12 Days of Codpiece Winners

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 12 days of codpieces quiz. It's refreshing to know that there are people in the world who spend just as much time as I do sitting in museums staring at penis sheaths. I guess that's the whole reason why I keep blogging....so I won't be alone in my little geek island of useless historical trivia.

The Winners

I was very impressed that Brooke and D Bogucki got all the answers correct and others came really close. I was so impressed that I had to have two prizes. Brooke won the drawing so she will get this lovely bracelet (said in my best Bob Barker voice) D Bogucki will get the earrings.

The answers will be given out over the next 12 days.... Here is Answer #1

#1 Henry VIII- a bandaged codpiece?

The first Spanish-Italian codpieces began as a triangular flap connected to the hose, but when the fashion came to England, a modest flap simply wouldn't do for Henry VIII. His codpiece is of the padded hard-to-miss variety. Historians have long debated why the need for the bulging display of manhood? Did it represent the wearer's virility or did it serve some sort of function? One guess is that codpieces became padded to disguise the gooey medications used to cure syphilis. You certainly didn't want a mercury salve/lard mixture staining your new brocade. Henry VIII was never treated with mercury (that we know of) but he was a fan of another syphilis and gout remedy imported from the new world called guaiacum . What exactly Henry is hiding in his codpiece will continue to be a mystery and is a post for another day.

Tomorrow I will reveal the answer to #2....