Health and the Body in Early Medieval England

The goal of the Cambridge Elements series is to get high-quality research into print on an accelerated timeline as a showcase for new ideas and a tool for students and researchers wanting to get up to speed on the newest conversations in their fields. The series editors have been proactive in seeking contributions from established scholars and early-career researchers alike and on highlighting topics that are ripe for thematic intersection across fields, periods, and geographic regions. For Medieval Studies, and for the study of early medieval England in particular, this has meant a florescence of superb interdisciplinary scholarship on cutting-edge topics that serve as concise, yet thorough, overviews: like Oxford's Very Short Introductions, but more innovative and less bound by traditional categories. Caroline Batten's Element on Health and the Body in Early Medieval England ticks all of these boxes. It offers a far-reaching overview that ranges from medical texts to hagiography by way of charms, maxims, riddles, and law codes to sketch out a general sense of what “health,” or hælu, might have meant for early medieval English people—and how it might help us to better understand some of the literature they left behind.Batten begins with an assessment of the medical literature that is part of the pre-Conquest textual record, focusing on the four main medical compendia: the Old English Herbarium Complex (including Medicina de Quadrupedibus); Bald's Leechbook; Leechbook III; and Lacnunga. First, the Element explores the wider context of healing, based on both documentary and archaeological evidence, for the kinds of ailments and treatments that were commonly known among the creators and users of these texts. It places the texts within a nuanced understanding of literary transmission, acknowledging the complexities of describing works that are partly translations of Latin and Greek source material, partly transmission of local remedies, and entirely idiosyncratic. Central to this understanding of the medical literature is its location in a monastic context, where ideas about health are deeply intertwined with the pursuit of spiritual perfection, so that the concept of “leechdom” serves both a material and a metaphorical purpose.Identifying specific metaphors of health and disease allows Batten to bring a wide range of texts into play, and the Element treats the technical discussions of the Herbarium or Bald's Leechbook as part of the same ideological framework as the charms and riddles. It discerns clear parallels between the demonic agents that cause spiritual unhælu and the “elves” and “dwarves” that cause fevers, swellings, and other physical ailments: attacks from without, “boundary violations,” against which early medieval people had to be vigilant. “To be diseased is to surrender,” Batten writes, “to submit to or be violently overcome by a malevolent force” (p. 26). This is true whether one's disease is an infection of the body or a sin that corrupts the soul, and it explains the frequent presence (and potential purpose) of prayers within the remedies. Most importantly, this perspective collapses the binary between scientific efficacy according to twenty-first-century standards and a cultural world where “elves” and “dwarves” could signify both literally and metaphorically. Batten shows that hælu in pre-Conquest England is holistic, and everything from illness and injury to pregnancy and disability could be understood as simultaneously material and spiritual. Perhaps more importantly, this understanding of hælu also correlates to power, with significant consequences for the social standing of individuals experiencing unhælu in its many forms—and with differential outcomes depending on class, gender, place of origin, and social status.Hælu thus cuts across the layers of pre-Conquest English culture, and Batten catalogues its presence in a wide range of vernacular and Latin textual sources before turning to the texts of the Guthlac legends: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Felix's Latin Life of St. Guthlac, and the Old English poems Guthlac A and Guthlac B. These stories depict Guthlac's confrontations with the demons of Crowland using the metaphors of health and healing that were so clearly established in the previous sections of the Element, with the Old English texts being particularly invested in a medical vocabulary to describe the spiritual and physical battles that Guthlac undertakes. In the vernacular poems, especially Guthlac B, Batten discerns distinct contrasts with the language of the Latin sources, an emphasis that “expands on and draws out particular anxieties around the body that the Anglo-Latin prose only begins to explore” (p. 59). The Guthlac narratives function as a case study in how consideration of the broader cultural resonances of hælu in pre-Conquest England can unlock the deeper meaning of its literary productions and shed new light on familiar texts.This is a great deal of ground to cover in a mere sixty-two pages. Rather than claiming to offer the final word on its topic, this Element seeks to start a conversation, offering plenty of opportunity for others to engage with and expand upon its work. In addition to its sweeping range, Batten's Element provides a substantial, thorough, and up-to-date bibliography, and its footnotes are primarily bibliographic rather than discursive, making it easy to follow up on points of particular interest: a user-friendly choose-your-own-adventure path for further reading. In short, Batten has provided precisely what the Cambridge Elements series claims to offer: an erudite outline of a timely topic that serves a clear purpose for both seasoned researchers and newcomers to the scholarly conversation. Its length, design, and price point make it broadly accessible without compromising on quality. Like other Elements in the series, Health and the Body in Early Medieval England is likely to become a staple of teaching and research for years to come.

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