An Interdisciplinary Investigation into Carolingian Medical Knowledge and Practice (360G-Wellcome-203431_Z_16_Z)

Focusing on the late eighth and ninth centuries, I am proposing an interdisciplinary project that aims to present a more comprehensive picture of Carolingian health and medicine than previous research has offered. I shall investigate early medieval medical knowledge and explore the question of its possible application through an in-depth analysis of textual sources supplemented by the skeletal record. Medical manuscripts shed light on the medical knowledge circulating among the literate elite, illustrating the perceptions of medicine within ecclesiastical communities, the movement of texts, and the adaptation and incorporation of classical learning in a Christian, medieval world. A review of the skeletal remains from cemeteries around the Frankish Empire during this period will provide insights into the health and lived experiences of people from all walks of life – including the vast majority of the population unrecorded by the texts. I shall compare the medical knowledge contained in the manuscripts with the palaeopathological and osteological record captured by the bones, asking: is there evidence that this knowledge was potentially applied? I hope to assess whether different types of communities and texts yield different answers. This interdisciplinary approach takes the study of Carolingian health and medicine in a new direction.