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Table of contents (10 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
This book considers how scientists, theologians, priests, and poets approached the relationship of the human body and ethics in the later Middle Ages. Is medicine merely a metaphor for sin? Or can certain kinds of bodies physiologically dispose people to be angry, sad, or greedy? If so, then is it their fault? Virginia Langum offers an account of the medical imagery used to describe feelings and actions in religious and literary contexts, referencing a variety of behavioral discussions within medical contexts. The study draws upon medical and theological writing for its philosophical basis, and upon more popular works of religion, as well as poetry, to show how these themes were articulated, explored, and questioned more widely in medieval culture.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Virginia Langum is Associate Professor of English at Umeå University, Sweden and Pro Futura Scientia Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study. She recently edited Words and Matter: The Virgin Mary in Late Medieval and Early Modern Parish Life.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Medicine and the Seven Deadly Sins in Late Medieval Literature and Culture
Authors: Virginia Langum
Series Title: The New Middle Ages
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-44990-0
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-46558-0Published: 16 September 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-44990-0Published: 15 September 2016
Series ISSN: 2945-5936
Series E-ISSN: 2945-5944
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: VIII, 236
Topics: Medieval Literature, History of Medieval Europe, Religion and Society, Social History, History of Religion, Classical and Antique Literature