Janet DeLaine

Historiography : origins, evolution and convergence

Historically, research into ancient and medieval hygienic and curative baths has tended to fall into four rather different subjects each with its own tradition : the medical use of thermal and mineral springs from Antiquity onwards; the civic and domestic baths of the Greeks and Romans and their uses; the baths of the early and medieval church; and the secular baths of the Middle Ages. The purpose of this paper is to explore how these divisions came about, as well as examining the variable nature of the evidence for the four traditions and the inherent difficulties of interpretation, while highlighting possible areas for future investigation. If it is impossible to write a single account of these different baths which can both accommodate all the evidence and be well-founded in it, this does not however preclude the writing of multiple accounts which explore the variety of responses to the inter-related cultural phenomena of the hygienic and curative uses of baths in ancient and medieval Italy.