By Coming down with a dose of Witchcraft -– a Halloween special Witches were a real presence in early modern lives. Many elderly women healers, as well as a range of other people, risked accusations of witchcraft. Indeed new midwives, for example, had to swear an oath that they would not
Itching and Scabbiness
‘The Itch is a filthy Distemper infesting the External Parts of the Body universally, but more particularly the Joints, and between the Fingers’, wrote Thomas Spooner, author of a multi-edition treatise on the subject of ‘the itch’.1 Skin diseases and itchiness generally seem to be part and parcel of early
By Aphrodisiacs, Fertility and Medicine
It was common knowledge in early modern England that sexual desire was malleable, and could be increased or decreased by a range of foods – including artichokes, oysters and parsnips. This book argues that these aphrodisiacs were used not simply for sexual pleasure, but, more importantly, to enhance fertility and
True English Bloodletting
A True English Bloodletting by Dr Stephen Curtis Phlebotomy (or blood-letting) is perhaps the most infamous of all early-modern medical interventions. Synonymous with an outmoded view of the body and generally accompanied by lurid descriptions of bloodthirsty doctors cutting and cupping indiscriminately, the truth is actually that there was a