By In The Witches of Huntingdon (1646) the author John Davenport salaciously outlined Elizabeth Weed’s involvement with three demons: he wrote that ‘the office of the man-like Spirit was to lye with her carnally’.1 This was not an isolated incident: the idea of witches copulating with the devil, or demons, was widely
Guest post: Curious Cupping
This post is hopefully the first in a series of posts that will look at some of the therapeutic treatments and medical practices used in early modern medicine. Dr Sara Read With the interest in the practice of cupping in the press recently caused by celebrities appearing with the tell-tale
How many is too many?
Much of my research is focused on infertility and the problems early modern men and women had trying to have children. But alongside barrenness, impotence, and unfruitfulness, early modern medical literature also expressed concerns that people could be exceptionally or super-fertile. In some early modern diaries there is evidence that
What does your ‘Belly’ say about you?
Today I have been reading Isbrand van Diemerbroeck, The Anatomy of Human Bodies (1689). In a rather interesting discussion of the human body he suggested that the shape and form of a person’s stomach had a lot to say about their personality. ‘notable Conjectures may be made concerning the Disposition of
The Dangers of Dancing
This post comes out of one I wrote several months ago on The Hazards of Horse Riding. In that post I considered the tension between the necessity to ride a horse (to travel and for men to develop a manly body) and the health risks that this posed to the