Conceptions et significations de la douleur dans le Lilium medicinae (1303-1305) de Bernard de Gordon

Abstract

In this article, we aim to contribute to the study of medieval conceptions of pain by analysing a work that is representative of university medicine at the end of the Middle Ages: the Lilium medicinae (1303-1305) by the physician Bernard de Gordon. We will begin by looking at how he characterises the nature of pain and the phenomena that cause it in the animate body. We will then look at the diversity of causes of pain that he discusses and that of the resulting pain. Finally, we will examine the extent to which, and the way in which, medieval physicians were able to rely on the specific characteristics of each type of pain in order to gain a better understanding of his patient’ disease and to make a diagnosis and propose a prognosis.