Reprint of the original, first published in 1873.

A major reassessment, based on hitherto unpublished manuscript material, of a disease whose history has attracted more myths and misunderstandings than any other.

Excerpt from Elephantiasis Graecorum or True Leprosy The greater part of the following remarks constituted the Goulstonian Lectures for 1873. My object has been to collect from various sources a short account of the past and present history of Leprosy, and to combine with this my conclusions regarding the causes, nature, and clinical features of the disease, drawn from the facts recorded and from my own observation on severa cases under my care. During a visit to Norway, in the year 1871, I had ample opportunity of observing the external circumstances under which the disease is developed; and some observations on this part of the subject will be found in the following pages. I take this opportunity of thanking my friends Drs. Duffin and Creighton for the assistance they have given me, especially in translating German works on the subject. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

Excerpt from Elephantiasis Græcorum or True Leprosy The greater part of the following remarks consti tuted the Goulstonian Lectures for 1873. My object has been to collect from various sources a short account of the past and present history of Leprosy, and to combine with this my conclusions regarding the causes, nature, and clinical features of the disease, drawn from the facts recorded and from my own observation on several cases under my care. During a visit to Norway, in the year 1871, I had ample Opportunity of observing the external circumstances under which the disease is developed; and some observations on this part of the subject will be found in the following pages. I take this Opportunity of thanking my friends Drs. Duffin and creighton for the assistance they. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

One of the most unusual contributions to the crusading era was the idea of the leper knight - a response to the scourge of leprosy and the shortage of fighting men which beset the Latin kingdom in the twelfth century. The Order of St Lazarus, which saw the idea become a reality, founded establishments across Western Europe to provide essential support for its hospitaller and military vocations. This book explores the important contribution of the English branch of the order, which by 1300 managed a considerable estate from its chief preceptory at Burton Lazars in Leicestershire. Time proved the English Lazarites to be both tough and tenacious, if not always preoccupied with the care of lepers. Following the fall of Acre in 1291 they endured a period of bitter internal conflict, only to emerge reformed and reinvigorated in the fifteenth century. Though these late medieval knights were very different from their twelfth-century predecessors, some ideologies lingered on, though subtly readapted to the requirements of a new age, until the order was finally suppressed by Henry VIII in 1544. The modern refoundation of the order, a charitable institution, dates from 1962. The book uses both documentary and archaeological evidence to provide the first ever account of this little-understood crusading order.DAVID MARCOMBE is Director of the Centre for Local History, University of Nottingham.