IMC 2021: Sessions
Session 714: Microclimates, Magic, and Maritime Travel: Predicting Climates in Medieval Manuscripts
Tuesday 6 July 2021, 14.15-15.45
| Sponsor: | Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Reading |
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| Organiser: | Rebecca A. C. Rist, Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Reading |
| Moderator/Chair: | Anne Lawrence-Mathers, Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Reading |
| Paper 714-a | The Bodily Humours as a Microclimate in Late Medieval Astromedicine: Taking Notice of Thunder Prognostics (Language: English) Index terms: Manuscripts and Palaeography, Medicine, Science |
| Paper 714-b | Charms, Amulets, and Ligatures: The Boundaries of Magic, Medicine, and Religion in the Middle Ages (Language: English) Index terms: Medicine, Religious Life, Science |
| Paper 714-c | Time and Tide: Gower (West Wales) as Part of a Sea Travel Network in the Severn Region during the 5th-6th Centuries (Language: English) Index terms: Economics - Trade, Hagiography, Maritime and Naval Studies |
| Abstract | The first paper examines how medieval people viewed the internal climate of the human body and strove to understand how planetary influences affected the bodily humours. The second investigates how medieval people believed they were affected by supernatural climates and attempted to improve their life chances through charms, amulets and and ligitures. The third explores how medieval people were dependent on the weather and the tides, and how sea voyages and boat design were carefully planned to suit seasonal climates. Thus all three papers emphasise the importance of predicting different types of climates to ensure diverse types of health and wellbeing. |