Christ the Physician in Late-Medieval Religious Controversy: England and Central Europe, 1350-1434

A consideration of the allegory of Christ the Divine Physician in medical and religious writings.


Discourses of physical and spiritual health were intricately entwined in the Middle Ages, shaping intellectual concepts as well as actual treatment. The allegory of Christ as Divine Physician is an example of this intersection: it appears frequently in both medical and religious writings as a powerful figure of healing and salvation, and was invoked by dissidents and reformists in religious con...