Winston Black

Winston Black is a historian of medicine and religion in medieval Europe, and has taught at numerous universities in the United States and Canada. His research focuses on medieval pharmacy (drugs, herbs, and spices) and the interactions between medicine and theology in the High Middle Ages. His publications include "Medicine and Healing in the Premodern West: A History in Documents," (Broadview Press, 2019), "The Middle Ages: Facts and Fictions" (ABC-CLIO, 2019) and "A History of the Middle Ages, 300-1500, Second Edition (2016)" (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2016). 

Articles by: Winston Black

Artist's depiction of a plague doctor and people dying of plague.

Plague doctors: Separating medical myths from facts

By Winston Black, All About History published

These spooky costumes may have been worn by some early modern physicians to ward off infection, but the history of plague medicine goes back much further.

The Black Death was a devastating medieval epidemic during which 50-60% of the people in Europe. This illustration depicts the diseased: Skeletons are rising from the dead for the dance of death.

What Was the Black Death?

By Winston Black, All About History published

The Black Death killed over half the population of Europe during the Middle Ages.

Medieval medicine

Forget Folk Remedies, Medieval Europe Spawned A Golden Age of Medical Theory

By Winston Black published

It’s often said that there was no tradition of scientific medicine in medieval times.