Sensing sickness in early modern England

This project is about the sensory experience of serious physical disease in early modern England. Taking the dual perspectives of patients and their loved ones, the study will investigate what happened to the five senses during illness. It will focus on  how patients and their relatives responded emotionally and spiritually to sensory suffering,  what was done to mitigate the impact of illness on the senses, and how doctors explained the sensory alterations that occurred during disease.

The ultimate goal of the project is to provide a more complete picture of what it was like to be ill, or to witness the illness of others, in early modern England.