Search for Wellbeing and Health between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period

Edited by Javier López Rider

Book cover: Search for Wellbeing and Health between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period

Extent: 208 pages

Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing

Subjects: Early Modern & Renaissance Studies, Medieval Studies

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(December 2023)

ISBN: 9781803275772

6.85 x 9.65 inches

Price: $54.00

In stock

This book compiles a series of works on cosmetics and health care, covering different geographical areas of Europe. The studies also focus on different cultures, with some chapters dedicated to the Hebrew sphere, others to the Muslim world, and a larger percentage dealing with Christian society.


The Search for Wellbeing and Health between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period compiles a series of works on cosmetics and health care, covering different geographical areas of Europe. The studies also focus on different cultures, with some chapters dedicated to the Hebrew sphere, others to the Muslim world, and a larger percentage dealing with Christian society. The contributions make use of some very important written sources: recipe books and treatises on medicine and cosmetics, especially those preserved from the Late Middle Ages (13th-15th centuries) onwards. These manuscripts reveal the raw materials used to make certain products, whose origin could be vegetable, animal or mineral. Many were used to combat various ailments, but also to take care of the body aesthetically. Thus, there are remedies to heal the eyes; to avoid problems with the teeth and to make them shine white; creams and soaps for the skin; hair dyes to avoid grey hair; lotions to combat baldness; and even diverse gastronomic recipes to obtain inner wellbeing. Other contributions take a more practical perspective. Studies are included in which some of the ingredients and products are explored through experimental archaeology (chemical analysis) and faunal remains obtained from archaeological campaigns are analysed in the laboratory, showing the Christian diet. Overall the book demonstrates the importance of healthcare and cosmetics in past societies that had very significant technical knowledge of a multitude of completely natural and sustainable products.

Foreword

 

Cosmética, salud y belleza en la medicina hebrea medieval – Meritxell Blasco Orellana

 

Obras maestras de la farmacología andalusí – Ana María Cabo-González

 

Galen’s impact: wound treatment in De compositione medicamentorum per genera and beyond – Manuela Marai

 

Trading beauty. Commerce and cosmetic recipes in medieval and early modern ages – Rafael María Girón Pascual and Javier López Rider

 

El negocio del bienestar: una cuenta de farmacia del siglo XVI – Efrén de la Peña Barroso

 

Serving the Eye, Serving the Soul: Religion and Healing in Georg Bartisch’s Ophthalmodouleia (1583) – Wenrui Zhao

 

Manducare irrationabiliter: pica o apetito irracional en los textos médicos latinos medievales – Victoria Recio Muñoz

 

Mantenersi in salute nell’Alto Medioevo: Il ruolo terapeutico dell’esercizio fisico nel Manuale medico di Paolo di Nicea – Irene Calà

 

Restaurar la salud: Recetas para enfermos y remedios en los libros de cocina mexicanos de los siglos XVIII y XIX – Susana Phelts Ramos

 

The Health of Body and Soul in the Monastic Tradition – Gabriele Archetti

 

Ricettari per la bellezza e per la cura femminile – Simona Gavinelli

 

Immagini, ricette e salute nei Tacuina sanitati – Francesca Stroppa

 

Dieta y alimentación desde el Medievo hasta la Modernidad: el caso del Castillo de Torreparedones (Baena, Córdoba) – Alejandro Beltrán Ruiz, José A. Riquelme Cantal and Juan Manuel Garrido Anguita

  • Edited by Javier López Rider