Medieval Bodies: Life and Death in the Middle Ages

Medieval beliefs about the body were drastically different from ours today: Hair was thought to be a condensation of fumes emitted from the pores, ideas were supposedly committed to memory by being directly imprinted on the brain, and the womb of a goat was believed to function as a contraceptive. But while this medieval medicine now seems archaic, it also made a critical contribution to modern science.

Medieval Bodies guides us on a head-to-heel journey through this era's revolutionary advancements and disturbing convictions. We learn about the surgeons who dissected a living man's stomach, then sewed him up again; about the geographers who delineated racial groups by skin color; and about the practice of fasting to gain spiritual renown. Encompassing medicine and mysticism, politics and art--and complete with vivid, full-color illustrations--Medieval Bodies shows us how it felt to live and die a thousand years ago.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 11/12/2019
ISBN: 9781324002161
Pages: 352
Weight: 1.50lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.80w x 1.00d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 10/01/2019
Publishers Weekly 10/14/2019
Booklist 10/15/2019 pg. 13
BookPage 11/01/2019
Library Journal 09/27/2019 pg. 1
Shelf Awareness 12/27/2019