IMC 2003: Sessions

Session 324: Alchemy and Medieval Medicine

Monday 14 July 2003, 16.30-18.00

Sponsor:	MEDICA: A Society for the Study of Healing in the Middle Ages
Organiser:	Linda Migl Keyser, School of Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Moderator/Chair:	Louise M. Bishop, Clark Honors College, University of Oregon
Paper 324-a	Alchemy at the Royal Court in 14th-Century England (Language: English) Jonathan Hughes, Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, School of History, University of East Anglia Index terms: Medicine, Science
Paper 324-b	Alchemy, National Identity and Malory's Tale of the Sankgreal (Language: English) Linda Migl Keyser, School of Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington, DC Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Medicine, Science
Paper 324-c	Medieval Traditions of Medical Alchemy (Language: English) Urs Leo Gantenbein, Medizinhistorisches Institut, Universität Zürich Index terms: Manuscripts and Palaeography, Medicine, Science
Abstract	This session will explore the secretive system of knowledge known as alchemy and its vital contributions to the cultural life of the Middle Ages. Specifically, speakers will examine the interplay between alchemy's enigmatic discourse and the discursive traditions of medieval medicine, politics, and literature. Papers will discuss the rich tradition of medicinal alchemy with the objective of developing a classification of alchemically prepared remedies. In addition, speakers will address the controversies that resulted from the royal patronage of alchemists and interpret the convergence of alchemy, metaphors of illness and healing, and national identity in Malory's Tale of the Sankgreal