Medieval doctors used the color of urine to diagnose an illness. Physician examining a urinal
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In the Middle Ages, the practice of medicine was still rooted in the Greek tradition. The body was made up of four humors: yellow bile, phlegm, black bile, and blood. These were controlled by the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air. An imbalance of humors caused disease and the body could be purged of excess by bleeding, cupping, and leeching – medical practices that continued through the Middle Ages. Many diseases were thought to be caused by an excess of blood in the body and bloodletting was seen as the obvious cure. An important aspect in the treatment of ailments was diet. The food choices we make can have an important impact on health. This was known since antiquity for Hippocrates is quoted as saying, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
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Battle of Ager Sanguinis, 1337. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Ancient and Medieval History Online
Provides thorough coverage of nine civilizations—ancient Egypt, ancient Mesopotamia, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, ancient and medieval Africa, medieval Europe, the Americas, ancient and medieval Asia, and the Islamic Empire. Covering prehistory through the 1500s.
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Avalon Project (Yale Law School)
Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy from 4000 BCE to Present
British History Online
Digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles
Internet Ancient History Sourcebook (Fordham University)
Links to visual and aural material with emphasis on access to primary source texts for educational purposes.
Early Modern Resources
Research portal for the early modern period (c.1500-1800 CE). It only lists websites that are free to access and focuses on high-quality resources that are suitable for advanced research, study and teaching.
EuroDocs: Online Sources for European History
Links to sites with primary historical documents for European countries and regions. Includes prehistoric and ancient Europe.
Europeana
Portal to digital libraries all over Europe, but also to archives, museums and audiovisual collection
Labryinth: Resources for Medieval Studies (Georgetown University)
The Labyrinth provides free, organized access to electronic resources in medieval studies through a World Wide Web server at Georgetown University. The Labyrinth's easy-to-use menus and links provide connections to databases, services, texts, and images on other servers around the world.
Library of Congress (LOC)
