Medica
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medica.bsky.social
Medica
@medica.bsky.social
Official account of Medica: the Society for the Study of Healing in the Middle Ages
https://www.medicasociety.org/
Don't miss Dr. Lee's talk "The Porous Womb: Hildegard’s Understanding of the Female Body Giving New Life and Salvation" on 20 Nov, 11 AM EST/16:00 UTC, with the Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine. Sign up here: www.chstm.org/group/mediev... [4/4] #medievalsky #histmed
https://www.chstm.org/group/medieval-european-medical-manuscripts]
November 19, 2025 at 2:32 PM
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Lee's monograph has been published open-access with @archumanities.bsky.social. Read The Medieval Womb: Hildegard of Bingen’s Views on the Female Reproductive Body now! www.arc-humanities.org/978180270039... [3/4] #medievalsky #histmed
November 19, 2025 at 2:32 PM
and belief systems, including women's health, reproductive issues, and comparative analysis of alternative medicine in Korea and the United States. We are delighted to have Dr. Lee's expertise to aid our network. Learn more about Medica here: www.medicasociety.org/home [2/4] #medievalsky #histmed
Medica
Ladhdhat al-nisā’ (The Enjoyment of Women), National Library of Medicine, MS P 24, f˚ 5r (18th cent.)
www.medicasociety.org
November 19, 2025 at 2:32 PM
In the final paper, Anne Leone examines Dante's unclear views on abortion. Despite adhering to the Aristotelian view of men's semen as active and women's blood as passive in conception, Dante avoids the topics of ensoulment.
July 9, 2025 at 3:55 PM
In our first paper, Ginger Smoak reminds us that medieval attitudes to abortion were a far cry from today's conservative approach. She includes evidence from penitentials and medical texts copied by monks that permitted early-term abortion.
July 9, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Next up we have Minji Lee, presenting on Hildegard of Bingen's knowledge of abortifacients and treating menstruation. Lee highlights goatbeard and hazlewort as ingredients that Hildegard warns can cause abortion.
July 9, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Beginning with our very own Medica President's paper, Nichola Harris takes us through the gendering of precious stones in vernacular English lapidaries.
July 9, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Lauren Rozenberg shares some fascinating MSS discoveries with us. In Guido de Vigevano's Anothomia, gum arabic was used on images of corpses to make certain parts glisten, thereby drawing attention to important anatomical areas.
July 9, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Next is Quinty Uitman, taking us through John Arderne's Practica. Uitman shows us how Arderne combined theoretical knowledge and practical expertise to explain successful surgery for fistula-in-ano. More from Uitman: bit.ly/409y7KP
Exploring the Appearance and Function of the Wound Man Diagram in Late-Medieval Medicine
They/Them completed a BA in History at Leiden University in the Netherlands in 2020, where they/them specialised in medieval history. They/Them wrote a dissertation on the authoritative responses to the fourteenth-century plague outbreaks by London's and Florence's authorities. After the BA, they/them started a MA in Medieval History at the University of Leeds. Here, the focus remained on medical medicine, and they/them wrote a dissertation on the importance of trust as an actor within the late-medieval patient-practitioner relationship. They/Them completed the MA in 2021. They/Them began a PhD at the University of Leeds in October 2022, where they/them research the representation of the male body in medical iconography, focusing on the impaired, wounded and sick body. They/Them aim to discuss the relationship between medieval medicine, art, and masculinities. Work Experience Contributor, International Medieval Bibliography (Internship 2021, employment 2021-present) IMS Special Collections/Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society Intern (2022-2023) Publications ‘The Black Death: Medieval London's Response to an Epidemic in the Fourteenth Century', History Student Times, 13.1 (2020), 15-6. ‘The Decameron: Women's Looks and Character in Boccaccio's Fourteenth-Century Florentine Novel', History Student Times, 13.3 (2021), 6-7 Events They/Them was on the project team for the Ripon Cathedral Fragments Day (part of the Sadler Seminar Series), hosted by University's Special Collections and funded by Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute. This event brought together various people to uncover the hidden history of manuscript fragments in Ripon Cathedral's library books. Through the IMS internship, They/Them was part of the Digital Explorations project, which aims to enhance future research culture of Digital Humanities through a study of manuscript fragments from the Ripon Cathedral Library held in the Special Collections at the University of Leeds. In March-May 2023, they/them was the Events Assistant for the workshops related to this project, which aimed to educate those involved in different digitisation techniques and encourage (future) research collaborations. Research interests The current research looks at the representation of the impaired, wounded and sick male body in medical iconography. They/them focus is on the later medieval period, 1300 to 1500, and Italy, England, Germany, and the Low Countries. They/them look at the relationship between medicine, art, and masculinities through discussing the male body in medieval culture (medicine, society, literature, etc.), ideas on masculinities, and ideas on wounds, disease and impairment. Qualifications MA Medieval Studies (University of Leeds) BA History (Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands)
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July 9, 2025 at 8:54 AM
First is Iona Lister's paper examining Henry Daniel's use of personal experience in his medical scholarship. Lister argues that Daniel uses the 1st person, e.g. "thus I rede," to make medical knowledge more accessible to his readers. Read more: henrydaniel.utoronto.ca
The Henry Daniel Project
henrydaniel.utoronto.ca
July 9, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Absolutely we do! Looking forward to learning from you.
June 23, 2025 at 10:13 AM