Plague Spotting

Of all of the symptoms of plague, the 'plague spots' are the most problematic. For some reason historians (and others) have grabbed on to plague spots as a distinguishing characteristic to recognize images of the plague even though they are not an obligate symptom of plague. The image to the left is one of the...

Winter Reading

Well since spring is officially here, I guess I'm overdue in posting my winter reading. For being snowed in several weekends this winter, I think I must have done more hibernating than reading/work! My reading seemed to be all over the place and more than usual off-topic to be listed here. I shall try to...

Contagion and Pestilence in Isidore of Seville’s Etymologies

Before Isidore of Seville became the patron saint of the internet, he was known for over a thousand years as a font of knowledge.  Isidore was not an innovator; he was a master of synthesis. It is through Isidore that we have an orderly account of the learned knowledge of the Late Roman world.  He...

Autumn Reading

So much for my plan to do monthly reading updates. I think quarterly might be more feasible. It seems like the fall has flown by and was not as productive as I would have liked. Isn't that always the way? So I'm currently working my way through Cameron's Anglo-Saxon Medicine and then next up will...

Reading in August

Just a little update on my reading in August. I've been jumping around a bit reading on the history of malaria and wetlands.  Lots of interesting bits and pieces! Books John Aberth. An Environmental History of the Middle Ages: The Crucible of Nature, 2013. Gregory of Tours (d. 594): Glory of the Confessors  Gregory of Tours (d. 594):...

On Giant’s Shoulders #66: Contagious History!

Welcome to the 66th edition of On Giant's Shoulders, the blog carnival for the history of science, medicine and technology! I wish I could pull a bunch of holiday posts out of Santa's bag, but the blogosphere does not appear to be in the festive mood yet. An anniversary and commemoration mood seems to be...

Opening the Plague Files

Book Citation: A.P. Cook & N.D. Cook.  The Plague Files: Crisis Management in Sixteenth-Century Seville.  Louisiana State University Press, 2009. 296 pp. ISBN: 978-0-8071-4360-5. Topic: Public Health Crisis Management Time and Place: Seville, Spanish Empire, 1579-1581. Audience:  Those interested in history, crisis management, public health, and political science; written for a general audience. Discussion: The...

London Plague of 1665 [movie clip]

From the 1995 movie Restoration with Robert Downey Jr:

Health and Healing Sessions at Kalamazoo 2012

Regular readers might remember that last fall I was regularly posting and tweeting a call for papers for a session on health and healing in early medieval Europe for the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo in 2012. The schedule for the Congress is now out so I can tell everyone all about it....