Two medieval plague treatises and their afterlife in early modern England

This study of an adaptation of the popular John of Burgundy plague treatise by Thomas Moulton, a Dominican friar, ca. 1475, and a translation of the so-called Canutus plague treatise by Thomas Paynell, printed 1534, shows how the medieval traditions they represent were carried forward, well into the sixteenth century, and also subjected to change in light of religious, moral, and medical concerns of early modern England. The former had a long life in print, ca. 1530-1580, whereas Paynell's translation exists in one printed version. Moulton's adaptation differs from its original and from the Canutus treatise in putting great emphasis on the idea that onsets of plague were acts of divine retribution for human sinfulness. In this respect, Moulton reshaped the tradition of the medieval plague treatise and anticipated the religious and social construction of plague that would take shape in the first half of the sixteenth century. Its long history in print indicates that Moulton's treatise expressed the spirit of that construction and probably influenced the construction as well. The contrasting histories of the two treatises attest not only to the dramatic change brought about by religious and social forces in the sixteenth century, but to a growing recognition of the value of the printing press for disseminating medical information-in forms that served social and ideological ends.     

Review article: Lighten our darkness — Biblical style in early medieval Britain and Ireland

Books reviewed in this article:
D.R. Howlett. The Celtic Latin Tradition of Biblical Style
D.R. Howlett. The English Origins of Old French Literature
D.R. Howlett. British Books in Biblical Style
D.R. Howlett. Cambro-Latin Compositions: Their Competence and Craftsmanship     

The archaeology of medieval and early modern battlefields in Flanders

The first pre-modern battlefield survey in Flanders was a pilot study at Oudenaarde in 2007. Three projects followed, between 2011 and 2013, funded by the Flemish Heritage Agency: an assessment of battlefields for inclusion on the Archaeological Inventory; a survey of Oudenaarde battlefield (1708); and an assessment of Lafelt battlefield (1747). This article reviews these projects in a wider context to reveal the current state of pre-modern battlefield archaeology in Flanders. It discusses the chronology, type and scale of battlefields, the character of the evidence, the methodology for its investigation, and threats to the sites and their conservation management needs.     

Ritual and interpretation: the early medieval case

In dealing with early medieval ‘rituals’ (whatever this category may mean), historians have to take into account that they were written about, staged, and participated in by members of a culture that was steeped in interpretation, and especially by the exegetical dialectic between letter and spirit. The consequences for narrative techniques, and therefore for our approach to the sources depicting ‘rituals’ are plural. The narratives can heighten or de‐emphasize the ‘ritualness’ of an event, as well as heighten or hide conflict (or consensus) within the ritual event, regardless of what actually happened. Rituals in texts, therefore, should seldom be taken at face value. Such techniques suggest that often enough the textual rendition (or even imagination) of a solemnity had more political impact than its performance.     

Seal dies from the National Museum of Slovenia: Non-destructive analyses of medieval and early modern copper alloys

A representative group of seal dies made of copper alloys from the collection of the National Museum of Slovenia was investigated by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF). Chronologically, the artefacts date from the early 13th century to the present. Non-destructive EDXRF screening of elemental fingerprints of Cu, Zn, Pb, Ag, Sn and Sb was performed on 95 seal dies, and the obtained elemental data set was further processed by chemometric tools such as principal component analysis (PCA). The relationships between the elemental composition of analysed seal dies, type of alloy applied and their historical context—date, location of manufacture and, possibly, social rank of the owner—were examined in detail.     

The early medieval secular: spectrum and strategies

This special issue seeks to fill a gap by taking the first steps towards locating the early Middle Ages in the broader history of the secular. While it has generally been assumed that a division between religion and secular was impossible to make in the early medieval period, taken together the articles in this collection show a variety of early medieval seculars, all arising from a general assumption that distinctions could, indeed had to, be made between what was secular and what was not. The introduction proposes that scholars should think in terms of a spectrum of secularity; key to determining what sits within this spectrum must be the identification of secularizing strategies, i.e. attempts to draw a distinction between religious and secular in a particular context. Such an approach offers the possibility of a history of the secular that does not privilege one time or place.     

Infection, contagion, and public health in late medieval and early modern German imperial towns

From today's point of view, the concepts of "miasma" and "contagion" appear to be two mutually exclusive perceptions of the spread of epidemic diseases, and quite a number of historians have tried to discuss the history of public health and epidemic diseases in terms of a progression from the miasmic to the contagionist concept. More detailed local studies, however, indicate how extremely misleading it may be to separate such medical concepts and ideas from their actual historical context. The article presented here, based on local studies in late medieval and early modern imperial towns in southern Germany, demonstrates to what extent the inhabitants of these towns had notions of both "miasma" and "contagion." Furthermore, a contextual analysis of language shows that they did not see a necessity to strictly distinguish between these different concepts relating to the spread of diseases. Tracing the meaning of "infection" and "contagion," we find that these terms were used in connection with various diseases, and that a change in the use of the expressions does not necessarily imply a change of the corresponding notion. Moreover, a coexistence of differing perceptions cannot--as some historians have suggested--be attributed to a divergence between the academic medicine and the popular ideas of that period. A survey of measures and actions in the public health sector indicates that a coexistence of--from our point of view--inconsistent concepts helped the authorities as well as the individuals to find means of defense and consolation during all those crises caused by epidemic diseases--crises that occurred very frequently in these towns during the late medieval and early modern periods. As the article demonstrates, the interaction during such crises reveals the continuity of ancient rituals and concepts as well as the adoption of new insights resulting from changes in the economical, political, scientific, religious, and social structures.     

Integrating isotopes and documentary evidence: dietary patterns in a late medieval and early modern mining community,Sweden

This study explores the relationship between dietary patterns and social structure in a pre-industrial mining community in Salberget, Sweden c. 1470 to 1600 A.D. using a combination of different research approaches and tools, including archaeology, osteology, bone chemistry and history. The correlation between demographic criteria (sex and age) and archaeological variables (burial type and burial location) shows that Salberget was a highly stratified community. Group diets were investigated through analyses of stable isotopes (carbon, δ ¹³C, and nitrogen, δ ¹⁵N) of bone collagen from a sub-sample of individuals buried at the site (n = 67), interpreted alongside data from human dental lesions and deficiencies, animal bone waste and information on eating habits extracted from the extensive historical documents regarding mining activities at Salberget. These integrated analyses provide a clear association between social status and diet and confirm that social status, and to a lesser extent sex, gender and age, likely governed food choice and opportunity in this diverse community.     

Review article

Ohne Zusammenfassung

---

Review article

     

Review article

Donald Home, Death of The Lucky Country, Ringwood, Penguin, 1976, 115 pp.

Paul Kelly, The Unmaking of Gough, Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1976, 361 pp.

Clem Lloyd and Andrew Clark, Kerr's King Hit, Stanmore, Cassell, 1976, 270 pp.

Laurie Oakes, Crash through or Crash, Richmond, Drummond, 1976, 295 pp.

Patrick Tennison, The Lucky Country Reborn, Melbourne, Hill of Content, 1976, 117 pp.

“Australian Politics—A New Ball Game?”, Politics, XI, No. 1 (May 1976), pp. 1–68, and published separately as a monograph.