Acts of Care: Recovering Women in Late Medieval Health

Acts of Care recovers women's healthcare work by identifying previously overlooked tools of care, such as healing prayers, birthing indulgences, medical blessings, liturgical images, and penitential practices. It demonstrates that women in premodern Europe were deeply engaged with and knowledgeable about health, the body, and therapeutic practices, but their critical role in medieval healthcare has been obscured. The sources for identifying the scope of medieval women's health knowledge and healthcare practice are found in liturgy, miracles, poetry, hagiographic narratives, meditations, sacred objects, and the daily behaviors of religious women.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 330 pages
Publication date: 15 March 2021
Publisher: Cornell University Press

Acts of Care, a groundbreaking work by Sara Ritchey, reclaims the overlooked tools of care that were central to women's healthcare in premodern Europe. By delving into healing prayers, birthing indulgences, medical blessings, liturgical images, and penitential practices, Ritchey reveals that women in this era were not only deeply engaged with but also highly knowledgeable about health, the body, and therapeutic practices. However, their critical role in medieval healthcare has been obscured due to the mistaken classification of their activities as religious rather than medical.

Ritchey challenges the traditional sources for understanding medieval women's health knowledge and healthcare practice, arguing that they are not found in academic medical treatises. Instead, she follows delicate traces that can be detected in liturgy, miracles, poetry, hagiographic narratives, meditations, sacred objects, and the everyday behaviors that shaped the world. She also examines testaments and land transactions from hospitals and leprosaria established and staffed by beguines and Cistercian nuns, providing a rich tapestry of information.

Through its innovative use of alternate sources, Acts of Care reconstructs the vital caregiving practices of religious women in the southern Low Countries. It reconnects women's therapeutic authority into the everyday world of late medieval healthcare, challenging prevailing narratives that have marginalized their contributions.

This important work was made possible through generous funding from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The ebook editions of Acts of Care are available as Open Access (OA) volumes from Cornell Open and other Open Access repositories, ensuring wider access to this valuable research.

In conclusion, Acts of Care is a groundbreaking contribution to the study of women's history and healthcare. By uncovering the previously overlooked tools of care and demonstrating the profound knowledge and expertise of women in premodern Europe, Ritchey sheds light on a significant aspect of medieval society that has been overlooked for far too long. This book is a must-read for scholars and enthusiasts alike, as it contributes to our understanding of women's roles and contributions to healthcare throughout history.

Weight: 498g
Dimension: 230 x 152 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501758324