Even if medieval medicine was revealed to be powerless by the mass-scale epidemics of the mid-fourteenth century, the Black Death was far from ending the career of university-trained physicians or the continuation of their art.
Impregnable friendship : locating desire in the middle English ‘Amis and Amiloun’
July 24, 2013 By
Scholarship on Amis and Amiloun has generally been divided into two critical schools. The majority of critics have read the work as an exemplar of perfect friendship, overlooking (or ignoring) any trace of homoeroticism, citing the possibility itself as anachronistic, or explaining away its presence by offering historical or theoretical justification for intimacy among medieval men.
Plagues, Epidemics and Their Social and Economic Impact on the Egyptian Society during the Mameluke Period
July 24, 2013 By
The study aims at shedding light on plagues and epidemics that hit Egypt during the Mameluke period through describing the plague disease and the plagues and epidemics that hit Egypt, and their social and economic effects on the Egyptian society, The study is based on some historical sources contemporary of the Mameluke period, especially the book “Al-Suluk li-marifatiduwal Al-muluk” by Al Maqrizi.
A Medieval Façade: Historiography of the Black Death and Recent Accounts of the Third Plague Pandemic in the United States
July 8, 2013 By
The ‘Black Death’ instantly evokes a constellation of shopworn images, ideas and clichés.
The Rise and Fall of Syphilis in Renaissance Europe
April 14, 2013 By
What exactly were the features of the disease at the moment of its appearance in Europe at the end of the fifteenth century? How many years did it take for the early, virulent form to be replaced and become endemic?
The Death Toll of Justinian’s Plague and Its Effects on the Byzantine Empire
April 4, 2013 By
In 541 a plague arrived in Egypt and rapidly began to spread. The following account of the beginning of the plague, while clearly an exaggeration still shows the impact of the disease.
New Towns in Medieval France and Nature of Institutions
April 1, 2013 By
In its early stages, a new town was a village community created by a central authority (king or overlord) on his wildland to meet the needs of growing populations and to further both its own benefits and the common interests of the inhabitants.
The Virgin Mary in High Medieval England, A Divinely Malleable Woman: Virgin, Intercessor, Protector, Mother, Role Model
March 31, 2013 By
This thesis examines the significance of the Virgin Mary in England between the late fifteenth century and early sixteenth century. The primary sources selected indicate the variety of ideas circulating about her during this period. Strictly religious texts such as the Bible and early Christian writings ground Late Medieval beliefs about Mary in their historical context.
Bawdy badges and the Black Death : late medieval apotropaic devices against the spread of the plague
January 27, 2013 By
Owing to the fact that historians generally view the late medieval period as an “age of faith,” the existence ofthese remarkable objects raises some fundamental questions about the exact socio-religious nature ofmedieval culture. The primary questions, however, that need answering are: when, where, and for whom were the badges produced, and perhaps most importantly, why.
Syphilis in Renaissance Europe: rapid evolution of an introduced sexually transmitted disease?
January 22, 2013 By
When syphilis first appeared in Europe in 1495, it was an acute and extremely unpleasant disease. After only a few years it was less severe than it once was, and it changed over the next 50 years into a milder, chronic disease.
The monastic contribution to mediaeval medical care
January 13, 2013 By
The function of hospitals and monasteries was roughly the same. Illness was regarded by most people as a form of divine punishment. The monasteries were founded on private initiative to intercede for the souls of the living and the dead.
Excavating All Saints: a medieval church rediscovered
January 1, 2013 By
When excavations started at the site of the ‘lost’ church of All Saint’s in York, archaeologists knew they would find burials. What they found was much more than expected: an Anchoress and the remains of soldiers who helped Oliver Cromwell take the city at the Siege of York in 1644. Lauren McIntyre and Graham Bruce explain the evidence.
The Impact of Climate Change on Late Medieval English Culture
December 28, 2012 By
This thesis challenges the extremes of both environmental determinism and the modernist perspective that humanity exists in social and/or cultural isolation from the natural environment.
Neither ill nor healthy: The intermediate state between health and disease in medieval medicine
December 16, 2012 By
Paradoxically, however, the notion of an intermediate state between health and disease also has a long history, harking back, at least, to the times of Galen. The question of the existence of such a state and the utility and necessity for physicians to acknowledge it, was particularly hotly debated in the Middle Ages…
Researchers find more links between the Black Death and Justinian’s plague
December 10, 2012 By
Researchers from the University of Tuebingen in Germany are uncovering more evidence that is linking the Black Death with earlier plagues.
The Black Death And The Future Of Medicine
December 9, 2012 By
This paper will specifically focus on the effects of the Black Death on medicine and medical practice in Europe. Its purpose is to investigate the Black Death’s influence on medicine, especially with regard to learned medicine and surgery.
Medicine and Health Care in Later Medieval Europe: Hospitals, Public Health, and Minority Medical Practitioners in English and German Cities, 1250-1450
November 18, 2012 By
This interdisciplinary study, written from the standpoint ofan aspiring physician, seeks to contribute to the humanistic dimension of medicine by helping to integrate it further with its past, illuminating the meaning of health and disease in medieval society while adding depth to current thinking about medicine and public health. This study places various aspects ofhealth and disease within the framework of two major topics, religious beliefs and urban social history.
Modelling Population and Resource Scarcity in Fourteenth-century England
October 26, 2012 By
Hallam argues that the steady population rise of the 12th and 13th centuries may not have been the main cause of the crisis of the 14th century. First, unprecedented harvest failures and animal diseases between 1315 and 1322 had significant adverse effects on peasant welfare.
Bishopstone, Sussex – A Quiet, Rural Anglo-Saxon Village? What the Human Remains Tell Us
October 26, 2012 By
The primary aim of this text is the analysis and report of the skeletal human remains from the excavation of the late Anglo-Saxon settlement and cemetery at Bishopstone, East Sussex. The analysis of the skeletal remains covered the basic data: sex, age, stature, palaeopathology and dental pathology.
Paget’s disease in an Anglo-Saxon
October 21, 2012 By
A recently excavated skeleton from an Anglo-Saxon burial ground at Jarrow Monastery is described.Virtually all the bones are abnormal, having the morphological and radiological features of Paget’s disease.It is one of the most convincing examples in the annals of palaeopathology and confirms the antiquity of this condition.
Technological Change in Medieval England: A Critique of the Neo-Malthusian Argument
October 13, 2012 By
The last two sections will address this issue by dividing the material into two periods preceding and following the great epidemic. The interpretation that will be provided is heavily indebted to Brenner.
The Black Death in Medieval India: a Historical Mystery
October 9, 2012 By
Why did a pestilence that had such an impact on one part of the world go unmentioned in another part of the world?
The Black Death – lecture by Sir Richard J. Evans
October 8, 2012 By
In this series of six lectures I want to look at some of the great diseases and their relationship to human history.
Maculate Conceptions
September 30, 2012 By
For the greater part of human history…disease has been understood in terms of its manifestations on the outside of the body. more than any other sign, t has been spots that have signified the onset of disease…
Gender Equality in Wage Labour Relations: the example of statutory regulation in late medieval and early Tudor England
September 2, 2012 By
The first question, not yet raised in labour historiography, is about the impact of wage labour relations on gender equality.
The second question is related to the first one: what role did women play as protagonists of wage labour relations.
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