play an important role here, as in many other aspects of everyday life. In medicine, amulets were used to gain longevity, cure certain problems (e.g., madness, alcoholism, leprosy, headache, and bedwetting), ward off epidemics, guarantee fertility or sterility, and bring pregnancy to a safe conclusion; in other areas, they served to protect against weapons, cancel the effects of other amulets, ...

Enclosed in a 1673 letter to Henry Oldenburg were two drawings of a series of astrological sigils, coins and amulets from the collection of Strasbourg mathematician Julius Reichelt (1637-1719). As portrayals of particular medieval and early modern sigils are relatively rare, this paper will analyse the role of these medals in medieval and early modern medicine, the logic behind their perceived ...