Walking Corpses: Leprosy in Byzantium and the Medieval West

261 Pages·2014·2.06 MB·English

by  Timothy S. Miller

Walking Corpses

Walking Corpses
Leprosy in Byzantium and the Medieval West
Timothy S. Miller and John W. Nesbitt
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2014 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
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Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2014 by Cornell University Press
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Miller, Timothy S., 1945- author.
Walking corpses : leprosy in Byzantium and the medieval West / Timothy
S. Miller and John W. Nesbitt.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0- 8014- 5135- 5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Leprosy– Byzantine Empire–H istory—To 1500.
2. Leprosy– Europe–History—To 1500. I. Nesbitt, John W.,
author. II. Title.
RC154.3.M55 2014
616.99'8009495—dc23 2013030660
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Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Vicki and Carla

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface and Ac know ledg ments xi
Introduction 1
1. The Ancient World 10
2. Leprosy in the Byzantine Empire 27
3. Byzantine Medicine 48
4. Byzantine Leprosariums 72
5. Leprosy in the Latin West 96
6. Leprosariums in the Latin West 118
7. The Knights of Lazarus 139
viii Contents
Conclusion 155
Appendixes 163
1. Aretaios of Cappadocia, On Acute and Chronic Diseases
(Books IV.13 and VIII.13) 163
2. Gregory of Nyssa’s Oration, Regarding the Words
“As much as you have done for one of these, you have
done for me” (Matt. 25:40) 173
3. Selection from The Funeral Oration in Praise of Saint
John Chrysostom (Chapters 60.17 to 67.1) 186
List of Abbreviations 193
Notes 195
Bibliography 221
Index 239
Illustrations
Map
1. The Mediterranean World 35
Figures
1. Miniature from the Athos, Octateuch Vatopedi codex 602, illustrating
Numbers 5:2: “Command the people of Israel that they put out of the
camp every leper . . .” 19
2. Christ healing a leper, as described in the Gospel of Mark 1:40– 45.
From the Athos, Iveron codex 5. 20
3. The martyrdom of St. Zotikos, as depicted by an eleventh- century
anonymous artist. 76
4. Lead seal of the Monastery of St. Zotikos. 87
5. Saint Benedict of Nursia healing a leper—eleventh- century fresco
from the church of San Crisogono in Rome. 104