Medicine & society in later medieval England

"This comprehensive and pioneering study explains in a social context, and with extensive illustrations from contemporary sources, the development and practice of medieval medicine. It begins by examining the prevalence of death and disease in late medieval England, and the limitations of medical theory in dealing with such problems as epidemics, wounds, mortality in childbirth and even relatively minor ailments. Having examined current theory, the use of astrology, horoscopes and other prognosticatory techniques, the author deals in turn with the way that physicians, surgeons and apothecaries organized themselves, their financial and social position, and contemporary attitudes (often deeply unflattering) towards them. Surgeons and apothecaries were regarded as 'craftsmen' rather than 'academics', but their training was more pragmatic and rather less conservative than that of most physicians, and their rate of success could be quite impressive as a result. Unlike other parts of Europe, England had little to offer in the way of state-funded health care, so the poor were thrown back on their own resources. 'Self help' played an important part in medieval medicine; and women were expe