Lecture | Research Seminar Medieval and Early Modern History
Vein Men / Vein Women? Bloodletting Diagrams, Medical Practice and Gender in Later Medieval Europe
- Date
- Friday 21 November 2025
- Time
- Series
- Research Seminars Medieval and Early Modern History academic year 2025 - 2026
- Location
-
Johan Huizinga
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden - Room
- Conference room (2.60)
In later medieval society, bloodletting was one of the most common health care procedures. Many texts about bloodletting present the idea that intervening at specific veins and sites on the body -- whether by cutting, the application of heated cups, or leeching -- helps to treat or prevent ailments in specific parts of the body. This kind of knowledge was also organized and condensed in the form of lapidary lists of veins and their indications, sometimes in rhyme to aid memorization, and represented in visual form in diagrams of the so-called “vein man” (homo venarum). The diagrams are found in manuscripts all over Europe and were included in folding almanacs that were probably part of the equipment of barbers and surgeons doing their rounds or receiving patients. They also made the leap into print. A preliminary analysis shows that the vein man diagrams only depict males, whose anatomy becomes increasingly naturalistic over time. The meaning of this phenomenon and its potential effects on the practice of bloodletting on men and women must be understood through a close analysis of the diagrams and their captions and by comparing the “vein men” with other textual and visual sources.
Research Seminars Medieval and Early Modern History
The seminars are informal and intended to foster discussion. There are drinks afterwards. Everyone is welcome to join.
If you would like to join a session, and/or receive invitations for the upcoming sessions, you can send an e-mail to: ngassistent@hum.leidenuniv.nl. Further information can be obtained from the organizers Shiru Lim, Judith Pollmann, Jeroen Duindam and Philippe Buc.