IMC 2026: Sessions

Session 1644: Expecting Cure: Anticipation and Experience in Medieval Medicine

Thursday 9 July 2026, 11:15-12:45

Sponsor:	ERC Project 'Medieval Placebo Effect: Hope and Belief in Healthcare in Christian Southern Europe 1100-1500'
Organiser:	Naama Cohen-Hanegbi, Department of History, Tel Aviv University
Moderator/Chair:	Naama Cohen-Hanegbi, Department of History, Tel Aviv University
Paper 1644-a	'Pro desiderio celestis patrie': Expecting the Afterlife in 12th-Century Medicine (Language: English) Tamar Nadav, Department of History, Tel Aviv University Index terms: Medicine, Theology
Paper 1644-b	'Before this experience I would not have believed that it had any meaning or truth': Expectations and Experience in a Hebrew Divinatory Text (Language: English) Alma Eliaz, Department of History, Tel Aviv University Index terms: Medicine, Science
Paper 1644-c	When the Moon Is Right: Epistemology of Expected Cure and Celestial Timing in the Alfonsine Corpus (Language: English) Katherine Tapia, Comparative Literature, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Index terms: Daily Life, Medicine, Science
Abstract	This panel explores the role of expectation in shaping medieval medical thought and practice. We approach expectation both as a lived sensibility of patients and caregivers, and as a conceptual framework guiding prognostication, diagnosis, and therapeutic choice. The papers examine medieval physiology theories on expectation and how anticipatory thinking influenced the interpretation of symptoms, the expected efficacy of remedies, and the authority of medical expertise and the evaluation of “trusted” medicines vs. error. By foregrounding expectation, we highlight its value as an epistemic force in the history of medieval medicine.