List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Challenge of Interpreting Plague Treatises
The Poison Thesis: A New Paradigm for Plague Medicine?
1 Causes
Origins of the Poison Thesis
The Poison Orthodoxy
The Artificial Poison Conspiracy
Universal and Remote Causes
Particular and Near Causes
Contagion
Conclusion
2 Signs
Environmental Signs
Bodily Symptoms—Fever
Bodily Symptoms—Bubonic Plague
Bodily Symptoms—Pneumonic Plague
Bodily Symptoms—Septicemic Plague
Predispositions to Plague
Conclusion
3 Prevention
The Non-Naturals
Preventative Medicines
Prevention as a Public Good
Prevention by Social Class
Flight
Conclusion
4 Cure
Principles of the Plague Cure
Surgical Procedures
Drug Therapies
Doctors Who Treated Themselves
Bedside Manner
Religious Responses
Magical Healing
Audience and Reputation of Plague Doctors
Conclusion
Epilogue: Plague’s Verdict on Medieval Medicine
Appendix: Table Sources
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author