The first documented reference to the term "chastity belt" is credited to R'gine Pernoud, a Medieval historian who, in the 14th century explained that a simple cord worn around the waist was a symbol of chastity (such as the robes of a monk or priest - the cord around his waist is a symbol of his vows of chastity and purity).
From the BBC: "In later year, chastity devices became a bit less trusting and started being able to be locked in place. As plausible as it might sound, the chastity belt is not however a medieval invention - the romantic stories outlined in the paragraph above are nothing but a product of the over-active 19th Century imagination. There are, in fact, no genuine chastity belts dating from medieval times: all known 'medieval' chastity belts have been produced in the first half of the 19th Century. These fake-medieval chastity belts are too heavy and the workmanship is too crude, even for medieval standards. The oldest design for a chastity belt that can be taken seriously dates from the 16th Century - but it's just a design, with no real working models believed to have ever been constructed. The concept of a chastity belt itself is a lot older, but it was usually used in poems in a metaphorical sense. According to Dr Eric John Dingwall, who wrote a deeper study on the subject in 1931, 'the chastity belt probably made its first appearance in ordinary use among the Italians of the period of the Renaissance or perhaps somewhat later."
Take a look at these antique beauties!
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