Castration

Castration is a surgical procedure in which the testicles are removed in order to render a male animal incapable of reproduction.

In medieval and early modern Italy the finest choirboys were castrated to preserve their soprano or alto voices. These males were known as castrati.

Castration was also practiced by the Skoptsy, an extreme sect of the Dukhobors, for religious reasons.

A short list of some castrated males[edit]

• Judge Edward Aaron
• Peter Abelard
• Marshall Applewhite
• Bob Champion
• Constantine (son of Leo V)
• Boston Corbett
• Harry Crookshank
• Wayne DuMond
• John Eleuthère du Pont
• Gofraid Donn
• Ignatios of Constantinople
• Jaromír, Duke of Bohemia
• Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb
• Magnus IV of Norway
• Mao Sugiyama
• David Reimer
• Clarence Richeson
• Sporus - might not be a real person
• Theophylact (son of Michael I)

See also[edit]

• Eunuch