'The Doctour Maketh This Descriptioun' : The Moral and Social Meanings of Leprosy and Bubonic Plague in Literary, Theological, and Medical Texts of the English Middle Ages and Rena

Author / Editor
Grigsby, Bryon Lee.

Title
'The Doctour Maketh This Descriptioun' : The Moral and Social Meanings of Leprosy and Bubonic Plague in Literary, Theological, and Medical Texts of the English Middle Ages and Rena

Published
Dissertation Abstracts International 60: 4419A, 2000.

Description
In the Christian Middle Ages, epidemics were perceived as punishment for spiritual sin, though bubonic plague became so widespread as to seem apocalyptic. Grigsby treats "Pricke of Conscience," "Amis and Amiloun," the York Cycle "Moses and Pharaoh," Gower, Chaucer (SumT, PardT), and Henryson, concluding with a discussion of syphilis in Renaissance literature.

Chaucer Subjects
Background and General Criticism.
Pardoner and His Tale.
Summoner and His Tale.