Infirmity in Antiquity and the Middle Ages

'This timely volume brings together papers that were originally presented at a conference on infirmitas held at the University of Tampere, and specially-commissioned essays. The contributors range from established leaders in their fields to new and emerging scholars, throughout maintaining a high standard of investigation into socio-cultural approaches to caring, health and cure. The comparative spirit in which the Passages series of conferences has been held is reflected in the thematic continuities and breaks between antique and medieval, or the syncretism and hiatus of classical, Islamic and medieval Christian medical concepts. Old age, physical disability, and the normative perception of infirmity are just some of the topics scrutinized diachronically and cross-culturally. This approach highlights common threads running through texts and material cultures, while delving into detailed studies of individual case stories and microhistories of physical and mental disease. This collection is highly recommended for anyone interested in the medical humanities and in the pathologising of phenomena.' Irina Metzler, Wellcome Trust Research Fellow, University of Swansea, UK

‘All in all, this is a really interesting interdisciplinary volume. It will provide historians and archaeologists with interests in health and disability with much to think about for some time to come. Hopefully it will open up new avenues of comparative research across traditional chronological boundaries’ - Iona McCleery in Medical History (61:3).