Wounds and Wound Repair in Medieval Culture (Explorations in Medieval Culture, 1)

The spectacle of the wounded body figured prominently in the Middle Ages, from images of Christ?s wounds on the cross, to the ripped and torn bodies of tortured saints who miraculously heal through divine intervention, to graphic accounts of battlefield and tournament wounds?evidence of which survives in the archaeological record?and literary episodes of fatal (or not so fatal) wounds. This volume offers a comprehensive look at the complexity of wounding and wound repair in medieval literature and culture, bringing together essays from a wide range of sources and disciplines including arms and armaments, military history, medical history, literature, art history, hagiography, and archaeology across medieval and early modern Europe. Contributors are Stephen Atkinson, Debby Banham, Albrecht Classen, Joshua Easterling, Charlene M. Eska, Carmel Ferragud, M.R. Geldof, Elina Gertsman, Barbara A. Goodman, Máire Johnson, Rachel E. Kellett, Ilana Krug, Virginia Langum, Michael Livingston, Iain A. MacInnes, Timothy May, Vibeke Olson, Salvador Ryan, William Sayers, Patricia Skinner, Alicia Spencer-Hall, Wendy J. Turner, Christine Voth, and Robert C. Woosnam-Savage. Contents 6 Acknowledgements 10 List of Figures and Tables 12 List of Abbreviations 14 List of Contributors 17 Introduction: Penetrating Medieval Wounds 26 The Medieval Body 27 Historiography 29 The Physicality of Wounds 33 Surgery 35 Law 39 Spiritual Wounds 41 Literature 44 part 1 48 section 1 50 Chapter 1 52 Battle Trauma in Medieval Warfare: Wounds, Weapons and Armor 52 Robert C. Woosnam-Savage and Kelly DeVries 52 Chapter 2 82 “And describe the shapes of the dead”: Making Sense of the Archaeology of Armed Violence 82 M.R. Geldof 82 Chapter 3 106 Visible Prowess?: Reading Men’s Head and Face Wounds in Early Medieval Europe to 1000 CE 106 Patricia Skinner 106 Chapter 4 127 Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes: Injury and Death in Anglo-Scottish Combat, c. 1296–c. 1403 127 Iain A. MacInnes 127 Chapter 5 153 “...Vnnd schüß im vnder dem schwert den ort lang ein zů der brust”: The Placement and Consequences of Sword-blows in Sigmund Ringeck’s Fifteenth-Century Fencing Manual 153 Rachel E. Kellett 153 section 2 176 Chapter 6 178 The Diagnosis and Treatment of Wounds in the Old English Medical Collections: Anglo-Saxon Surgery? 178 Debby Banham and Christine Voth Banham and Voth 178 Surgical Treatments in the Old English Medical Corpus 180 Why is There so Little Surgery in the Old English Medical Texts? 183 Surgical Practice in Anglo-Saxon England 184 Professional Boundaries 190 Disciplinary Boundaries 193 Explicit and ‘Tacit’ Knowledge 194 Conclusions 198 Chapter 7 200 Spitting Blood: Medieval Mongol Medical Practices 200 Timothy May 200 Chapter 8 219 The Wounded Soldier: Honey and Late Medieval Military Medicine 219 Ilana Krug 219 Chapter 9 240 “The Depth of Six Inches”: Prince Hal’s Head-Wound at the Battle of Shrewsbury 240 Michael Livingston 240 Nature of the Wound 241 Treatment of the Wound 249 Ramifications of the Wound 252 section 3 256 Chapter 10 258 Wounds, Amputations, and Expert Procedures in the City of Valencia in the Early Fifteenth Century* 258 Carmel Ferragud 258 A Conservative Attitude to Risk 260 Amputations and Medical Expertise in the Criminal Court of Justice of Valencia 266 Amputation in Late Medieval Surgical Texts 272 Conclusions 275 Chapter 11 277 The Mutilation of Derbforgaill 277 Charlene M. Eska 277 part 2 290 section 4 292 Chapter 12 294 “The Wounded Surgeon”: Devotion, Compassion and Metaphor in Medieval England 294 Virginia Langum 294 Chapter 13 316 “Scarce Anyone Survives a Heart Wound”: The Wounded Christ in Irish Bardic Religious Poetry 316 Salvador Ryan 316 Chapter 14 338 Penetrating the Void: Picturing the Wound in Christ’s Side as a Performative Space 338 Vibeke Olson 338 Chapter 15 365 Wandering Wounds: The Urban Body in Imitatio Christi 365 Elina Gertsman 365 section 5 392 Chapter 16 394 Ascetic Blood: Ethics, Suffering, and Community in Late-Medieval Culture 394 Joshua S. Easterling 394 Chapter 17 414 Christ’s Suppurating Wounds: Leprosy in the Vita of Alice of Schaerbeek (†1250) 414 Alicia Spencer-Hall* 414 Chapter 18 442 Wounding the Body and Freeing the Spirit: Dorothea von Montau’s Bloody Quest for Christ, a Late-Medieval Phenomenon of the Extraordinary Kind 442 Albrecht Classen 442 Chapter 19 473 In the Bursting of an Eye: Blinding and Blindness in Ireland’s Medieval Hagiography 473 Máire Johnson 473 part 3 496 Chapter 20 498 The Laconic Scar in Early Irish Literature 498 William Sayers 498 Chapter 21 521 “Into the hede, throw the helme and creste”: Head Wounds and a Question of Kingship in the Stanzaic Morte Arthur 521 Larissa Tracy 521 Chapter 22 544 “They ... toke their shyldys before them and drew oute their swerdys ...”: Inflicting and Healing Wounds in Malory’s Morte Darthur 544 Stephen Atkinson 544 Chapter 23 569 Women’s Wounds in Middle English Romances: An Exploration of Defilement, Disfigurement, and a Society in Disrepair 569 Barbara A. Goodman 569 Afterword: The Aftermath of Wounds 597 Wendy J. Turner 597 Physical Wounds 598 Healing Wounds 599 Disabling Wounds 600 Sacred Wounds 602 A Conclusion 604 Bibliography 606 Index 660 The spectacle of the wounded body figured prominently in the Middle Ages, from images of Christ?s wounds on the cross, to the ripped and torn bodies of tortured saints who miraculously heal through divine intervention, to graphic accounts of battlefield and tournament wounds?evidence of which survives in the archaeological record?and literary episodes of fatal (or not so fatal) wounds. This volume offers a comprehensive look at the complexity of wounding and wound repair in medieval literature and culture, bringing together essays from a wide range of sources and disciplines including arms and armaments, military history, medical history, literature, art history, hagiography, and archaeology across medieval and early modern Europe. Contributors are Stephen Atkinson, Debby Banham, Albrecht Classen, Joshua Easterling, Charlene M. Eska, Carmel Ferragud, M.R. Geldof, Elina Gertsman, Barbara A. Goodman, Mìre Johnson, Rachel E. Kellett, Ilana Krug, Virginia Langum, Michael Livingston, Iain A. MacInnes, Timothy May, Vibeke Olson, Salvador Ryan, William Sayers, Patricia Skinner, Alicia Spencer-Hall, Wendy J. Turner, Christine Voth, and Robert C. Woosnam-Savage This Volume Brings Together Essays That Consider Wounding And/or Wound Repair From A Wide Range Of Sources And Disciplines Including Arms And Armaments, Military History, Medical History, Literature, Art History, Hagiography, And Archaeology Across Medieval And Early Modern Europe.