The history of monastic bloodletting as revealed in medieval monastic account rolls and visitation records (360G-Wellcome-087193_Z_08_Z)

The main purpose of this trip is to carry out research necessary to complete a monograph on the function of periodic bloodletting in medieval monastic life. I will be looking primarily at account rolls from monasteries and cathedral abbeys in order to determine the actual dates on which religious were bled. This is important because preliminary investigations indicate that the bleeding sometimes coincided with days deemed perilous in medical tests; I need to learn whether my initial findings are representative or anomalous. Examining the days when religious were bled may also be one way of determining changes in the practice over time; in addition, it may shed light on differences in bleeding practices between religious orders. Bloodletting appears not only in account rolls; it is also a subject mentioned in many episcopal visitation records and in the General Chapter statutes of the Cistercian and Carthusian orders. This research will provide an opportunity to examine those records more closely to determine concerns associated with the time of bloodletting. The complaints may help to reveal more about the perceived importance of regular bloodletting, its perceived function, as well as anxieties about potential lapses in discipline during the period of convalescence.