Religion and Medicine in the Middle Ages

Published as part of the Boydell Press series 'Religion and Medicine in the Middle Ages,' this scholarly volume was edited by Peter Biller and Joseph Ziegler. It emerged from a collaborative project at the University of York, designed to bridge the gap between historical studies of medieval faith and the burgeoning field of medical history. The collection of essays examines how medieval society navigated the intersections of spiritual belief and physical healing, moving beyond the traditional narrative that science and religion were inherently at odds during this era.

The work is noted for its rigorous historiography, challenging long-standing assumptions about the medieval 'medical marketplace' by analyzing both learned medical treatises and theological perspectives. Biller, a distinguished historian of medieval thought, curated the contributions to emphasize the complexity of lay and clerical responses to illness. The book has been well-received in academic circles as a foundational text for those studying the social history of medicine, often praised for its ability to synthesize dense primary source material into a coherent analysis of the medieval worldview.