Detail of a miniature depicting the bedridden John, Duke of Normandy, and physicians examining his urine, ca. 1380–1400.

Featured on PDR in the essay Troubled Waters: Reading Urine in Medieval Medicine

From cabbage green to coarse meal, medieval manuscripts exhibit a spectrum of colours and consistencies when describing urine. Katherine Harvey examines the complex practices of uroscopy: how physicians could divine sexual history, disease, and impending death by studying the body's liquid excretions.

The Bedridden John, Duke of Normandy, and Physicians Examining His Urine

Date

ca. 1380–1400


Underlying Rights

Public Domain Worldwide

Digital Rights

No Additional Rights


Image Size

1198 x 1500

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