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1882
Volume 37, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 0890-2917
  • E-ISSN: 2031-0242

Abstract

Different attitudes towards payment distinguish effective from ineffective healers in . When approach healing with a charitable spirit, they typically succeed in curing their patients, whereas those that are overly concerned with making a profit invariably fail. and associated texts, such as , praise the virtues of those healers who resist professionalization and commercialization, performing as one part of a greater charitable role. These tensions between commerce and charity are not merely literary issues but also reflect contemporary concerns surrounding efforts at regulating medicine and surgery in late medieval English cities. This article contends that texts of the tradition add to an existing body of medical satire and serve as valuable sources in the social history of medicine, voicing concerns surrounding the commercialization of in Langland’s London.

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2023-01-01
2025-12-08

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/content/journals/10.1484/J.YLS.5.136477
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): medicine; charity; commerce; lechecraft; London; Mum and the Sothsegger; Piers Plowman; surgery
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