medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
"Stephen A. Allen" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Ergot is not pleasant stuff:
no, it isn't.
seems to attack particularly the extremities --especially the nose, lips,
ears, etc.-- which become "inflamed" and, eventually gangreneous.
a gangreneous nose and ears could ruin your whole day, apparently.
>it was one of the original sources for the development of LSD.
then there's that.
"hallucinations" --or, as the Quaint Middlevils preferred to call them,
"Visions."
the "acid" (compound virtually identical to LSD) is an incidental by-product
of the ergot mould, i believe.
(there's a lot of stuff on ergot on the web, btw.)
>As I recall, the thesis has been put forth that ergot poisoning is one
of the factors to be considered in the color scheme and imagery of the
paintings of Matthias Grunewald.
well, yeah, Grunewald's paintings *are* Pretty far Out, and i suppose that he
*might* have been Tripping, but i doubt if he did any serious painting if he
was dropping Ergot --its effects are just so debilitating physically that
painting pictures probably isn't one of the first things to occur to one.
i wouldn't be surprised if there were ergot outbreaks throughout the late m.a.
(there was one in the Rhone valley in the 1950s!), but the *real* hayday of
the stuff was earlier, when times were *really* tough and famines --Hard-Core,
Main-Day-Breeze, Indian/Chinese-style Famines-- were something of a regular
occurance.
i've come across an incidental mention of an outbreak in a chartrain charter
of circa 1100 (partly precipitating the foundation of the Bonneval priory of
Auneau), where there's no mention of St. Anthony, but it is referred to as
"ignis sacer" (or something like that).
but surely the most interesting and detailed account is that of the
"Miracles of St. Mary of Soissons" written by Hugo Farsitus in the 1120s
(reprinted in the PL, somewhere, and discussed in some detail most recently
--though from a different point of view-- by Gabriela Signori in her quite
excellent _Maria zwischen Kathedrale, Kloster und Welt: hagiographische un
historiographische Annäherungen an eine hochmittelalterliche Wunderpredigt._
Sigmaringen, 1995.)
from his *very* careful and precise descriptions of the symptoms of the
disease i've always assumed that ole Hugo was something of a professional
medical man (he was, i believe, attached to the priory of st. Peter
neighboring the convent of St. Mary, behind the cathedral of Soissons, which,
apparently, served as a kind of hospital).
his accounts of the Visions/miracles/"hallucinations" which accompanied the
physical symptoms are quite interesting, as well, from a number of points of
view --not the least of them the art historical.
as far as i know, no one has made a good, thorough, comprehensive study of the
countless ergot outbreaks over course of the middlevil centuries.
but i'd be very happy to hear that i'm wrong.
best to all from here,
christopher
Christopher's Book Room
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