebellion against Qin Shi Huang.
Castrato singers
Eunuchs castrated before
puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...
were also valued and trained in several cultures for their exceptional voices, which retained a childlike and other-worldly flexibility and treble pitch (a high-pitched voice). Such eunuchs were known as
castrati.
As women were sometimes forbidden to sing in Church, their place was taken by castrati. Castrati became very popular in 18th century
opera seria. The practice, known as ''castratism'', remained popular until the 18th century and was known into the 19th century. The last famous Italian castrato,
Giovanni Velluti, died in 1861. The sole existing sound recording of a castrato singer documents the voice of
Alessandro Moreschi
Alessandro Moreschi (11 November 1858 – 21 April 1922) was an Italian chorister of the late 19th century and the only castrato to make solo recordings.
Early life
Alessandro Moreschi was born on 11 November 1858 to Luigi Lorenzo Moreschi (1840 ...
, the last eunuch in the
Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its name ...
choir, who died in 1922.
This Italian practice of castrating young males to maintain their soprano voices was ended by Pope
Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-ol ...
(1878).
In popular culture
Notable eunuchs
In chronological order.
First millennium BCE
* Mutakkil-Marduk (8th century BCE): Assyrian chief eunuch,
eponym
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
of the year 798 BCE in an Assyrian eponym chronicle.
*
Yariri The House of Astiruwa was the last known dynasty of rulers of Carchemish. The members of this dynasty are best known to us through Hieroglyphic Luwian sources. One member of the House of Astiruwa may also be referred to in Assyrian sources.
Astiru ...
(8th century BCE):
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
of
Neo-Hittite Carchemish
Carchemish ( Turkish: ''Karkamış''; or ), also spelled Karkemish ( hit, ; Hieroglyphic Luwian: , /; Akkadian: ; Egyptian: ; Hebrew: ) was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during it ...
thought likely to be a eunuch.
*
Sin-shumu-lishir
Sin-shumu-lishir or Sin-shumu-lisher' ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning " Sîn, make the name prosper!"), also spelled Sin-shum-lishir,' was a usurper king in the Neo-Assyrian Empire, ruling some cities in northern Babylonia for three month ...
(7th century BCE): Assyrian eunuch who attempted to usurp power in the
Neo-Assyrian Empire
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history and the final and greatest phase of Assyria as an independent state. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew t ...
.
* Aspamistres or Mithridates (5th century BCE): bodyguard of
Xerxes I of Persia
Xerxes I ( peo, 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ξέρξης ; – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son and successor of ...
, and (with
Artabanus) his murderer.
*
Artoxares Artoxares (; Old Persian *''Artaxšara'') (c. 465 BC - after 419 BC) was a Paphlagonian eunuch, who played a central role during the reigns of Artaxerxes I and Darius II of Persia.
According to Ctesias, when he was twenty years old, Artoxares pa ...
: an envoy of
Artaxerxes I and
Darius II of Persia.
*
Bagoas
Bagoas (Old Iranian: ''Bagāvahyā'', grc, Βαγώας ''Bagōas''; died 336 BCE) was a prominent Persian official who served as the vizier ( Chief Minister) of the Achaemenid Empire until his death.
Biography
Bagoas was a eunuch who later b ...
(4th century BCE): prime minister of king
Artaxerxes III
Ochus ( grc-gre, Ὦχος ), known by his dynastic name Artaxerxes III ( peo, 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ἀρταξέρξης), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 359/58 to 338 BC. He was the son and successor of ...
of Persia, and his assassin (Bagoas is an old Persian word meaning ''eunuch'').
*
Bagoas
Bagoas (Old Iranian: ''Bagāvahyā'', grc, Βαγώας ''Bagōas''; died 336 BCE) was a prominent Persian official who served as the vizier ( Chief Minister) of the Achaemenid Empire until his death.
Biography
Bagoas was a eunuch who later b ...
(4th century BCE): a favorite of
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
. Influential in changing Alexander's attitude toward Persians and therefore in the king's policy decision to try to integrate the conquered peoples fully into his Empire as loyal subjects. He thereby paved the way for the relative success of Alexander's
Seleucid
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
successors and greatly enhanced the diffusion of Greek culture to the East.
* Batis (4th century BCE): resisted Alexander the Great at the
Siege of Gaza
The siege of Gaza took place in 332 BC, and was part of the Egyptian campaign of Alexander the Great, the ancient Greek king of Macedonia. It ended the Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt, which functioned as a satrapy of the Achaemenid Persia ...
.
*
Philetaerus
Philetaerus (; grc, Φιλέταιρος, ''Philétairos'', c. 343 –263 BC) was the founder of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon in Anatolia.
Early life and career under Lysimachus
Philetaerus was born in Tieium (Greek: ''Tieion''), a small ...
(4th/3rd century BCE): founder of the
Attalid dynasty
The Kingdom of Pergamon or Attalid kingdom was a Greek state during the Hellenistic period that ruled much of the Western part of Asia Minor from its capital city of Pergamon. It was ruled by the Attalid dynasty (; grc-x-koine, Δυναστ ...
of
Pergamum
Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...
*
Zhao Gao
Zhao Gao (died 207 BC) was a Chinese politician and calligrapher. He was an official of the Qin dynasty of China. Allegedly a eunuch, he served as a close aide to all three rulers of the Qin dynasty – Qin Shi Huang, Qin Er Shi and Ziying ...
(died 210 BCE): favourite of Qin Shihuangdi, who plotted against
Li Si
Li Si (Mandarin: ; BCSeptember or October 208 BC) was a Chinese philosopher, politician, and calligrapher of the Qin dynasty. He served as Chancellor (or Prime Minister) from 246 to 208 BC under two rulers: Qin Shi Huang, the king of the Qin ...
.
*
Sima Qian
Sima Qian (; ; ) was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206AD220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his ''Records of the Grand Historian'', a general history of China covering more than two thousand years b ...
(old romanization Ssu-ma Chi'en; 2nd/1st century BCE): the first person to have practiced modern
historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
– gathering and analyzing both primary and secondary sources to write his monumental history of the Chinese Empire.
*
Ganymedes (1st century BCE): highly capable adviser and general of
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...
VII's sister and rival, Princess
Arsinoe. Unsuccessfully attacked Julius Caesar three times at Alexandria.
*
Pothinus
Pothinus or Potheinos ( grc-gre, Ποθεινὸς; early 1st century BC – 48 or 47 BC), a eunuch, was regent for Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. He is most remembered for turning Ptolemy against his sister and co ...
(1st century BCE): regent for pharaoh
Ptolemy XII
Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus Philopator Philadelphus ( grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος Νέος Διόνυσος Φιλοπάτωρ Φιλάδελφος, Ptolemaios Neos Dionysos Philopatōr Philadelphos; – 51 BC) was a pharaoh of the Ptolemaic ...
.
First millennium CE
*
Sporus
Sporus was a young slave boy whom the Roman Emperor Nero favored, had castrated, and married.Champlin, 2005, p.145Smith, 1849, p.897
Life
Little is known about Sporus' background except that he was a youth to whom Nero took a liking. He may h ...
(died 69): an attractive Roman boy who was castrated by, and later married to, Emperor
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
.
* Unidentified "
Ethiopian eunuch
The Ethiopian eunuch ( gez, ኢትዮጵያዊው ጃንደረባ) is a figure in the New Testament of the Bible; the story of his conversion to Christianity is recounted in Acts 8.
Biblical narrative
Philip the Evangelist was told by an angel ...
" (1st century AD), from the Kingdom of Kush in modern-day Sudan, described in the
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...
(chapter 8).
Philip the Evangelist
Philip the Evangelist ( el, Φίλιππος, ''Philippos'') appears several times in the Acts of the Apostles. He was one of the Seven chosen to care for the poor of the Christian community in Jerusalem (). He preached and reportedly perform ...
, one of the original seven deacons, is directed by the Holy Spirit to catch up to the eunuch's chariot and hears him reading from the
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...
(chapter 53).
Philip
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
explained that the section prophesies Jesus' crucifixion, which Philip described to the eunuch. The eunuch was baptized shortly thereafter.
*
Halotus
Halotus (c. 20–30 ADc. 70–80 AD) was an eunuch servant to the Roman Emperor Claudius, the fourth member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.Anthony A. Barrett ''Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire'', page 140. Routledge, 1996. ...
( 20–30 CE – 70–80 CE),
servant to the
Roman Emperor Claudius
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...
and suspected of poisoning him.
*
Cai Lun
Cai Lun (; courtesy name: Jingzhong (); – 121 CE), formerly romanized as Ts'ai Lun, was a Chinese eunuch court official of the Eastern Han dynasty. He is traditionally regarded as the inventor of paper and the modern papermaking process ...
(–121): Former attribution to Lun as the inventor of paper has been rescinded following discovery of many earlier manuscripts written on paper. It is now highly questionable if he was directly involved in making paper.
*
Zhang Rang
The Ten Attendants, also known as the Ten Eunuchs, were a group of influential eunuch-officials in the imperial court of Emperor Ling ( 168–189) in Eastern Han China. Although they are often referred to as a group of 10, there were actually 12 ...
: head of the infamous "10 Changshi" (
ten attendants
The Ten Attendants, also known as the Ten Eunuchs, were a group of influential eunuch-officials in the imperial court of Emperor Ling ( 168–189) in Eastern Han China. Although they are often referred to as a group of 10, there were actually 12 ...
) of the Eastern
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
.
*
Huang Hao
Huang Hao ( 220s–263) was a Chinese eunuch and politician serving under Liu Shan (), the second and last emperor of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of China. Highly favoured by Liu Shan, he was commonly blamed for ...
: eunuch in the state of Shu; also appears in the ''
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD ...
''.
*
Cen Hun
Cen Hun (died 280) was an official of the state of Eastern Wu during the late Three Kingdoms period (220–280) of China.
Life
Cen Hun held positions among the Nine Ministers during the reign of Sun Hao, the fourth and last emperor of Wu. Hist ...
(died 280): eunuch in the state of Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period.
*
Origen
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, ...
( 185– 253): early Christian theologian, allegedly castrated himself based on his reading of the
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...
19:12 ("For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it."). Despite the fact that the early Christian theologian
Tertullian
Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...
wrote that Jesus was a eunuch, there is no corroboration in any other early source. (The
Skoptsy
The Skoptsy ( rus, скопцы, p=skɐpˈtsɨ; "eunuch") were a sect within the larger Spiritual Christianity movement in the Russian Empire, best known for practicing castration of men and the mastectomy of women in accordance with their teachi ...
did, however, believe it to be true.
)
*
Chusdazat (died 344): He served
King Shapur II, who killed him for declaring his Christian identity.
*
Dorotheus of Tyre
Saint Dorotheus bishop of Tyre (present-day Lebanon; c. 255 – 362) is traditionally credited with an ''Acts'' of the Seventy Apostles (which may be the same work as the lost '' Gospel of the Seventy''), who were sent out according to the ''Go ...
(255–362): A bishop who attended the
Council of Nicaea, was exiled by
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
and
Julian, and was martyred.
*
Eutropius (died 399): only eunuch known to have attained the highly distinguished office of
Roman Consul
A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...
.
*
Chrysaphius (died 450): chief minister of Eastern Roman Emperor
Theodosius II
Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''Augustus (title), augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after ...
, architect of imperial policy towards the Huns.
*
Narses
, image=Narses.jpg
, image_size=250
, caption=Man traditionally identified as Narses, from the mosaic depicting Justinian and his entourage in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna
, birth_date=478 or 480
, death_date=566 or 573 (aged 86/95)
, allegi ...
(478–573): general of Byzantine emperor
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
, responsible for destroying the
Ostrogoth
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...
s in 552 at the
Battle of Taginae
At the Battle of Taginae (also known as the Battle of Busta Gallorum) in June/July 552, the forces of the Byzantine Empire under Narses broke the power of the Ostrogoths in Italy, and paved the way for the temporary Byzantine reconquest of the It ...
in Italy and reconquering Rome for the empire.
*
Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
(480s/490s–544): general and governor of Africa under Justinian I.
*
Gao Lishi
Gao Lishi () (684–762), formally the Duke of Qi (齊國公), was a Chinese eunuch and politician of the Tang dynasty and the Wu Zhou dynasty, becoming particularly powerful during Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's reign. He is believed to have been in ...
(684–762): a loyal and trusted friend of
Tang
Tang or TANG most often refers to:
* Tang dynasty
* Tang (drink mix)
Tang or TANG may also refer to:
Chinese states and dynasties
* Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...
emperor
Xuanzong.
*
Li Fuguo
Li Fuguo ( 李 輔 國; 704 – November 12, 762According to Tang Daizong's biography in the '' Old Book of Tang'', Li was killed at night on the ''dingmao'' day in the 10th month of the 1st year of the Baoying era of Tang Suzong's/Daizong's reign ...
(704–762):
Tang
Tang or TANG most often refers to:
* Tang dynasty
* Tang (drink mix)
Tang or TANG may also refer to:
Chinese states and dynasties
* Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...
eunuch who began another era of eunuch rule.
*
Yu Chao'en Yu Chao'en (魚朝恩) (722 – April 10, 770), formally the Duke of Han (韓公), was a eunuch official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. He was powerful early during the reign of Emperor Daizong and was feared by others, including chancellors ...
(722–770):
Tang
Tang or TANG most often refers to:
* Tang dynasty
* Tang (drink mix)
Tang or TANG may also refer to:
Chinese states and dynasties
* Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...
eunuch who began his career as army supervisor.
*
Staurakios (died 800): chief associate and minister of the Byzantine empress
Irene of Athens
Irene of Athens ( el, Εἰρήνη, ; 750/756 – 9 August 803), surname Sarantapechaina (), was Byzantine empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, regent during the childhood of their son Constantine VI from 780 until 790, co-ruler ...
.
*
Ignatius of Constantinople
St. Ignatius or Ignatios ( el, Ιγνάτιος), (c. 798 – 23 October 877) was a Patriarch of Constantinople from July 4, 847, to October 23, 858, and from November 23, 867, to his death on October 23, 877. In the Catholic Church and East ...
(799–877): twice
Patriarch of Constantinople
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...
during troubled political times (847–858 and 867–877). First absolutely unquestioned eunuch saint, recognized by both the Orthodox and Roman Churches. (There are a great many early saints who were probably eunuchs, though few either as influential nor unquestioned as to their castration.)
*
Yazaman al-Khadim Yazaman or Yazman, surnamed al-Khadim ("the eunuch") (died 23 October 891) was governor of Tarsus for the Abbasids and chief military leader in the Muslim borderlands with the Byzantine Empire in Cilicia (the ) from 882 to his death in 891. He is c ...
(died 891): Emir of
Tarsus and successful commander in the wars against the Byzantine Empire.
*
Mu'nis al-Khadim (845/846–933/934): Commander-in-chief of the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
armies between 908 and his death.
*
Joseph Bringas Joseph Bringas ( el, ) was an important Byzantine eunuch official in the reigns of Emperor Constantine VII (r. 945–959) and Emperor Romanos II (r. 959–963), serving as chief minister and effective regent during the latter. Having unsuccessfull ...
(died 965): chief minister of the Byzantine Empire under
Romanos II
Romanos II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Ρωμανός, 938 – 15 March 963) was Byzantine Emperor from 959 to 963. He succeeded his father Constantine VII at the age of twenty-one and died suddenly and mysteriously four years later. His son Bas ...
(959–963).
Second millennium CE
*
Jia Xian
Jia Xian (; ca. 1010–1070) was a Chinese mathematician from Kaifeng of the Song dynasty.
Biography
According to the history of the Song dynasty, Jia was a palace eunuch of the Left Duty Group. He studied under the mathematician Chu Yan, and ...
( 1010– 1070): Chinese mathematician; invented the Jia Xian triangle for the calculation of
square root
In mathematics, a square root of a number is a number such that ; in other words, a number whose ''square'' (the result of multiplying the number by itself, or ⋅ ) is . For example, 4 and −4 are square roots of 16, because .
E ...
s and
cube root
In mathematics, a cube root of a number is a number such that . All nonzero real numbers, have exactly one real cube root and a pair of complex conjugate cube roots, and all nonzero complex numbers have three distinct complex cube roots. Fo ...
s.
*
Ly Thuong Kiet (1019–1105): general during the
Lý dynasty
The Lý dynasty ( vi, Nhà Lý, , chữ Nôm: 茹李, chữ Hán: 李朝, Hán Việt: ''Lý triều'') was a Vietnamese dynasty that existed from 1009 to 1225. It was established by Lý Công Uẩn when he overthrew the Early Lê dynasty an ...
in Vietnam. Penned what is considered the first Vietnamese declaration of independence. Regarded as a Vietnamese national hero.
*
Tatikios Tatikios or Taticius ( el, Τατίκιος, c. 1048 - died after 1110) was an Eastern Roman general of Turkish origin during the reign of Alexius I Comnenus. His name is also rendered as Tetigus, Tatizius, Tatitius, Tatic, or Tetig.
Origins and e ...
( 1048–after 1110): Byzantine general who led the forces of Emperor
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...
and acted as a guide during the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...
.
*
Pierre Abélard
Peter Abelard (; french: link=no, Pierre Abélard; la, Petrus Abaelardus or ''Abailardus''; 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, poet, composer and musician. This source has a detailed desc ...
(1079–1142): French scholastic philosopher and theologian. Forcibly castrated by his girlfriend's uncle while in bed.
*
Lu'lu' al-Yaya Luʾluʾ al-Yaya, also called al-Bābā or al-Khādim ("the Eunuch"), was the regent of the Seljuk sultanate of Aleppo from AD 1113 ( AH 507) until his assassination in 1117 (510). He was the ''atabeg'' (father-lord) of the underage sultans. Previ ...
(died 1117): Regent of the Seljuk sultanate of Aleppo.
*
Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur (died 1316), also known as Taj al-Din Izz al-Dawla, was a prominent slave-general of the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji. He was captured by Alauddin's general Nusrat Khan during the 1299 invasion of Gujarat, and rose to promin ...
(
fl. 1296–1316): a eunuch slave who became a general in the army of
Alauddin Khalji
Alaud-Dīn Khaljī, also called Alauddin Khilji or Alauddin Ghilji (), born Ali Gurshasp, was an emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the Indian subcontinent. Alauddin instituted a number of significant administrativ ...
, ruler of the
Delhi sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526). .
*
Zheng He
Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferr ...
(1371–1433): famous admiral who led huge Chinese fleets of
exploration around the Indian Ocean.
*
Yishiha
Yishiha (; also Išiqa or Isiha; Jurchen: ) (fl. 1409–1451) was a Jurchen eunuch of the Ming dynasty of China. He served the Ming emperors who commissioned several expeditions down the Songhua and Amur Rivers during the period of Ming rule of ...
(15th century): admiral in charge of expeditions down the
Amur River under the
Yongle
Yongle () (23 January 1403 – 19 January 1425) was the era name of the Yongle Emperor, the third emperor of the Ming dynasty of China.
Comparison table
Other eras contemporaneous with Yongle
* Vietnam
** ''Thiệu Thành'' (紹成, 1401–1 ...
and
Xuande Emperor
The Xuande Emperor (16 March 1399 31 January 1435), personal name Zhu Zhanji (朱瞻基), was the fifth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1425 to 1435. His era name "Xuande" means "proclamation of virtue". Ruling over a relatively ...
s.
*
Wu Rui (15th century): a Chinese eunuch in
Lê dynasty Annam (Vietnam).
*
Gang Bing
Gang Bing (, sometimes written as 刚秉/剛秉 Gāng Bǐng, also known as 刚铁/剛鐵, Gāng Tiě) was a Chinese general and eunuch who served under the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty.
Self-castration
Gang Bing is most notable for his act o ...
(died 1410): patron saint of eunuchs in China who castrated himself to demonstrate his loyalty to the
Yongle Emperor
The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.
Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...
.
*
Wang Zhen (died 1449): first
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...
eunuch with much power; see
Tumu Crisis
The Crisis of the Tumu Fortress (), also known as the Tumu Crisis (; mn, Тумугийн тулалдаан), or the Jisi Incident (), was a frontier conflict between the Northern Yuan and Ming dynasties. The Oirat ruler of the Northern Yuan, ...
.
* (1421–1505): one of the most famous eunuchs during the Korean
Joseon dynasty
Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...
period, ably served kings in the Joseon dynasty. His life is the subject of a
historical drama
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...
in South Korea.
*
Liu Jin
Liu Jin (; 28 February 1451 – 25 August 1510) was a powerful Ming dynasty Chinese eunuch during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor.
Liu was famous for being one of the most influential officials in Chinese history. For some time, Liu was the em ...
(1451–1510): corrupt eunuch official of the Ming dynasty and ''de facto'' emperor, member of the
Eight Tigers
The Eight Tigers (), sometimes referred to as the Gang of Eight (八黨), were a powerful group of Eunuch (court official), eunuchs that controlled the Chinese imperial court during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor (r. 1505–1521) of the Ming Dyn ...
.
*
Judar Pasha
Judar Pasha ( ar, جؤذر باشا) was a Spanish-Moroccan military leader under the Saadian sultan Ahmad al-Mansur in the late 16th century. He led the Saadian army in the conquest of the Songhai Empire.
Born as Diego de Guevara in Cuevas d ...
(1562–1606): a Spanish eunuch who became the head of the Moroccan invasion force into the
Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire (also transliterated as Songhay) was a state that dominated the western Sahel/Sudan in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history. The state is known by its historiographical ...
.
*
Wei Zhongxian
Wei Zhongxian (1568 – December 12, 1627), born Wei Si (魏四), was a Chinese court eunuch who lived in the late Ming dynasty. As a eunuch he used the name Li Jinzhong (李进忠). He is considered by most historians as the most notorious eunuc ...
(1568–1627): eunuch of the Ming dynasty, considered the most powerful eunuch in Chinese history.
*
Senesino
Francesco Bernardi (; 31 October 1686 – 27 November 1758), known as Senesino ( or traditionally ), was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel ...
(1686–1758): Italian contralto castrato singer.
*
Farinelli (1705–1782): Italian soprano castrato singer.
*
Giusto Fernando Tenducci
Giusto Fernando Tenducci, sometimes called "il Senesino" (c. 1735 – 25 January 1790), was a soprano (castrato) opera singer and composer, who passed his career partly in Italy but chiefly in Britain.
Biography
Born in Siena in about 1735, Ten ...
( 1736–1790): Italian soprano castrato singer.
*
Mohammad Khan Qajar (1742–1797): chief of the Qajar tribe. He became the King/Shah of Persia in 1794 and established the Qajar dynasty.
*
Lê Văn Duyệt
Lê Văn Duyệt)., group=n (1763 or 1764 – 30 July 1832) was a Vietnamese general who helped Nguyễn Ánh—the future Emperor Gia Long—put down the Tây Sơn wars, unify Vietnam and establish the Nguyễn dynasty. After the Nguyễn ca ...
( 1763–1832): Vietnamese eunuch, military strategist and government official (not a true eunuch, he was born a
hermaphrodite
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...
).
*
Thomas P. "Boston" Corbett (b. 1832; presumed dead 1894): killer of
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth th ...
, the assassin of
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
, who castrated himself to avoid temptation from prostitutes.
*
Li Lianying
Li Lianying (; 12 November 1848 – 4 March 1911) was a Chinese imperial eunuch who lived in the late Qing dynasty. He was a eunuch during the regency of Empress Dowager Cixi, who was the ''de facto'' ruler of China from 1869 to 1908 throu ...
(1848–1911): a despotic eunuch of the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
.
*
Alessandro Moreschi
Alessandro Moreschi (11 November 1858 – 21 April 1922) was an Italian chorister of the late 19th century and the only castrato to make solo recordings.
Early life
Alessandro Moreschi was born on 11 November 1858 to Luigi Lorenzo Moreschi (1840 ...
(1858–1922): Italian castrato singer, the only one to make recordings.
* Xin Xiuming (1878–1959): Entered Emperor Puyi's service in 1902; left palace service in 1911; became abbot of the Taoist temple at the
Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery
The Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery () is Beijing's main resting place for the highest-ranking revolutionary heroes, high government officials and, in recent years, individuals deemed of major importance due to their contributions to society. In ...
by 1930; wrote memoir ''Eunuch's Recollection'' (老太监的回忆).
*
Sun Yaoting
Sun Yaoting (Traditional Chinese: 孫耀庭, Simplified Chinese: 孙耀庭, Hanyu Pinyin: Sūn Yàotíng, Wade-Giles: Sun Yao-t'ing; 29 September 1902 – 17 December 1996) was the last surviving imperial eunuch of Chinese history. He was cas ...
(1902–1996): last surviving imperial eunuch of Chinese history.
See also
*
*
Nullo (body modification)
A nullo or smoothie is a member of a body modification subculture made up mostly of men who have had their genitals (and sometimes also their nipples) surgically removed. Nullos are not necessarily transgender; most identify as eunuchs. The term ' ...
References & bibliography
Citations
Further reading
English translation of Rudople Guilland's essay on Byzantine eunuchs "Les Eunuques dans l'Empire Byzantin: Étude de titulature et de prosopographie byzantines", in 'Études Byzantines', Vol. I (1943), pp. 197–238 with many examples*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Tuotuo. Liaoshi
istory of Liao Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974 (or Tuotuo, ''Liaoshi'' (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974))
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* "A Eunuch Cooks Boys to Make a Tonic of Male Essence," in Zhang Yingyu,
The Book of Swindles: Selections from a Late Ming Collection', translated by Christopher Rea and Bruce Rusk (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2017), pp. 138–141.
*Mary M. Anderson, Hidden Power: The Palace Eunuchs of Imperial China (Prometheus Books, 1990)
*David Ayalon, Eunuchs, Caliphs and Sultans: A Study in Power Relationships (Magnes Press, 1999)
*Patrick Barbier, The World of the Castrati: The History of an Extraordinary Operatic Phenomenon (Souvenir Press Ltd, 2010)
*Vern L. Bullough and James Brundage (eds), Handbook of Medieval Sexuality (Routledge, 2000), especially chapter by M.S. Kuefler, 'Castration and Eunuchism in the Middle Ages'
*Laura Engelstein, Castration and the Heavenly Kingdom: A Russian Folktale (Cornell University Press, 2003)
*Zia Jaffrey, The Invisibles: A Tale of the Eunuchs of India (W&N, 1997)
*Shaun Marmon, Eunuchs and Sacred Boundaries in Islamic Society (Oxford University Press, 1993)
*Taisuke Mitamura (trans. by Charles A. Pomeroy), Chinese Eunuchs: The Structure of Intimate Politics (Tuttle Publishing, 1970)
*Serena Nanda, Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India (Wadsworth Publishing Co Inc, 1998)
*Kathryn M. Ringrose, The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in Byzantium (University of Chicago Press, 2003)
*Lynn E. Roller, In Search of God the Mother: The Cult of Anatolian Cybele (University of California Press, 1999)
*Piotr O. Scholz, Eunuchs and Castrati: A Cultural History (Markus Wiener Publishers, 2014)
*Shaun Tougher (ed.), Eunuchs in Antiquity and Beyond (Classical Press of Wales, 2002)
*Shaun Tougher, The Eunuch in Byzantine History and Society (Routledge, 2008)
*Shih-Shan Henry Tsai, The Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty (State University of New York Press, 1995)
*Caroline Vout, Power and Eroticism in Imperial Rome (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
* English language Abstracts of the thesis
*
*
Further listening
*''
In Our Time In Our Time may refer to:
* ''In Our Time'' (1944 film), a film starring Ida Lupino and Paul Henreid
* ''In Our Time'' (1982 film), a Taiwanese anthology film featuring director Edward Yang; considered the beginning of the "New Taiwan Cinema"
* ''In ...
: The Eunuch''. Presenter:
Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documenta ...
. Interviewed Guests: Karen Radner, Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
; Shaun Tougher, Reader in Ancient History at
Cardiff University
, latin_name =
, image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University
, motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord
, mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord
, established = 1 ...
; Michael Hoeckelmann, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
. Producer: Thomas Morris. Broadcaster:
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
. Date: 26 February 2015
External links
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{{Authority control
Castrated people