Tristan: I don't know if life is greater than death, but love was greater than either.
Tristan & Isolde (2006)
2 quotes
Directed by: Kevin Reynolds
Starring: James Franco, Rufus Sewell, Sophia Myles, David O'Hara
Factual error: In the scene where Tristan is making his return from Ireland and the crowd is gathering around him there are two hens in the foreground. One is a Rhode Island Red and the other is a Black Plymouth Rock. Both of these are American breeds of chicken and did not appear until many hundreds of years after this film is set.
Question: This is a strange question, but is it possible that Isolde could sleep with both the King and Tristan so many times and not get pregnant? Was there any kind of birth control at this time?
Answer: Yes, it's entirely possible. Even in this day and age, with our relatively detailed knowledge of the processes and timing involved, couples trying for children can sometimes try for months or even years before a successful conception.
Answer: Three answers. ONE: Manuscript medical texts survive from Anglo-Saxon England. These describe folk wisdom and empirical medical tradition handed down from generation to generation. Herbs and herbal products were used as cures and prophylactics. These say little about contraception (they were written by monks or nuns who lived celibate lives) but it could be inferred that women used herbs and herbal products for women's issues (including contraception), knowledge refined over generations and handed down orally that has been lost or forgotten. TWO In the middle ages diet, nutrition and health conditions were such that, in general, people were not as healthy as they are today, so women may have been less "fertile" and less likely to become pregnant after sex. THREE: The legend of Tristan and Isolde is not accurate history. It began to circulate in the twelfth century, but even then it was a story, told to entertain, and this cinema version is a fictional, fantasy re-imagining of medieval life (similar to Game Of Thrones or Lord of the Rings) so such logical details do not necessarily apply.
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Answer: Without going into detail, two possible birth control options would be the withdrawal method or earlier versions of condoms. It's unlikely that Marke and Isolde were using these methods, because Marke, as a king, would probably want children to be his heirs. But Isolde might have at least been taking precautions with Tristan, especially during the time that she was betrothed to Morholt. There would be trouble if she became pregnant while her betrothed was away. Also, as Tailkinker wrote, maybe she simply did not conceive.