Bodily and Spiritual Hygiene in Medieval and Early Modern Literature: Explorations of Textual Presentations of Filth and Water

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Bodily and Spiritual Hygiene in Medieval and Early Modern Literature

Explorations of Textual Presentations of Filth and Water

Edited by: Albrecht Classen

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2017

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This book is in the series

Volume 19 | Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture

About this book

While most people today take hygiene and medicine for granted, they both have had their own history. We can gain deep insights into the pre-modern world by studying its health-care system, its approaches to medicine, and concept of hygiene. Already the early Middle Ages witnessed great interest in bathing (hot and cold), swimming, and good personal hygiene. Medical activities grew over time, but even early medieval monks were already great experts in treating the sick. The contributions examine literary, medical, historical texts and images and probe the information we can glean from them. The interdisciplinary approach of this volume makes it possible to view this large field in a complex and diversified manner, taking into account both early medieval and early modern treatises on medicine, water, bathing, and health. Such a cultural-historical perspective creates a most valuable bridge connecting literary and scientific documents under the umbrella of the history of mentality and history of everyday life. The volume does not aim at idealizing the past, but it definitely intends to deconstruct modern myths about the 'dirty' and 'unhealthy' Middle Ages and early modern age.

Author / Editor information

Albrecht Classen, University of Arizona, USA.

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Publicly Available

Frontmatter
I

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Table of Contents
V

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Introduction: Bathing, Health Care, Medicine, and Water in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age
1

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Treating the Condition of ‘Evil’ in the Anglo- Saxon Herbals
88
Warren Tormey

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Bald’s Leechbook and the Construction of Male Health in Anglo-Saxon England
114
Daniel F. Pigg

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The Necessitas Naturae and Monastic Hygiene
129
Belle S. Tuten

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Caring for the Body and Soul with Water: Guerric of Igny’s Fourth Sermon on the Epiphany, Godfrey of Saint-Victor’s Fons Philosophiae, and Peter of Celle’s Letters
148
James L. Smith

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Affected yet Untouched: Spatial Barriers and the Neurobehavioral Impact on Lepers Living with Limited Interpersonal Touch in the Middle Ages
171
Erin S. Lynch

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Elemental Well-Being: Water and Its Attributes in Selected Writings of Hildegard of Bingen and Georgius Agricola
193
Debra L. Stoudt

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Potiones ad sanandum: Text as Remedy in a Medieval Latin Bestiary
221
Cynthia White

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Troubled Waters: Bathing and Illicit Relations in Marie de France’s “Equitan” and in Flamenca
275
Rosa A. Perez

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The Liquids in Gottfried’s Tristan und Isolde: Focus of Nature and Locus of Illness and Healing
293
Christopher R. Clason

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The Ambiguous Effects of Water and Oil in Middle English Romance: Acknowledged and Ignored
331
Jean E. Jost

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Lodestone and Litmus Test: Aqueous Presentations of Emotional Experience in Medieval and Renaissance Literature
357
Anne Scott

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The Sonnet about Women who Marry in Old Age: Filth, Misogyny, and Depravity
389
Fabian Alfie

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Si Odore Solo Locus Pestilentiosus Fiat: Private Property, Public Health and Environmental Hygiene – Advantages of the English Common Law of Nuisance over the Corpus Juris Civilis
407
Scott L. Taylor

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Mens Sana in Corpore Sanus: Water, Wellness, and Cleanliness in Five Fifteenth- Century Medical Manuals
424
Sarah Gordon

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Water, Environment, and Dietetic Rules in Bohemian Sources of the Early Modern Times
441
David Tomíček

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The ‘Dirty Middle Ages’: Bathing and Cleanliness in the Middle Ages. With an Emphasis on Medieval German Courtly Romances, Early Modern Novels, and Art History: Another Myth-Buster
458
Albrecht Classen

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The Field Surgery Manual Which Became a Medical Commonplace Book: Hans von Gersdorff’s Feldtbuch der Wundarzney (1517) Translated into Low German
501
Chiara Benati

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The Role of Therapeutic Bathing in the Sixteenth Century and Its Contemporary Scientific Explanations
528
Thomas G. Benedek

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Testing the Waters: Early Modern Studies
568
Thomas Willard

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List of Contributors
599

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Index
605

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Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

March 20, 2017

eBook ISBN:

9783110523799

Hardcover published on:

March 20, 2017

Hardcover ISBN:

9783110523294

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Front matter:

7

Main content:

615

Illustrations:

4

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110523799

eBook ISBN: 9783110523799

Hardcover ISBN: 9783110523294

Keywords for this book

History of Medicine; History of Hygiene and Baths; Pre-modern Health Care

Audience(s) for this book

Medievalists, Early Modernists, Scholars in the field of Medicine, Everyday Culture, Mentality, Private Life, Literature

Safety & product resources

Manufacturer information:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com

Bodily and Spiritual Hygiene in Medieval and Early Modern Literature

Overview

About this book

Author / Editor information

Topics

Table of contents

Frontmatter

Table of Contents

Introduction: Bathing, Health Care, Medicine, and Water in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age

Treating the Condition of ‘Evil’ in the Anglo- Saxon Herbals

Bald’s Leechbook and the Construction of Male Health in Anglo-Saxon England

The Necessitas Naturae and Monastic Hygiene

Caring for the Body and Soul with Water: Guerric of Igny’s Fourth Sermon on the Epiphany, Godfrey of Saint-Victor’s Fons Philosophiae, and Peter of Celle’s Letters

Affected yet Untouched: Spatial Barriers and the Neurobehavioral Impact on Lepers Living with Limited Interpersonal Touch in the Middle Ages

Elemental Well-Being: Water and Its Attributes in Selected Writings of Hildegard of Bingen and Georgius Agricola

Potiones ad sanandum: Text as Remedy in a Medieval Latin Bestiary

Troubled Waters: Bathing and Illicit Relations in Marie de France’s “Equitan” and in Flamenca

The Liquids in Gottfried’s Tristan und Isolde: Focus of Nature and Locus of Illness and Healing

The Ambiguous Effects of Water and Oil in Middle English Romance: Acknowledged and Ignored

Lodestone and Litmus Test: Aqueous Presentations of Emotional Experience in Medieval and Renaissance Literature

The Sonnet about Women who Marry in Old Age: Filth, Misogyny, and Depravity

Si Odore Solo Locus Pestilentiosus Fiat: Private Property, Public Health and Environmental Hygiene – Advantages of the English Common Law of Nuisance over the Corpus Juris Civilis

Mens Sana in Corpore Sanus: Water, Wellness, and Cleanliness in Five Fifteenth- Century Medical Manuals

Water, Environment, and Dietetic Rules in Bohemian Sources of the Early Modern Times

The ‘Dirty Middle Ages’: Bathing and Cleanliness in the Middle Ages. With an Emphasis on Medieval German Courtly Romances, Early Modern Novels, and Art History: Another Myth-Buster

The Field Surgery Manual Which Became a Medical Commonplace Book: Hans von Gersdorff’s Feldtbuch der Wundarzney (1517) Translated into Low German

The Role of Therapeutic Bathing in the Sixteenth Century and Its Contemporary Scientific Explanations

Testing the Waters: Early Modern Studies

List of Contributors

Index

Bibliographic data