13 research outputs found
Chapter 4 Animals
This chapter will examine the cultural history of medicine through animals. Historical scholarship on animals has grown exponentially in the last decades. Described as the âanimal turnâ, it offers new perspectives on human culture by examining the roles animals have played in human society, although it often still remains at the margins or between disciplines (Ritvo 2007: 118â22). It includes cultural history (Resl 2009), archaeology (OâConnor 2013), environmental history, intellectual history and the study of animals as commodities, encompassing fields as disparate from zoo studies to evolutionary history.
In the field of medieval studies, animals have remained at the periphery of medical history and are rarely the focus of scholarship. Although they are accorded due attention in veterinary history, there has been little work on their place in medical history.1 This chapter hopes to inspire the reader with a brief survey of the multiple ways in which animals and humans intersect in medieval medical history, looking at animals as medical metaphors; animals as a source of ill health and injury; animals used for nourishment and healing; and the parallels between the treatment of animals and humans
Diagnosis of a Plague Image: A Digital Cautionary Tale
This brief study examines the genesis of the âmisdiagnosisâ of a fourteenth- century image that has become a frequently used representation of the Black Death on the Internet and in popular publications. The image in fact depicts another common disease in medieval Europe, leprosy, but was misinterpreted as âplagueâ because of a labeling error. The error was then magnified because of digital dissemination. This mistake is a reminder that interpretation of cultural products continues to demand the skills and expertise of humanists. Included is a full transcription and translation of the text which the image was originally meant to illustrate: James le Palmer, Omne bonum, cap. âDe clerico debilitato ministrante sequitur videreâ (On Ministration by a Disabled Cleric), London, British Library, Royal 6 E. VI, vol. 2, fols. 301rbâ302ra
CENDARI Archival Research Guide
This Archival Research Guide (ARG) aims to provide the user with a broad
overview of the Archival Directory, a key component of the CENDARI Virtual
Research Environment. The CENDARI Archival Directory consists of all available
data in the AtoM application (âAccess to Memoryâ) and data in the main
repository, which is derived from international or national aggregators as
well as national archives or other data providers. All data, whether manually
inputted via the AtoM application or collected from institutions, form
together the Archival Directory. In this guide the term âArchival Directoryâ
refers only to the application AtoM and it hence will be used in this narrow
sense. The term âArchival Directory AtoMâ reinforces this definition. Unlike
most of the other ARGs in CENDARI, this is not a thematic overview of a
historical subject but instead a practical guide to the Archival Directory
AtoMâs aims and how it was created and organised. This guide will present the
methodology used by researchers associated with the CENDARI project when
creating archival description and archival institution entries in CENDARI. It
explains how material was selected to be entered into the Archival Directory
AtoM, which institutions were considered as âhidden archivesâ by the CENDARI
team, what material was not included, the limitations of the project and the
future of the Archival Directory AtoM. The CENDARI Archival Directory AtoM can
be accessed both directly from the website and indirectly via the link
provided in the Note-Taking Environment (NTE)
One Health Approaches to Trace Mycobacterium leprae âs Zoonotic Potential Through Time
Hansenâs disease (leprosy), mainly caused by infection with Mycobacterium leprae, has accompanied humanity for thousands of years. Although currently rare in Europe, there are over 200,000 new infections annually in South East Asia, Africa, and South America. Over the years many disciplines â palaeopathology, ancient DNA and other ancient biomolecules, and history â have contributed to a better understanding of leprosyâs past, in particular its history in medieval Europe. We discuss their contributions and potential, especially in relation to the role of inter-species transmission, an unexplored phenomenon in the diseaseâs history. Here, we explore the potential of interdisciplinary approaches that understand disease as a biosocial phenomenon, which is a product of both infection with M. leprae and social behaviours that facilitate transmission and spread. Genetic evidence of M. leprae isolated from archaeological remains combined with systematic zooarchaeological and historical analysis would not only identify when and in what direction transmission occurred, but also key social behaviours and motivations that brought species together. In our opinion, this combination is crucial to understand the diseaseâs zoonotic past and current potential
TMG 1 (2014): Pandemic Disease in the Medieval World: Rethinking the Black Death, ed. Monica Green
The plague organism (Yersinia pestis) killed an estimated 40% to 60% of all people when it spread rapidly through the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe in the fourteenth century: an event known as the Black Death. Previous research has shown, especially for Western Europe, how population losses then led to structural economic, political, and social changes. But why and how did the pandemic happen in the first place? When and where did it begin? How was it sustained? What was its full geographic extent? And when did it really end? Pandemic Disease in the Medieval World is the first book to synthesize the new evidence and research methods that are providing fresh answers to these crucial questions. It was only in 2011, thanks to ancient DNA recovered from remains unearthed in Londonâs East Smithfield cemetery, that the full genome of the plague pathogen was identified. This single-celled organism probably originated 3000-4000 years ago and has caused three pandemics in recorded history: the Justinianic (or First) Plague Pandemic, around 541-750; the Black Death (Second Plague Pandemic), conventionally dated to the 1340s; and the Third Plague Pandemic, usually dated from around 1894 to the 1930s. This ground-breaking book brings together scholars from the humanities and social and physical sciÂences to address the question of how recent work in genetics, zoology, and epiÂdeÂmiology can enable a rethinking of the Black Death\u27s global reach and its larger historical significance. It forms the inaugural double issue of The Medieval Globe, a new journal sponsored by the Program in Medieval Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
This issue of The Medieval Globe is published with the support of the World History Center at the University of Pittsburgh.https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/medieval_globe/1000/thumbnail.jp
Com o diabo no corpo: os terrĂveis papagaios do Brasil colĂŽnia
Desde a Antiguidade, papagaios, periquitos e afins (Psittacidae) fascinaram os europeus por seu vivo colorido e uma notĂĄvel capacidade de interação com seres humanos. A descoberta do Novo Mundo nada faria alĂ©m de acrescentar novos elementos ao trĂĄfico de animais exĂłticos hĂĄ muito estabelecido pelos europeus com a Ăfrica e o Oriente. Sem possuir grandes mamĂferos, a AmĂ©rica tropical participaria desse comĂ©rcio com o que tinha de mais atrativo, essencialmente felinos, primatas e aves - em particular os papagaios, os quais eram embarcados em bom nĂșmero. Contudo, a julgar pelos documentos do Brasil colĂŽnia, esses volĂĄteis podiam inspirar muito pouca simpatia, pois nenhum outro animal - exceto as formigas - foi tantas vezes mencionado como praga para a agricultura. AlĂ©m disso, alguns psitĂĄcidas mostravam-se tĂŁo loquazes que inspiravam a sĂ©ria desconfiança de serem animais demonĂacos ou possessos, pois sĂł trĂȘs classes de entidades - anjos, homens e demĂŽnios - possuĂam o dom da palavra. Nos dias de hoje, vĂĄrios representantes dos Psittacidae ainda constituem uma ameaça para a agricultura, enquanto os indivĂduos muito faladores continuam despertando a suspeita de estarem possuĂdos pelo demĂŽnio. Transcendendo a mera curiosidade, essa crença exemplifica o quĂŁo intrincadas podem ser as relaçÔes do homem com o chamado âmundo naturalâ, revelando um universo mais amplo e multifacetado do que se poderia supor a princĂpio. Nesse sentido, a existĂȘncia de aves capazes de falar torna essa relação ainda mais complexa e evidencia que as dificuldades de estabelecer o limite entre o animal e o humano se estendem alĂ©m dos primatas e envolvem as mais inusitadas espĂ©cies zoolĂłgicas.Since ancient times, parrots and their allies (Psittacidae) have fascinated Europeans by their striking colors and notable ability to interact with human beings. The discovery of the New World added new species to the international exotic animal trade, which for many centuries had brought beasts to Europe from Africa and the Orient. Lacking large mammals, tropical America participated in this trade with its most appealing species, essentially felines, primates and birds - especially parrots - which were shipped in large numbers. It should be noted, however, that at times these birds were not well liked. In fact, according to documents from colonial Brazil, only the ants rank higher than parrots as the animals most often mentioned as agricultural pests. On the other hand, some of these birds were so chatty that people suspected them to be demonic or possessed animals, since only three classes of beings - angels, men and demons - have the ability to speak. Nowadays, several Psittacidae still constitute a threat to agriculture, and the suspicion that extremely talkative birds were demon possessed has also survived. More than a joke or a mere curiosity, this belief exemplifies how intricate manâs relationships with the ânatural worldâ may be. In this sense, the existence of birds that are able to speak adds a further twist to these relationships, demonstrating that the problem of establishing a boundary between the animal and the human does not only involve primates, but also includes some unusual zoological species
Chapter 4 Animals
This chapter will examine the cultural history of medicine through animals. Historical scholarship on animals has grown exponentially in the last decades. Described as the âanimal turnâ, it offers new perspectives on human culture by examining the roles animals have played in human society, although it often still remains at the margins or between disciplines (Ritvo 2007: 118â22). It includes cultural history (Resl 2009), archaeology (OâConnor 2013), environmental history, intellectual history and the study of animals as commodities, encompassing fields as disparate from zoo studies to evolutionary history.
In the field of medieval studies, animals have remained at the periphery of medical history and are rarely the focus of scholarship. Although they are accorded due attention in veterinary history, there has been little work on their place in medical history.1 This chapter hopes to inspire the reader with a brief survey of the multiple ways in which animals and humans intersect in medieval medical history, looking at animals as medical metaphors; animals as a source of ill health and injury; animals used for nourishment and healing; and the parallels between the treatment of animals and humans
Methodological Guide on Sources in AtoM: CENDARI Archival Research Guide
CENDARI Archival Research GuideThis Archival Research Guide (ARG) aims to provide the user with a broad overview of the Archival Directory, a key component of the CENDARI Virtual Research Environment. The CENDARI Archival Directory consists of all available data in the AtoM application (âAccess to Memoryâ) and data in the main repository, which is derived from international or national aggregators as well as national archives or other data providers. All data, whether manually inputted via the AtoM application or collected from institutions, form together the Archival Directory. In this guide the term âArchival Directoryâ refers only to the application AtoM and it hence will be used in this narrow sense. The term âArchival Directory AtoMâ reinforces this definition. Unlike most of the other ARGs in CENDARI, this is not a thematic overview of a historical subject but instead a practical guide to the Archival Directory AtoMâs aims and how it was created and organised.This guide will present the methodology used by researchers associated with the CENDARI project when creating archival description and archival institution entries in CENDARI. It explains how material was selected to be entered into the Archival Directory AtoM, which institutions were considered as âhidden archivesâ by the CENDARI team, what material was not included, the limitations of the project and the future of the Archival Directory AtoM. The CENDARI Archival Directory AtoM can be accessed both directly from the website and indirectly via the link provided in the Note-Taking Environment (NTE)