Medieval History

Epistolary Documents in High-Medieval History- Writing

What is the history of medieval optics really about?

INCE ITS PUBLICATION IN 1975, David Lindberg’s Theories of Vision from Al-Kind to Kepler 2 has become the canonical ı̄ source for our understanding of medieval optics and its place in the development of modern optics. Lindberg’s ulterior purpose in writing this book was to show that, contrary to prevailing opinion, Johan Kepler’s account of sight, which is based on the casting of point-bypoint i...

A liquid history Blood and animation in late medieval art

In 1276 Giles of Rome compared sperm’s effect on menstrual blood to the work of an artist carving idols from wood.2 His modification of a famous argument by Plato, later taken up by Aristotle, is highly original and points to an important junction of theories about human procreation and theories of artistic creation. Aristotle drew analogies between divine, natural, and artisanal creation with ...

Pharmacy in medieval Islam and the history of drug addiction.

DRUG ADDIcTIoN, especially through the use of poppy (Papaver somniferum Linn.) and hemp (Cannabis sativa Linn.), is the main concern of this paper. Although the use of these two plants in medieval Islam was extensive, yet little has been written on this timely subject by historians of medicine and pharmacology. Consulting contemporary original sources, it is my hope to sketch a history of their...

Contributions of Medieval Islamic physicians to the history of tracheostomy.

Tracheostomy was first described by Greco-Roman physicians, including Paulus of Aegina. Medieval Islamic clinicians extended the Greco-Roman ideas with substantial contributions to the field of surgery, including tracheostomy. Although Al-Zahrawi (936-1013 CE) stated that he had not heard or read of any Islamic physicians having performed tracheostomy, there is evidence that many prominent Isla...