Urban Bodies: Communal Health in Late Medieval English Towns and Cities

Urban Bodies: Communal Health in Late Medieval English Towns and Cities by Carole Rawcliffe


ISBN
9781783273812
Published
Binding
Paperback
Pages
445
Dimensions
156 x 234mm

The idea of English medieval towns and cities as filthy, muddy and insanitary is here overturned in a pioneering new study.

Carole Rawcliffe continues with her mission to clean up the Middle Ages. In earlier work she has already given us scholarly yet sympathetic portrayals of English medicine, hospitals, and welfare for lepers. Now she widens her scope to public health. Her argument is clear, simple and convincing. Through the efforts of crown and civic authorities, mercantile elites and popular" interests, English towns and cities aspired to a far healthier, less polluted environment than previously supposed. All major sources of possible infection were regulated, from sounds and smells to corrupt matter - and to immorality. Once again Professor Rawcliffe has overturned a well-established orthodoxyin the history of pre-modern health and healing. Her book is a magnificent achievement." Peregrine Horden, Royal Holloway University of London.

This first full-length study of public health in pre-Reformation England challenges a number of entrenched assumptions about the insanitary nature of urban life during "the golden age of bacteria". Adopting an interdisciplinary approach that draws on material remains as well as archives, it examines themedical, cultural and religious contexts in which ideas about the welfare of the communal body developed. Far from demonstrating indifference, ignorance or mute acceptance in the face of repeated onslaughts of epidemic disease, the rulers and residents of English towns devised sophisticated and coherent strategies for the creation of a more salubrious environment; among the plethora of initiatives whose origins often predated the Black Death can also be found measures for the improvement of the water supply, for better food standards and for the care of the sick, both rich and poor.

CAROLE RAWCLIFFE is Professor of Medieval History, University of East Anglia.
EOFY 2025 Book Frenzy
54.39
RRP: $63.99
15% off RRP


This product is unable to be ordered online. Please check in-store availability.
Instore Price: $63.99
Enter your Postcode or Suburb to view availability and delivery times.

Other Titles by Carole Rawcliffe


You might also like

Unruly
26.99
22.94
15% Off
The Golden Road
39.99
33.99
15% Off
Russia
26.99
22.94
15% Off
Emperor of Rome
27.99
23.79
15% Off
Hell Ship
24.99
21.24
15% Off
Mutiny On The Bounty
Peter FitzSimons
36.99
31.44
15% Off
Jerusalem
26.99
22.94
15% Off
The Little Book Of History
19.99
16.99
15% Off
The World
29.99
25.49
15% Off

RRP refers to the Recommended Retail Price as set out by the original publisher at time of release.
The RRP set by overseas publishers may vary to those set by local publishers due to exchange rates and shipping costs.
Due to our competitive pricing, we may have not sold all products at their original RRP.