Throughout medieval Europe, Hebrew records were accepted as evidence of economic and legal activities. European archives, chanceries and cartularies are dotted with Hebrew signatures, lines of text and full-fledged documents. This article limits itself to one form of practical document that is defined, not by content, but by visual and linguistic features: Jewish bilingual charters, mainly in Latin and Hebrew. The article is an exercise in transnational history, comparing bilingual Jewish deeds from tenth- and eleventh-century Catalonia with parallel documents from thirteen-century England, fourteenth-century Germany and Austria at the turn of the fifteenth century. It analyses their bilingualism with particular attention to visuality and orality. The relationships between each pair of languages are examined using a visual criterion: the mise-en-page of the two languages on the parchment or in the book of records. Its conclusion applies as much to the tenth century as to the fourteenth century: Jews asserted their identity not by the content of their language but by the visual presence of Hebrew letters. Jews marked themselves with the Hebrew alphabet, while the content conveyed through these letters—whether in Aramaic, Hebrew, Norman-French, Catalan or German—was secondary.
Medical history was an important part of medicine in the West from antiquity, through the Middle Ages, and until the Renaissance. Hippocrates, Galen, and Avicenna were historical figures, but they dominated the medicine of the Western world at least until Renaissance. The medicine of the past, which did not become history, still remained an important part of present medicine. In the 19th century, medicine in the past is now relativized as an object of history. At the same time, the 'practicality' of medical science was emphasized. The practicality referred to here means that, unlike previous times, medicine in the past has been historicalized, but it can provide practical help to current medicine. In particular, in the era of positivism that dominated the late 19th century, this practicality was a core value of medical history. In the 20th century, the era of scientific medicine, the new role is given to medical history. It was to give a integrated view on contemporary medicine which was subdivided into many specialized fields. Along with this, medical history, once a main part of medicine, moves to the field of history. At the same time, the rise of medical humanities in medical education becomes an opportunity to redefine the role of medical history. Seeking productive cooperation with other humanities and social sciences that deal with medical issues, such as medical anthropology, medical sociology, and literature, will be a new task given to medical history today.
THE PRECARIOUS BALANCE: THE POLITICS OF POWER IN EUROPETHE SEA AND THE SWORD: THE BALTIC, 1630–1945. By Oliver WarnerNEUN GENERATIONEN: DREIHUNDERT JAHRE DEUTSCHER ‘KULTURGE‐SCHICHTE’ IM LICHTE DER SCHICKSALE EINER HAMBURGER BÜRGER‐FAMILIETHE PROBLEM OF WALES AND OTHER ESSAYS, By J. F. Rees. With a Foreword by David WilliamsA HISTORY OF MALVERN. By Brian S. SmithTHE SHEARERS AND THE SHORN: A STUDY OF LIFE IN A DEVON COMMUNITY. By E. W. MartinTHE PLACE‐NAMES OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE: PART I, THE RIVER‐ AND ROAD‐NAMES, THE EAST COTSWOLDS, xiv + 268 pp.; PART II, THE NORTH AND WEST COTSWOLDS, xiv + 264 pp.; PART III, THE LOWER SEVERN VALLEY, THE FOREST OF DEAN, xiv + 272 pp.; PART IV, INTRODUCTION, BIBLIOGRAPHY, ANALYSES, INDEX, MAPS, xvi + 274 pp. By A. H. SmithTHE SURVEY OF LONDON: VOLS XXXI AND XXXII, THE PARISH OF ST. JAMES, WESTMINSTER, part two: NORTH OF PICCADILLY. General editor, F. H. W. SheppardA HISTORY OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF LONDON: 1. By Sir George ClarkTHE LETTERS OF FREDERIC WILLIAM MAITLAND. Edited by C. H. S. FifootThe most interesting essay in CONTRIBUTIONS A L'HISTOIRE ECONOMIQUE ET SOCIALE: tome iStephen Clissold, IN SEARCH OF THE CIDThe valuable BIBLIOGRAPHIE ANNUELLE DE L'HISTOIRE DE FRANCE