`Fills a big gap. It is concerned with recipe collections, perhaps the least studied of all medical documents, and includes - chants, charms and prayers, as well as herbal remedies for a variety of ailments. Popular Medicinesucceedsin two ways: the quality of its philological scholarship confirms the growing academic respectability of an interest in medical history, and the abundance of primary material made available for the first time in print offers a way of reconciling opposing views on medieval English medicine. It forces medical historians to think hard about the diagnostic categories they use, and sanctions a pluralist approach to an equally diverse system of medicine.' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
The first study of Anglo-Norman medical prescriptions to appear in print. Six major collections, comprising over 1000 receipts, are analysed and edited. A historical introduction provides the richest and most up-to-date account of popular medicine in the period 1100-1300 yet published. Full botanical glossaries are provided.
TONY HUNTis a Fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford.