IMC 2019: Sessions

Session 1510: Fertility and Infertility, I: Writing about Infertility

Thursday 4 July 2019, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:	Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Exeter
Organiser:	Catherine Rider, Department of History, University of Exeter
Moderator/Chair:	Joanne Edge, Department of History & Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge
Paper 1510-a	'For both were old and Sarah's periods had ceased': Medieval Theologians and Infertile Bodies (Language: English) Catherine Rider, Department of History, University of Exeter Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Medicine, Religious Life, Women's Studies
Paper 1510-b	'For Women who cannot have their Flowers': Menstruation and Fertility Recipes in Early Modern Europe (Language: English) Julia Martins, Department of History, King's College London Index terms: Medicine, Sexuality, Women's Studies
Paper 1510-c	Uroscopy and the Conceiving Body (Language: English) Isabel Davis, Department of English & Humanities, Birkbeck, University of London Index terms: Medicine, Sexuality, Women's Studies
Abstract	The history of infertility is a growing area of study, for the Middle Ages and for other periods. Recent work has examined medical and (less often) religious views of infertility, as well as the experiences of those seeking to conceive. This is one of two sessions that bring together medievalists working on these topics from a range of perspectives. This session looks at medical and religious writing on infertility, in order to uncover learned writers' views of the subject and their relationship to practice. The second session looks at some of the best documented cases of infertility, among medieval kings and queens.