Tracing the Early Modern John of Burgundy

Alpo Honkapohja

doi:10.1017/9781009105347.006

Chapter 5 - Tracing the Early Modern John of Burgundy

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 October 2022

Edited by

Jeremy J. Smith and

Irma Taavitsainen: Affiliation:
University of Helsinki
Turo Hiltunen: Affiliation:
University of Helsinki
Jeremy J. Smith: Affiliation:
University of Glasgow
Carla Suhr: Affiliation:
University of Helsinki

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Summary

The most widely copied plague treatise in medieval England was the one attributed to John of Burgundy. Despite such widespread dissemination, its main period of production in the British Isles seems to have been limited to the Middle Ages, as it never appeared as an English early modern printed edition, being superseded by different plague tracts. Nevertheless, despite the lack of a printed edition, handwritten copies of John of Burgundy do survive after 1500. They are hitherto neglected witnesses to a treatise that formed the foundation of medical response to the bubonic plague in the British Isles for 200 years and whose cultural reach and influence were much greater than is often acknowledged. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the manuscript context of these late survivals of the John of Burgundy tract and examine their contents, noting any evidence of continued use of the treatise and developments in medical or religious discourse.

Keywords

John of Burgundy bubonic plague medical discourse plague treatise lexicology manuscript studies codicology

Type: Chapter
Information: Genre in English Medical Writing, 1500–1820
Sociocultural Contexts of Production and Use
, pp. 68 - 88

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009105347.006 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2022

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