Illness and Healing Alternatives in Western Europe

The first book to focus on belief, culture and healing in the past; the authors draw on a broad range of material, from studies of demonologists and reports of asylum doctors, to church archives and oral evidence.

Despite the recent upsurge in interest in alternative medicine and unorthodox healers, Illness and Healing Alternatives in Western Europe is the first book to focus closely on the relationship between belief, culture and healing in the past. In essays on France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and England, from the sixteenth century to the present day, the authors draw on a broad range of material, from studies of demonologists and reports of asylum doctors to church archives and oral evidence.
Engaging rigorously with the relationship between medical science, popular beliefs and healing, with the concept of a ''medical market place'', and with alternative medicine right up to the present day, Illness and Healing Alternatives in Western Europe will make an invaluable resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students of medical, social and cultural history.