In the Family Circle

2021 ◽  
pp. 55-64
Author(s):  
Marek Tuszewicki
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Conventional Medicine ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Medical Professional ◽  
Treatment Procedure ◽  
Folk Beliefs ◽  
Medication Treatment ◽  
Early Modern Medicine ◽  
The Family ◽  
Choice Of Treatment

This chapter discusses the role that family and community played when it came to health and medicine. People were rarely left alone to struggle with physical afflictions. They were surrounded by both immediate and more distant relations as well as neighbours, among whom there was usually no shortage of home-grown specialists or concerned advisers. They had the choice to seek relief from practices based on folk beliefs or those founded upon conventional medicine. Early modern medicine prioritized the decisions taken by the patients themselves. Doctors subordinated their judgement to their patients' narratives, and were expected to pay more attention to the sick person's interpretation of their own illness. There are four basic 'grades' of action in case of ailments: ignoring them; taking a home-made remedy or tried and trusted medication; treatment by a healer; and, if all else failed, consultation with a medical professional. The choice of treatment procedure depended on a range of factors: the severity of the illness, the patient's personality, their familiarity with treatment methods and the range of remedies stocked in the medicine cupboard at home, the availability of official and unofficial medical or paramedical services, and the financial standing of the patient and those in his or her immediate circle.

Vesalius annotations and the rise of early modern medicine

The Lancet ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 393 (10173) ◽  
pp. 738-739
Author(s):  
Dániel Margócsy ◽  
Mark Somos ◽  
Stephen N Joffe
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Early Modern Medicine

Introduction: Infertility in Medieval and Early Modern Medicine

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daphna Oren-Magidor ◽  
Catherine Rider
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Early Modern Medicine

scholarly journals Early Modern Medicine in Manuscript and Print

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-93
Author(s):  
Jukka Tyrkkö
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Quantitative Comparison ◽  
The Other ◽  
Linear Fashion ◽  
Early Modern Medicine ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
English Spelling ◽  
Printed Sources

The standardisation process of English spelling largely came to its conclusion during the Early Modern period. While the progress of standardisation has been studied in both printed and manuscript texts, few studies have looked at these processes side by side, especially focusing on the same genre of writing and by using corpora that are sufficiently large for quantitative comparison. Using two Early Modern medical corpora, one based on manuscripts and the other on printed sources, this paper compares the trajectories of spelling standardisation in the two textual domains and shows that while spelling standardisation progressed in an almost linear fashion in printed texts, the manuscripts reveal a much more varied and shallow cline toward standardisation.

scholarly journals “A THING LIKE DEATH”: MEDICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALE BODIES IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-111
Author(s):  
Greta Perletti
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Early Modern Medicine ◽  
Dead Bodies ◽  
Female Bodies ◽  
Medical Concepts ◽  
Female Physiology

Abstract While the hysterical ailments of women in Shakespeare’s works have often been read from psychoanalytical standpoints, early modern medicine may provide new insights into the ‘frozen’, seemingly dead bodies of some of his heroines, such as Desdemona, Thaisa, and Hermione. In the wake of recent critical work (Peterson, Slights, Pettigrew), this paper will shed fresh light on the ‘excess’ of female physiology and on Shakespeare’s creative redeployment of some medical concepts and narratives.

scholarly journals Misery to Mirth

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Newton
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The Third ◽  
Normal Life ◽  
Early Modern Medicine ◽  
History Of ◽  
Pain And Suffering ◽  
Printed Materials

The history of early modern medicine often makes for depressing reading. It implies that people fell ill, took ineffective remedies, and died. This book seeks to rebalance and brighten our overall picture of early modern health by focusing on the neglected subject of recovery from illness in England, c.1580–1720. Drawing on an array of archival and printed materials, Misery to Mirth shows that recovery did exist conceptually at this time, and that it was a widely reported phenomenon. The book takes three main perspectives: the first is physiological or medical, asking what doctors and laypeople meant by recovery, and how they thought it occurred. This includes a discussion of convalescent care, a special branch of medicine designed to restore strength to the patient’s fragile body after illness. Secondly, the book adopts the viewpoint of patients themselves: it investigates how they reacted to the escape from death, the abatement of pain and suffering, and the return to normal life and work. At the heart of getting better was contrast—from ‘paine to ease, sadnesse to mirth, prison to liberty, and death to life’. The third perspective concerns the patient’s loved ones; it shows that family and friends usually shared the feelings of patients, undergoing a dramatic transformation from anguish to elation. This mirroring of experiences, known as ‘fellow-feeling’, reveals the depth of love between many individuals. Through these discussions, the book opens a window onto some of the most profound, as well as the more prosaic, aspects of early modern existence, from attitudes to life and death, to details of what convalescents ate for supper and wore in bed.

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