The revenue the brothel generated provided the authorities with a stable tax income, with further income possible if they sold food and drink, or rented rooms. The social utility of prostitution was important in Medieval society.
Despite this toleration prostitutes were still considered disreputable and ungodly. Nonetheless, the voices of prostitutes themselves are still virtually unknown.
What we know about the world of late medieval prostitution comes from the words of literate and wealthy male observers. Following an investigation into the brothel keeper, Lienhard Fryermut, and his partner, Barbara Tarschenfeindin, and also the interrogation of all 12 prostitutes working there at the time, it was found the kitchen maid, a woman named Els von Eystett, had been forced into a prostitution.
As a result, Eystett had become pregnant by one of her clients. Els complained to Barbara of abdominal pains as a consequence. She was first told that she was suffering from amenorrhea, to which Barbara mixed together a few market ingredients and forced Eystett to drink — with the mixture reportedly being an abortifacient, to bring about menstruation. Several witnesses describe the sudden abdominal pain Eystett endured, which caused Eystett to miscarry a male foetus, which Els estimated to be 20 weeks old.
Els confided in one of her clients about what had happened, which caused rumours to spread around the village — leading to the investigation by the council.
