Certainly in mediaeval times the amount of children who were 'given to God' in various ways was distressingly high. The first son was to inherit, the second son to serve the lord (i.e., went into service as a page and then on to be a soldier for the landowner/gentry whose estates he lived on) and the third son to serve God as a priest. Any other sons were superfluous and the father ran the risk of having a feud on his hands trying to give each of his sons a parcel of land. If the father was a villein (or 'slave' for the landowner) and didn't own the land, it was even more difficult. Thus the monasteries were looked on as a sort of dumping ground for young sons. They were given as child oblates usually at around 5 or 6yrs old, and brought up as monks. Many of these child oblates would surely have starved or died young had they not been given to God.

If a boy were found to have a beautiful voice and could make his owner money, then certainly, the owner would have done what they could to keep that voice - a great singing voice before puberty is no guarantee of a good voice after it. Had Aled Jones had an orchidectomy when he was younger, he would still be a fantastic soprano, rather than the mediocre tenor he's become. (When I say mediocre, he still has a good voice and amazing technique, but he's no Placido Domingo.....)

A few years ago Channel 4 (UK) showed a film about the last castrati, called 'Il Castrati'. The first advert in the break was for a hand held cutting tool..... Ouch!

LTS