After this , the use of penis coverings to protect from disease is described in a wide variety of literature throughout Europe . The first indication that these devices was used for birth control , rather than disease prevention , is the 1605 theological publication De iustitia et iure ( On justice and law ) by Catholic theologian Leonardus Lessius , who condemned them as immoral . In 1666 , the English Birth Rate Commission attributed a recent downward fertility rate to use of " condons " , the first documented use of that word ( or any similar spelling ) .