IMC 2017: Sessions
Session 1610: Water and Health: Religious, Social, and Environmental Perspectives, II
Thursday 6 July 2017, 11.15-12.45
| Organiser: | Elma Brenner, Wellcome Library, London |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Carole Rawcliffe, School of History, University of East Anglia |
| Paper 1610-a | Water Sources and Public Health in the Towns and Cities of Late Medieval Normandy (Language: English) Index terms: Archaeology - Sites, Daily Life, Medicine, Social History |
| Paper 1610-b | Urban Regulations from Late Medieval Southern Germany and Switzerland to Keep the Water of the Rivers Clean: A Battlefield of Different Interests? (Language: English) Index terms: Daily Life, Economics - Urban, Social History |
| Paper 1610-c | The Virgin Mary's Tears in Henry of Lancaster's Le Livre de Seyntz Medicines: Materia Medica in Anglo-Norman and French Penitential Writings (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Language and Literature - Other, Lay Piety, Medicine |
| Abstract | This session follows on from the first session on water and health by further probing the practical and spiritual importance of water in the later Middle Ages. Water was a central issue in the public health considerations of urban authorities, and municipal interventions regarding water supplies demonstrate how local governments endeavoured to police and control the environment. At the same time, water was imbued with much allegorical significance in texts that dealt with the health of both bodies and souls. In all these contexts the purity or cleanliness of water was essential, ensuring that it was health-giving and not a source of ill health. |