A review by canada_matt
Medieval Bodies: Life and Death in the Middle Ages by Jack Hartnell

dark funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

Historian Jack Hartnell had me highly intrigued when I came upon this book. His exploration of the human body and the importance of its various parts during the Middle Ages proves to be educational to the attentive reader. Hartnell illustrates just how different body importance was in medieval times, as opposed to today, while offering detailed explanations of how the body was understood. Full of detail and covering parts from head to toe (literally), Hartnell dazzles in this unique piece of historical fiction. Just what I needed to raise an eyebrow, some of the only hair I have on my 21st century head!

Jack Hartnell pulls no punches when he open this tome, letting the reader know that the book seeks not only to explore the body, but offer a detailed contrast between modern times and the medieval era. He thoroughly goes through each part of the body and shares scientific understandings, artistic renderings, and eve religious importance from the medieval days. One such exploration would be the understanding of hair, thought to be a concentration of bodily fumes pushed out through the pores. Those with little hair would surely be lacking one of these medical humours, which explains why men had a denser concentration of hair and some of the weaknesses baldness might have had for both sexes at the time.

Hartness also offers some great explanations where some modern English idioms came into practice, including being broken hearted or losing one’s head. These provide the reader an “aha” moment and injects context few would likely have known before. The humour that emerges. throughout these analyses lightened the mood during some of the writing that could get quite dense or philosophical. The vignettes used to explain them help bring things full circle and entertain with easily understood explanations.

Balancing medicine, mysticism, artistic rendering, and even politics of the time, the medieval body was so important and taken seriously. Hartnell stresses this throughout the various chapters, each building on those  that came before it. I found myself hooked and learning so much, getting lost in the stories as I tried to digest all that I was discovering.

While I have always enjoyed unique, history-based tomes, this one by Jack Hartness took things to a whole new level. The book had moments of dense analysis, light banter, and interesting tidbits that the reader likely had no idea could tie the two eras together. Hartnell provides vivid description of the body while contrasting how modern views differed greatly from the past. Chapters separate the differing parts of the body, yet link them all together, throughout the tome. I took so much away from this book and can only hope that I discover more of Jack Hartnell’s work in the future, as it was quite the experience.

Kudos, Mr. Hartnell, for such an ‘eye opening’ piece that shows you put your ‘heart’ into it.

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