Medical Anthropology In The Late Middle Ages

The first chapter contextualizes Peter's work within medieval discussions of medical theory, philosophical uses of medicine, and controversies concerning the relation of theological doctrines to medicine.

This volume of studies seeks an anthropological view of medicine and the healing arts as they were situated within the lives of medieval people. Miracle cures and charms as well as drugs and surgery fall within the scope of the authors represented here, as does advice about diet and regimen. As well, the volume looks at wellness and illness in broad contexts, avoiding the tendency of modern medicine to focus on the isolation and definition of pathological states.

This volume discusses infirmitas (’infirmity’ or ’weakness’) in ancient and medieval societies. It concentrates on the cultural, social and domestic aspects of physical and mental illness, impairment and health, and also examines frailty as a more abstract, cultural construct. It seeks to widen our understanding of how physical and mental well-being and weakness were understood and constructed in the longue durée from antiquity to the Middle Ages. The chapters are written by experts from a variety of disciplines, including archaeology, art history and philology, and pay particular attention to the differences of experience due to gender, age and social status. The book opens with chapters on the more theoretical aspects of pre-modern infirmity and disability, moving on to discuss different types of mental and cultural infirmities, including those with positive connotations, such as medieval stigmata. The last section of the book discusses infirmity in everyday life from the perspective of healing, medicine and care.

"Patient, disease and physician were the three corners of the 'medical triangle' according to one of the texts attributed to Hippocrates, a famous ancient Greek doctor. This volume, covering a period from roughly 800 BCE to 800 CE, examines and deconstructs these three aspects of ancient medicine in the Mediterranean world. It shows that, while physicians sought to assert themselves as experts in the medical art, they had to contend with numerous other healers whose methods, remedies and tools patients often favoured. It explores the ways in which civic entities, cities, kingdoms and empires, and their officials directly and indirectly shaped medical encounters and discoveries. It examines the interaction between medicine and the environment, non-human animals and plants. To attempt a cultural history of medicine in antiquity requires bringing together a wealth of sources: the texts attributed to Hippocrates, Galen and other medical authors are not neglected, but they are studied alongside other literary and historical works, letters on papyri, funerary inscriptions celebrating healers, surgical tools and bioarchaeological remains. While discussing the enduring cultural impact of classical Greek and Roman medicine in the West, through texts such as the Hippocratic Oath or names of diseases and types of medicines, this volume reveals the various ways in which health, disease and medical treatments were experienced diversely in the ancient world, according to gender, socio-economic class and ethnicity"--

The Disordered Body presents a fascinating look at how three epidemics of the medieval and Early Renaissance period in Western Europe shaped and altered conceptions of the human body in ways that continue today. Authors Suzanne E. Hatty and James Hatty show the ways in which concepts of the disordered body relate to constructions of disease. In so doing, they establish a historical link between the discourses of the disordered body and the constructs of gender. The ideas of embodiment, contagion and social space are placed in historical context, and the authors argue that our current anxieties about bodies and places have important historical precedents. They show how the cultural practices of embodied social interaction have been shaped by disease, especially epidemics.

Represents the largest recorded dataset based on human skeletal remains from archaeological sites across the continent of Europe.

This volume contributes to medical history in Antiquity and the Middle Ages by significantly widening our understandings of health and treatment through the theme of space . The fundamental question about how space was conceived by different groups of people in these periods has been used to demonstrate the multi-variant understandings of the body and its functions, illness and treatment, and the surrounding natural and built environments in relation to health. The subject is approached from a variety of source materials: medical, philosophical and religious literature, archaeological remains and artistic reproductions. By taking a multi-disciplinary approach to the subject the volume offers new interpretations and methodologies to medical history in the periods in question. Contributors are Helen King, Michael McVaugh, Maithe Hulskamp, Glenda McDonald, Roberto Lo Presti, Fabiola van Dam, Catrien Santing, Ralph Rosen, and Irina Metzler.

"Medieval Medicine" is a book written by James J. Walsh. James Joseph Walsh (1865–1942) was an American physician, historian, and author, known for his works in the history of medicine and science. "Medieval Medicine" likely explores the practices, beliefs, and advancements in the field of medicine during the medieval period. Published in 1920, the book may provide insights into how medical knowledge and practices evolved during the Middle Ages, covering aspects such as medical treatments, surgical techniques, and the prevailing beliefs about health and illness during that time. If you are interested in the history of medicine, particularly during medieval times, James J. Walsh's "Medieval Medicine" could offer a valuable perspective on the state of medical science in that historical period.

This book presents an engaging, detailed portrait of the people, ideas, and beliefs that made up the world of English medieval medicine between 750 and 1450, a time when medical practice extended far beyond modern definitions. The institutions of court, church, university, and hospital--which would eventually work to separate medical practice from other duties--had barely begun to exert an influence in medieval England, writes Faye Getz. Sufferers could seek healing from men and women of all social ranks, and the healing could encompass spiritual, legal, and philosophical as well as bodily concerns. Here the author presents an account of practitioners (English Christians, Jews, and foreigners), of medical works written by the English, of the emerging legal and institutional world of medicine, and of the medical ideals present among the educated and social elite. How medical learning gained for itself an audience is the central argument of this book, but the journey, as Getz shows, was an intricate one. Along the way, the reader encounters the magistrates of London, who confiscate a bag said by its owner to contain a human head capable of learning to speak, and learned clerical practitioners who advise people on how best to remain healthy or die a good death. Islamic medical ideas as well as the poetry of Chaucer come under scrutiny. Among the remnants of this far distant medical past, anyone may find something to amuse and something to admire.