Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: medieval

  • Obesity in the Middle Ages: Sancho el Craso

    Nicolás Roberto Robles  Badajoz, Spain “Severe obesity restricts body movements and maneuvers . . . breathing passages become blocked and do not pass good air . . . these patients are at risk of sudden death . . . they are vulnerable to having a stroke, hemiplegia, palpitations, diarrhea, dizziness . . . men are…

  • Science versus religion: the medieval disenchantment

    JMS Pearce Hull, England   Fig 1. An engraving showing a monopod or sclapod, a female Cyclops, conjoined twins, a blemmye, and a cynocephali. By Sebastian Münster 1544. Source History is a novel whose author is the people. -Alfred de Vigny (1797-1863)   In medieval times, knowledge, beliefs, and faith were largely centered upon a…

  • Medieval medical diagrams: meanings, audiences, and functions

    Sara Strådal United Kingdom   Diagrams are prevalent in many different types of medieval manuscripts; they are used to illustrate theological and moral concerns as well as scientific and medical theories. In religious manuscripts they have often been investigated and understood in terms of their mnemonic functions. For example, Lucy Freeman Sandler describes how diagrams…