#MEDIEVAL SMITH HOW TO#

It was often said that the spirits were Christian souls trapped in purgatory, reaching out in the hope that they would say prayers or perform good deeds in their memory to shorten their penance. Knowing that no one would believe his story, he tried to hop on one of the riderless horses, and he carried the scars from the reins and stirrups for the rest of his life.Īccording to Medievalists, it wasn't uncommon for people in the Middle Ages to tell tales of seeing ghosts. He claimed to have seen an army of the dead, made up of commoners who walked while weighed down by heavy burdens and women who rode on saddles of burning nails. Take the tale told by a priest named Walchelin and written down in 1091 (via the London Review of Books). Ghost stories from the Middle Ages make modern ghost stories look like the work of complete amateurs. If more extreme measures were needed, it might be off to the castle barbers for a little surgical intervention.

#MEDIEVAL SMITH HOW TO#

Healers would tell patients what they needed to collect, how to prepare it, and what special words and prayers to say while they were making - and taking - their own prescription. Today, a synthetic version of the same prescription and ingredient is called aspirin.Ĭures were mostly herbal, and it's no wonder that many castles (and monasteries) had their own herb gardens, with plants like sage, chamomile, dill, and cumin (via English Heritage).

Anyone suffering from aches and pains might, for example, be prescribed a dose of willow tree bark. Here's the thing - it wasn't all hocus pocus.

Instead, these healers - most of whom were illiterate - got their knowledge by studying with the previous generation of healers, who would have had quite a bit of experience. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Butler University, USA.Medieval medicine changed a lot over the centuries, and early on, most of the medical advice would be given by a local healer who almost definitely didn't spend a decade at medical school. The study of the Bible has also led them to contribute to the study of medieval Jewish-Christian scholarship and relations.Ĭhair: Professor James McGrath, Senior Fellow of the Oxford Interfaith Forum, and Clarence L. In particular, Professor Lesley Smith explores the two-way link between the manuscript evidence and the intellectual evidence of these early schools – in modern terms, how technology affects what we learn and know, and vice versa. This ranges from close technical work with manuscripts of Bibles, biblical commentary, theology and pastoralia, to the exposition of commentary and theology, to investigation of the intellectual milieu of the schools in which the Bible was studied – the people and the products of this early university system, from the twelfth century onwards. Speaker’s Biography: Professor Lesley Smith works on the medieval Bible, as both a physical and intellectual object. She is the author of many books, including The Ten Commandments: interpreting the Bible in the medieval world (Leiden & Boston, 2014) and Fragments of a World: William of Auvergne and his medieval life (Chicago, 2023). Speaker: Lesley Smith is Professor of Medieval Intellectual History at the University of Oxford. He even produced comparative drawings, to help his readers see what he meant… He learnt Hebrew, and he employed Rashi as the basis for much of his exposition. What makes him extraordinary is his use of Jewish commentary in understanding the text. Focussed squarely on the literal meaning of the text, Nicholas was said to be Martin Luther’s favourite exegete. His massive Postilla on the whole Bible circulated in hundreds of copies throughout Europe. 1349) was the most important Christian biblical commentator of his generation. Topic: A Medieval Franciscan Consults the Jews: Nicholas of Lyra on how to Imagine the TempleĪbstract: Nicholas of Lyra (d.

We are deeply honoured to welcome Professor Lesley Smith, Professor of Medieval Intellectual History, Fellow and Senior Tutor at the Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, UK, to lead a session of the International Interfaith Reading Group on Manuscripts in Interfaith Contexts.

Medieval smith