The Black Death and COVID-19 with Winston Black
This week on The Medieval Podcast, with headlines turning once again to stories of the plague, Danièle catches up with Winston Black to talk about The Black Death and COVID-19, what’s different about them, and what we can learn today from looking back on the biggest pandemic in human history.
The Medieval Origins of Quarantine
The origins of quarantine date back to the Middle Ages, an idea that emerged in the wake of the Black Death.
Plagues and history
Plagues have changed history, stopped armies in their tracks and altered the fate of nations. Mary and Christopher Dobson will outline the impact of plagues on human history and reflect on related challenges that will be faced by future generations.
The Coronavirus is not the Black Death
The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has sickened almost 86,000 and killed more than 2,900 people, spread worldwide, and caused stock markets to tumble. Analogies to the Black Death, the outbreak of bubonic plague that wiped out between one-half and two-thirds of the population of Europe from 1347–51, were inevitable.
13th century History of Medicine text and translation made open access
One of the earliest works to examine the history of medicine, written in the 13th century, has been translated and made freely available online.
Eat Sh*t and (Don’t) Die
Sometimes, when we get sick, it can feel like we’d do anything to get better. But what if the remedy we needed required us to swallow animal dung?
Medieval Medicine with Winston E. Black
What happened when someone got sick in the Middle Ages? Medieval medicine and healthcare might be two of the most misunderstood aspects of the whole era. This week Danièle speaks with Winston E. Black about some of the myths we have about medicine in the Middle Ages.
The Plague of Justinian may not have been that devastating, researchers suggest
Historians have long believed that the plague, which swept through the Mediterranean region in the sixth century, led to a massive loss of life, rivaling even the Black Death. However, a new study suggests that the pandemic’s effects have been exaggerated and that not enough evidence exists to show that it was devastating as many have believed.
Difficult and deadly deliveries?: Investigating the presence of an ‘obstetrical dilemma’ in medieval England through examining health and its effects on the bony human pelvis
The skeletal samples examined in this study are from medieval English populations with long-established agricultural diets. Bony pelvic metrics analyzed are from the St. Mary Spital assemblage, and demographic and pathological data from St. Mary Spital were compared to the East Smithfield Black Death cemetery assemblage.
New insights into the genetic evolution of the Black Death
Analysis of 34 ancient plague genomes from the Black Death and succeeding plague epidemics in Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries, reveals how the bacterium diversified after a single introduction
A thirteenth-century theory of speech
Robert Grosseteste (c.1175–1253) was a celebrated medieval thinker, who, as well as writing on philosophy and theology, developed an impressive corpus of treatises on the natural world.
Did Henbane make Berserkers go Berserk?
A new study on the legendary Viking warriors known as berserkers suggests that they were able to achieve their battle trances and ferocity through the use of henbane.
Six Medieval Rules for Healthy Living
If you are looking for advice on healthy living, perhaps you should try reading the medieval text The Theatre of Health. It offers six rules ‘for the daily maintenance of health,’ five of which sound very modern.
Berengario da Carpi and the Renaissance of Brain Anatomy
Berengario contributed significantly to human brain anatomy, with a detailed description of the meninges and cranial nerves and the first comprehensive view of the ventricular system, including choroid plexuses, interventricular foramen, infundibulum, pituitary stalk and gland.
The Justinianic Plague reached as far as the British Isles, study finds
A study of the Justinianic Plague has revealed how diverse the pandemic was, as well as provides the first genetic evidence that it reached the British Isles.
Honey and Medicine: The Sweeter Side of Medieval Warfare
In this episode of The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Dr. Ilana Krug about the use of honey in medieval military medicine and the time Henry V got an arrow in the face.
“My Written Books of Surgery in the Englishe Tonge”: The London Company of Barber-Surgeons and the Lylye of Medicynes
This article explores the later provenance of the Lylye amongst the Gale family of barber-surgeons in sixteenth-century London.
Scientists solve the 800 year old bone disease mystery
Scientific research at the molecular level on a collection of medieval skeletons from Norton Priory in Cheshire could help rewrite history after revealing they were affected by an unusual ancient form of the bone disorder, Paget’s disease.
A Possible case of Facio-Auriculo-Vertebral sequence (FAVs) in an adult female from medieval Iceland (13th–16th Century)
This paper offers a visually distinct case of an under-represented and under-documented congenital condition for future identification within paleopathology.
Medicine or Magic? Physicians in the Middle Ages
Medicine or Magic? Physicians in the Middle Ages By William Gries The Histories, Vol.15:1 (2019) Introduction: According to Hannam’s paraphrase of the subject in The…
Avicenna in Ireland: A manuscript discovery with Padraig O’Machain
This month, an exciting connection was made between Islamic and Irish medicine through the discovery of a fragment of Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine bound in a sixteenth-century printed book.
15th-century manuscript discovery reveals links between Irish and Islamic worlds
A previously undiscovered 15th-century Irish vellum manuscript has revealed an enchanting connection between Gaelic Ireland and the Islamic world, and illustrates how medieval Ireland was once at the centre of medical scholarship in the world.
Disabilities in the Middle Ages with Kisha Tracy
How did medieval people deal with physical and mental challenges? Danièle speaks with Kisha Tracy of Fitchburg State University on why its important to talk about disabilities in the Middle Ages and what evidence we have for how people cared for each other when there was physical or mental disabilities.
Medieval Cough Medicine
Here are five recipes, dating back to the ninth century, for creating medicine to treat a cough.