There has been much controversy as to when the first chastity belt appeared in Europe. There is little doubt that the idea of such a device was current at least as early as the second half of the twelfth century.

Thus in the Guigemar Epic, which exhibits strong traces of Oriental influences, Marie de France narrates an event which suggests knowledge of such devices. It has also been suggested that a passage in the "Livre du Voir-Dit" of the fourteenth century poet Guillaume de Machaut can be interpreted in this way.