Piers D. Mitchell is Research Fellow at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London and Honorary Lecturer at Imperial College London. He is the author of numerous articles on disease in the crusades.

'… this remarkable pioneering monograph … fused with occasionally unknown literary and historical texts (Vivian Nutton's translation of the Frankish Medical Licensing and Negligence Regulations will be new to almost all students of the crusades … Mitchell's careful and cautious assessment of wounds, disease, diet and life spans as revealed through pollen, insect-parts, soil analysis, drug jars and osteology, reveals a vibrant medical and surgical activity throughout most of the era of the crusades … His chapter on anaesthesia is essential reading for anyone interested in the mystery of why earlier and successful surgeries seemed to fade from view by the late Middle Ages.' The Times Literary Supplement

• List of illustrations; List of tables; Preface; Introduction; 1. Medical practitioners in the Frankish states; 2. Hospitals on the battlefield and in the towns; 3. Archaeological evidence for trauma and surgery in the medieval period; 4. Torture and mutilation; 5. Injuries and their treatment; 6. The practice of elective surgery and bloodletting; 7. Exchange of medical knowledge with the crusades; 8. Frankish medical legislation; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Piers D. Mitchell is Research Fellow at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London and Honorary Lecturer at Imperial College London. He is the author of numerous articles on disease in the crusades.

'… this remarkable pioneering monograph … fused with occasionally unknown literary and historical texts (Vivian Nutton's translation of the Frankish Medical Licensing and Negligence Regulations will be new to almost all students of the crusades … Mitchell's careful and cautious assessment of wounds, disease, diet and life spans as revealed through pollen, insect-parts, soil analysis, drug jars and osteology, reveals a vibrant medical and surgical activity throughout most of the era of the crusades … His chapter on anaesthesia is essential reading for anyone interested in the mystery of why earlier and successful surgeries seemed to fade from view by the late Middle Ages.' The Times Literary Supplement

• List of illustrations; List of tables; Preface; Introduction; 1. Medical practitioners in the Frankish states; 2. Hospitals on the battlefield and in the towns; 3. Archaeological evidence for trauma and surgery in the medieval period; 4. Torture and mutilation; 5. Injuries and their treatment; 6. The practice of elective surgery and bloodletting; 7. Exchange of medical knowledge with the crusades; 8. Frankish medical legislation; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Piers D. Mitchell is Research Fellow at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London and Honorary Lecturer at Imperial College London. He is the author of numerous articles on disease in the crusades.

'… this remarkable pioneering monograph … fused with occasionally unknown literary and historical texts (Vivian Nutton's translation of the Frankish Medical Licensing and Negligence Regulations will be new to almost all students of the crusades … Mitchell's careful and cautious assessment of wounds, disease, diet and life spans as revealed through pollen, insect-parts, soil analysis, drug jars and osteology, reveals a vibrant medical and surgical activity throughout most of the era of the crusades … His chapter on anaesthesia is essential reading for anyone interested in the mystery of why earlier and successful surgeries seemed to fade from view by the late Middle Ages.' The Times Literary Supplement

• List of illustrations; List of tables; Preface; Introduction; 1. Medical practitioners in the Frankish states; 2. Hospitals on the battlefield and in the towns; 3. Archaeological evidence for trauma and surgery in the medieval period; 4. Torture and mutilation; 5. Injuries and their treatment; 6. The practice of elective surgery and bloodletting; 7. Exchange of medical knowledge with the crusades; 8. Frankish medical legislation; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.