This study seeks to illuminate the experience of sickness, attitudes towards the ill and infirm, and the provision of care in medieval southern Italy up to the 12th century. It deals with topics such as the provision of food, the environment, women's health, and varieties of cures for diseases. The final chapter assesses the interaction between intellectual and practical medicine, ane also re-examines the early life of the medical school at Salerno. Sources used include hagiography, chronicles, charters and archaeology.