Uso médico del agua en el mundo hispánico bajo medieval (siglos XII-XV)

Abstract

In this study, we offer a vision of the medical use of water in the medieval world, largely based on texts from the 12th to 15th centuries. We report their descriptions of the use of water in the healing of diseases and especially the preventive aspects of medieval baths. We analyse the characteristics of these baths, successors to the Roman thermae: the indications, contraindications and dangers of the use of hot, warm and cold water; the frequency and times of their use, and the relationship of these with the age, sex and constitution of the patient and the time of year. Finally, we focus on some religious and social aspects associated with this practice in the Moslem, Jewish and Christian communities that inhabited the Iberian Peninsular in the Low Middle Ages.