Introduction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa A. Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Medicine ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Body Shape ◽  
Theoretical Medicine ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Middle Ages

The introduction provides an overview of the research problems and how they will be approached, focusing particularly on how understanding women, food, medicine, and diet in the Middle Ages by using anthropological and folkloristic approaches can add to the understanding of these issues for non-elite populations. Research questions include: What do we know about women as food producers, feeders, and nurturers? What can be said about women as practitioners of folk or traditional medicine? How does this contrast with the written record of theoretical medicine? Finally, what were the cultural aspects surrounding women, food, and health, and how did it determine proper eating, fasting, and body shape?

Theoretical Medicine vs. Practical Medicine

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa A. Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Medicine ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Folk Medicine ◽  
Traditional Healers ◽  
Traditional Healing ◽  
Practical Medicine ◽  
Theoretical Medicine ◽  
Mainstream Medicine ◽  
Medical Traditions ◽  
The Middle Ages

This chapter examines the differences between theoretical medicine, empirical medicine (or medicine as practiced), and folk medicine. A particular focus on midwives and traditional healers will be enhanced by examining folklore, herbals, and other diverse examples where we can find evidence of traditional medicine. Examples of contemporary debates between traditional healing and mainstream medicine may help us sort out the different medical traditions of the Middle Ages.

The Main Stages of the Development of Incense Culture in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 24-37
Author(s):  
Elena E. Voytishek
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Medicine ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Spiritual Healing ◽  
New Age ◽  
Animal Origin ◽  
Aesthetic Attitude ◽  
Ritual Practices ◽  
The Middle Ages

The article provides an overview of the main stages and trends in the development of the incense culture of China from antiquity to the present day. It covers religious and magical rituals, sanitary and hygiene, traditional medicine, a set of spiritual, healing, artistic, and game practices and rituals of Taoist-Buddhist and Confucian character. In China, over several millennia, a colossal experience has been accumulated in terms of the use of aromatic raw materials of plant, mineral and animal origin: thousands of treatises and reference books have been written, the properties of individual incense and their combinations have been studied, detailed classifications have been drawn up and principles of religious cults and ritual practices have been developed. Along with the applied value of incense, an aesthetic attitude toward incense aromas also developed, which repeatedly ensured periods of rapid flourishing of incense culture in antiquity, the Middle Ages and on the cusp of the New Age. Currently, the traditional aromatic culture in China is experiencing a period of upsurge and revival. This provides ample opportunities for its study in various fields of knowledge, which indicates the relevance and multidimensional nature of the study of this topic.

Medieval Theories of Nutrition and Health

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa A. Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Medical System ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Nutrition And Health ◽  
Theoretical Medicine ◽  
Humoral Theory ◽  
The Middle Ages

Ancient Greek humoral theory, as formulated primarily by Hippocrates and Galen, formed the basis of theoretical medicine in the Middle Ages. This chapter provides a brief overview of humoral theory, and explains how diet was directly related to disease and health in the Greek medical system. This chapter also traces some of the changes and modifications of humoral theory which took place through the Middle Ages.

scholarly journals Social mobility and the Middle Ages

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
SANDRO CAROCCI
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Middle Ages

ABSTRACTNotwithstanding its relevance, social mobility has not been at the forefront of the agenda for historians of the Middle Ages. The first part of this paper deals with the reasons for this lack of interest, highlighting the role of historical models such as the French ‘feudal revolution’, the neo-Malthusian interpretations, the English commercialisation model and the great narrative of Italian medieval merchants. The second part assesses the extent to which this lack of interest has been challenged by conceptions of social space and social mobility developed in recent decades by sociologists and anthropologists. Therefore, it is really important to indicate the gaps in our understanding, and to clarify research questions, technical problems and methods. The paper examines the constitutive elements of social identities, the plurality of social ladders, and the channels of social mobility. It touches upon the performative role of learned representations, and upon the constraints imposed upon human agency by family practices and genre. It underlines the importance of studying the mobility inside social groups, and argues that we must distinguish between two different types of medieval social mobility: autogenous social mobility, and endogenous or conflictual social mobility.

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