New Approaches to Disease, Disability and Medicine in Medieval Europe

An interdisciplinary collection of papers focussing on infections, chronic illness, and the impact of infectious diseases on medieval society, with contributions by academics from a variety of disciplines and a diverse range of international institutions.

The majority of papers in this volume were originally presented at the eighth annual ‘Disease, Disability, and Medicine in Medieval Europe’ conference. The conference focused on infections, chronic illness, and the impact of infectious diseases on medieval society, including infection as a disability in the case of visible conditions, such as infected wounds, leprosy, syphilis, and tuberculosis. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this conference emphasised the importance of collaborative projects, novel avenues of research for treating infectious disease, and the value of considering medieval questions from the perspective of multiple disciplines. This volume aims to carry forward this interdisciplinary synergy by bringing together contributors from a variety of disciplines and from a diverse range of international institutions. Of note is the academic stage of the contributors in this volume. All the contributors were PhD candidates at the time of the conference, and the majority have completed or are in the final stages of completing their programmes at the time of this publication. The originality and calibre of research presented by these early career researchers demonstrates the promising future of the field, as well as the continued relevance of medieval studies for a wide range of disciplines and topics. Contributions by Stefanie Künzel, Marit Ronen, Cathrin Hähn, Rachel Welsh, Ninon Dubourg, Clara Jáuregui, Lucy Barnhouse, Cecilia Collins, Erin Connelly, and Christoph Wieselhuber.