Book Review: Krankheit und Heilkunde im Mittelalter.

This is a very good introduction to the study of medieval medicine. In this concise volume, Kay Peter Jankrift manages to cover most of the major medical trends over the entire medieval period, although he concentrates on the High and Late Middle Ages. The text is clearly laid out, with its chapters organized both thematically and chronologically. There is an emphasis on medical trends in the German-speaking world and the author often includes case studies of specific German cities, such as the provision of doctors in Soest or the progress of the Black Death in Aachen. Time-lines appear at the start of each chapter, and short biographical sketches of important medical figures (such as Hildegard of Bingen and Arnold of Villanova) and concepts are scattered throughout the text. There are no images, which might have been useful for readers unfamiliar with the subject. Nevertheless the book more than compensates for this omission by including a profusion of short selections of primary sources. These are highly readable and are notable for their variety, from the hagiography of Cosmos and Damien in the Legenda aurea to a fifteenth-century apothecary's advice to his patient or a contemporary chronicler's account of the “bloody flux” in Osnabruck in 1341. These sources complement and enrich the accompanying text very well. The volume begins with a very short introduction to Graeco-Roman medicine and then covers the early Middle Ages. Medicine in the monastic orders follows, along with medical education in the school of Salerno and the burgeoning universities. Medical provision in urban areas comes next, with case studies for German cities and details on the establishment of hospitals and the different hospital orders. The final chapter is the longest, and deals with specific diseases that affected the medieval world. The two ailments that are given the most space are plague and leprosy, and both modern medical and medieval perceptions of these diseases are covered. The progress of plague through German-speaking areas is examined, along with specific case studies of certain cities and the ways in which urban authorities tried to handle the outbreak. The section on leprosy concentrates on the provision of leper-houses and care of the patient. Other diseases covered include ergotism, influenza, smallpox and the “bloody flux”, i.e. dysentery, especially the latter's influence on armies. The chapter ends with two “new” diseases that appeared at the end of the Middle Ages: syphilis and the “sweating-sickness”. The text concludes with a short appendix of sources and a selected bibliography, a useful starting point for students as, due to the compact nature of the text, only a cursory nod is given to many developments. Krankheit und Heilkunde im Mittelalter is part of the Geschichte Kompakt series, which publishes introductory texts for a variety of historical subjects and periods. As such, Jankrift's text succeeds admirably. This should be a very useful and accessible text for both undergraduates and postgraduates who would like a concise overview of medieval medicine. Scholars of medieval medicine might find certain sections which deal with specific case studies within the German-speaking world interesting as well.