Cambridge Exhibition Unveils Medieval Medical Manuscripts and Practices

‘Curious Cures: Medicine In The Medieval World’ opens March 29, 2025, showcasing sophisticated treatments, astrology's role in medicine, and remedies spanning social classes.

• The exhibition features a range of medieval medical manuscripts, including a 15th-century recipe for an infertility cure using weasel testicles and mouse-ear plant.
• Manuscripts highlight the diversity of medieval medical practitioners, from monks and friars to midwives and laypeople.
• Striking illustrations, such as 'Vein Man' and 'Zodiac Man,' demonstrate the integration of astrology into medieval medical theories.
• A manuscript owned by Elizabeth of York, containing a health guide and medical recipes, connects royal life to broader medical practices of the era.
• Running from March 29 to December 6, 2025, the exhibition emphasizes the sophistication of medieval medicine, challenging perceptions of it as purely superstitious.

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