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

ISBN-13: 9781032090092 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 240 str.

Katelynn Robinson

Opis

Odors, including those of incense, spices, cooking, and refuse, were both ubiquitous and meaningful in central and late medieval Western Europe. 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

Recenzje

"Katelynn Robinson contributes to the growing discourse on smell by centering her work on medieval olfactory theory. Her book examines the explanations medieval writers gave for why and how smell acted as they believed it acted. Her work is, in general, in the mode of the history of ideas, with an emphasis on scholastic and medical conceptions of olfaction." - Richard Newhauser, Arizona State University

Spis treści

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction: Why Odor?

Part 1 - The Anatomy and Physiology of Olfaction

Chapter 1: "A smell is always a ‘half-breed’": Greek and Arabic Discussions of Smell

Chapter 2: Odor is a Fumous Evaporation: The Medieval Anatomy and Physiology of Smell

Part 2 - The Powers of Odors

Chapter 3: Aromaticity Strengthens the Spirits: Physical Powers of Odors in Scholastic Texts

Chapter 4: Beware Fetid Air: Scholastic Powers of Odor in the Popular Sphere

Part 3 - The Spiritual Sense of Smell

Chapter 5: The Smell of My Son: The Sense of Smell in Theology to c. 1200

Chapter 6: The Sense of Smell of Discretion: Medically-Aware Olfactory Theology in the Later Middle Ages

Conclusion: Certain Odors

Index

O autorze

Katelynn Robinson completed her PhD at the University of Missouri. Her current research focuses on the importance of the sense of smell in medieval culture.