The Ages of Man: Young and Old in Healing Recipes and Charms

The theme of age has always been at the center of men’s interest, and the medieval man was not an exception. Aging and the ages of man were at the core of the literary, philosophical, theological and scientific medieval thought. The present study aims to offer a survey on the main medieval theories that influenced the scientific debate, especially in the field of medicine, and on their reflections on healing recipes. Based on a corpus of Middle English and Anglo-Norman healing recipes, it has concentrated on the frequency of age reference and its role in the treatment. Unexpectedly, the age factor appears to be more frequent in indirect reference than in relation to patients. This was due to the fact that it was up to the healer to adjust them to the patient’s complexion. However, the few instances retraceable in the corpus clearly show how the medieval man was worried about old age and looked for youth, the target of the only charm present in the corpus.