The Sense of Smell in the Middle Ages: A Source of Certainty

Description

Odors, including those of incense, spices, cooking, and refuse, were both ubiquitous and meaningful in central and late medieval Western Europe. The significance of the sense of smell is evident in scholastic Latin texts, most of which are untranslated and unedited by modern scholars. Between the late eleventh and thirteenth century, medieval scholars developed a logical theory of the workings of the sense of smell based on Greek and Arabic learning. In the thirteenth through fifteenth century, medical authors detailed practical applications of smell theory and these were communicated to individuals and governing authorities by the medical profession in the interests of personal and public health. At the same time, religious authors read philosophical and medical texts and gave their information religious meaning. This reinterpretation of scholastic philosophy and medicine led to the development of what can be termed a medically aware theology of smell that was communicated to popular audiences alongside traditional olfactory theory in sermons. Its impact on popular thought is reflected in late medieval mystical texts. While the senses have received increasing scholarly attention in recent decades, this volume presents the first detailed research into the sense of smell in the later European Middle Ages. Acknowledgments List of abbreviations Introduction Part 1. The anatomy and physiology of olfaction 1. “A smell is always a ‘half-breed’”: Greek and Arabic discussions of smell Greek discussions of the sense of smell Arabic anatomy and physiology of smell 2. Odor is a fumous evaporation: The medieval anatomy and physiology of smell Twelfth-century anatomy and physiology Thirteenth-century anatomy and physiology The anatomy and physiology of smell after the thirteenth century Olfactory anatomy and physiology outside universities Part 2. The powers of odors 3. Aromaticity strengthens the spirits: Physical powers of odors in scholastic texts The qualities of medicines Odors in diagnosis Good and bad odors Odors, the soul, and the spirits Odors in medical treatment 4. Beware fetid air: Scholastic powers of odor in the popular sphere Odor and urban cleanliness Odor and pestilence Part 3. The spiritual sense of smell 5. The smell of my son: The sense of smell in theology to c. 1200 Spiritual odors The spiritual nose 6. The sense of smell of discretion: Medically aware olfactory theology in the later Middle Ages Medically aware olfactory theology in preaching texts Vernacular examples of late medieval spiritual smell Conclusion: Certain odors Index