Evil Humors and the Common Cold

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Practica Rogerii, Credit: Wellcome Collection

Ache in the head, running of the nose, and the throat being pierced by pain like a spear: medieval descriptions of common ailments are often familiar, as well as startlingly vivid. This podcast episode looks at everyday remedies in medieval Europe. From chicken and barley to spiced wine, many such remedies were delicious and nutritious. Administering medicine — from comfort food to careful concoctions — was based on both education and experience.

Podcaster: Lucy

Further Reading

Winston Black, "I will add what the Arab once taught: Constantine the African in European Medical Verse," in A. Van Arsdall and T. Graham, (eds.) Herbs and Healers from the Ancient Mediterranean through the Medieval West: Essays in Honor of John M. Riddle, Ashgate, (2012), 153-186.

Luis García Ballester, "Introduction," in Practical Medicine from Salerno to the Black Death, Cambridge University Press, (1994), 1-29.


John Riddle, "Research Procedures in Evaluating Medieval Medicine," in B.S. Bowers (ed.) The Medieval Hospital and Medical Practice, Ashgate, (2007), 3-18.

Faith Wallis, ed., Medieval Medicine: A Reader, University of Toronto Press, (2010).


Practica Rogerii, Wellcome Collection.

Music: "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin Macleod (www.incompetech.com) ​​Faith Wallis, ed. Medieval Medicine: A Reader. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010. ISBN-13: 978-1442601031.


Winston Black, "I will add what the Arab once taught: Constantine the African in European Medical Verse," in: A. Van Arsdall and T. Graham, (eds.) Herbs and Healers from the Ancient Mediterranean through the Medieval West: Essays in Honor of John M. Riddle: 153-186. Farnham: Ashgate, 2012



Luis García Ballester. "Introduction," in: Practical Medicine from Salerno to the Black Death: 1-29. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.


John Riddle, "Research Procedures in Evaluating Medieval Medicine," in: B.S. Bowers (ed.) The Medieval Hospital and Medical Practice: 3-18. Farnham: Ashgate, 2007.