Medieval medicine cabinet

The human fabric is fragile – disease and age constantly threaten to tear it apart. And yet part of this fabric is also the human achievement – the ability to weave together knowledge in order to fight such conditions. Antibacterial resistance is a very real threat looming today. There are no new antibiotics on the horizon. This panel discussion will approach infection from a different angle, by looking at medieval remedies to approach a very modern problem.

This event has developed from on-going research, The Ancient Biotics Project, which will underpin the discussion, looking at the potential of interweaving medieval medical approaches with modern anti-microbial research. The panel will present what they have learned in the process of this unusual collaboration. For example, how Anglo-Saxon remedies are ‘woven’ from a range of different traditions. The Anglo-Saxon leech apparently knew how to fabricate remedies which are made from a range of ingredients and which are helpful to combat infections which are still a threat today.

This research has the potential to weave together the medieval and modern and it also makes a case for the collaboration between science and arts.