Melitta Adamson
Modern Languages and Literatures
Professor, German and Comparative Literature
Professor, History of Medicine (Ph.D. Toronto)
Room: UC 253
Phone: (519)661-2111 ext. 85861
E-Mail: melitta@uwo.ca
Areas of Interest:
- Medieval German Literature
- Classical and Medieval Medicine
- Medieval Cookbooks and Dietetics
- Daily Life in the Middle Ages
- Hildegard von Bingen
- Parody
- Fin-de-Siècle Vienna
Publications
Books
Entertaining from Ancient Rome to the Super Bowl: An Encyclopedia, ed. Melitta Weiss Adamson and Francine Segan, 2 vols. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008), 621 pages.
Food in Medieval Times [Series Food Through History] (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2004),xxiii + 259 pages.
Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe: A Book of Essays, ed. Melitta Weiss Adamson (New York and London: Routledge, 2002), xviii + 254 pages.
Daz buoch von guoter spise (The Book of Good Food): A Study, Edition, and English Translation of the Oldest German Cookbook (Medium Aevum Quotidianum [Sonderband IX], Krems 2000), 125 pages. Reprint 2004.
Medieval Dietetics: Food and Drink in 'Regimen Sanitatis' Literature from 800 to 1400 (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1995), 231 pages.
Food in the Middle Ages: A Book of Essays. ed. Melitta Weiss Adamson (New York and London: Garland Publishing Inc., 1995 [Garland Medieval Casebooks Volume 12]), 214 pages.
Articles
“Professional Cooks, Kitchens and Service Work” in A Cultural History of Food, General Editors: Fabio Parasecoli and Peter Scholliers, 6 vols.; vol. 2: A Cultural History of Food in the Medieval Age, ed. Massimo Montanari (London and New York: Berg, 2012), 107-124.
“Mediterranean Cuisine North of the Alps: The Cookbook in Sankt Florian Codex XI. 100” in kunst und saelde: Festschrift für Trude Ehlert, ed. Katharina Boll and Katrin Wenig (Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2011), 239-258.
“Bernard de Gordon and Arnald de Villanova: A Tale of Two Regimes” in 1308: Eine Topographie historischer Gleichzeitigkeit, ed. Andreas Speer and David Wirmer (Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2010), 419-435.
“Food, Drink, and Diet” in The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages, ed. Robert E. Bjork, 4 vols. (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2010), vol. 2, 643-645.
"Medieval" in Entertaining from Ancient Rome to the Super Bowl: An Encyclopedia, ed. Melitta Weiss Adamson and Francine Segan, vol. 2 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008), 369-376.
"Poverty on the Menu: Towards a Culinary Vocabulary of Poverty in Medieval Europe" in The Sign Languages of Poverty, ed. Gerhard Jaritz (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2007), 221-236.
"Wellness Guides for Seniors in the Middle Ages" in Fifteenth-Century Studies, vol. 32 (2007), ed. Barbara I. Gusick and Edelgard duBruck, 1-16.
"Imitation foods" in Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food, 2nd edition edited by Tom Jaine, Consultant Editor Jane Davidson, Research Director Helen Saberi (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), 397-398.
"Ibn Gazla auf dem Weg nach Bayern" in Wissen über Grenzen. Arabisches Wissen und lateinisches Mittelalter (Miscellanea Mediaevalia, vol. 33), ed. Andreas Speer and Lydia Wegener (Berlin - New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2006), 357-376.
"Tacuinum sanitatis" in Medieval Science, Technology and Medicine: An Encyclopedia, ed. Thomas F. Glick, Steven J. Livesey, Faith Wallis (Brown Reference Group Ltd) (New York and London: Routledge, 2005), 469-470.
"Regimen sanitatis" in Medieval Science, Technology and Medicine: An Encyclopedia, ed. Thomas F. Glick, Steven J. Livesey, Faith Wallis (Brown Reference Group Ltd) (New York and London: Routledge, 2005), 438-439.
"Das Image(problem) der Bohne in der Antike und im Mittelalter: Einige Überlegungen zu Walthers Bohnenspruch" in Der 800jährige Pelzrock: Walther von der Vogelweide - Wolfger von Erla - Zeiselmauer. Vorträge gehalten am Walther-Symposion der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften vom 24. bis 27. September 2003 in Zeiselmauer (Niederösterreich), ed. Helmut Birkhan (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2005, ), 545-559.
"Illness and Cure in Hartmann von Aue's Der Arme Heinrich and Iwein" in A Companion to the Works of Hartmann von Aue, ed. Francis G. Gentry (Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2005), 125-140.
"Infants and Wine: Medieval Medical Views on the Controversial Issue of Wine as Baby-Food" in Medium Aevum Quotidianum 50 (2004), 13-21.
"Baby-Food in the Middle Ages" in Nurture: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, ed. Richard Hosking (Bristol: Footwork, 2004), 1-11.
"Carmen Nobilissimum de Calvitio Curando: A Medieval Latin Medical Poem and its German Reception" in Bewahren und Erforschen: Festgabe für Kurt Hans Staub zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. Wolfgang Schmitz [Beiträge aus der Nicolaus-Matz-Bibliothek (Kirchenbibliothek) Michelstadt, vol.22] (Michelstadt: Seeger, 2003 [appeared May 2004]), 19-37.
"Gula, Temperantia, and the Ars Culinaria in Medieval Germany" in Nu lôn ich iu der gâbe: Festschrift for Francis G. Gentry, ed. Ernst Ralf Hintz (Göppingen: Kümmerle, 2003), 107-118.
"Imitation Food Then and Now" Petits Propos Culinaires 72 (April 2003): 83-102.
"Medieval Technical Literature (Fachliteratur)" in A Companion to Middle High German Literature to the 14th Century, ed. Francis G. Gentry (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 319-343.
"Male Pregnancy in German Literature from Jans Enikel to Hans Sachs: From a Medical and Moral Perspective" in Lektüren der Differenz gewidmet Ingvild Birkhan, ed. Ingrid Bennewitz (Bern: Peter Lang 2002), 105-124.
"Introduction" in Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe: A Book of Essays, ed. by Melitta Weiss Adamson (New York and London: Routledge, 2002), ix-xviii.
"The Greco-Roman World" in Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe: A Book of Essays, ed. Melitta Weiss Adamson (New York and London: Routledge, 2002), 1-17.
"Medieval Germany" in Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe: A Book of Essays, ed. Melitta Weiss Adamson (New York and London: Routledge, 2002), 153-196.
"Cookbooks" in Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia, ed. John M. Jeep (New York and London: Garland, 2001), 151-152.
"Diet and Nutrition" in Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia, ed. John M. Jeep (New York and London: Garland, 2001), 166.
"Der 'Märchenprinz' von EAV: Ein mittelalterlicher Topos in neuem Gewand" Neophilologus 82 (1998): 577-588.
"Researching the Diet of Medieval Germany: Possibilities and Limitations of Written Sources and Material Evidence" Medium Aevum Quotidianum 38 (1998): 27-30.
"Preventive Medicine in Fourteenth-Century Würzburg: The Evidence in Michael de Leone's Hausbuch" in Ir sult sprechen willekomen: Festschrift für Helmut Birkhan zum 60. Geburststag, Christa Tuczay, Ulrike Hirhager, and Karin Lichtblau, eds. (Frankfurt am Main/Berlin/Bern/New York/Paris/Vienna: Peter Lang, 1998), 501-520.
"Die Kochrezepte in Codex J.5 (no. 125) der Bibliothek des Priesterseminars, Brixen: Edition und Kommentar" Würzburger medizinhistorische Mitteilungen 14 (1996): 291-303.
"Unus theutonicus plus bibit quam duo latini: Food and Drink in Late-Medieval Germany" Medium Aevum Quotidianum 33 (1995):8-20.
"Der deutsche Anhang zu Hildegard von Bingens 'Liber Simplicis Medicinae' in Codex 6952 der Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (fol. 232v-238v)" Sudhoffs Archiv 79 (1995): 173-192.
"The Games Cooks Play: Non-Sense Recipes and Practical Jokes in Medieval Literature" in Food in the Middle Ages: A Book of Essays, ed. Melitta Weiss Adamson (New York/London: Garland Publishing Inc., 1995), 177-195.
"A Reevaluation of Hildegard of Bingen's Physica in Light of the Latest Manuscript Finds" in Manuscript Sources of Medieval Medicine, ed. Margaret R. Schleissner (New York/London: Garland Publishing Inc., 1995), 55-80.
"Medieval Women's Guides to Food During Pregnancy: Origins, Texts, and Traditions" Canadian Bulletin of Medical History 10 (1993): 5-23.
"The Role of Medieval Physicians in the Diffusion of Culinary Recipes and Cooking Practices" in Du Manuscrit à la Table, ed. Carole Lambert (Paris: Champion-Slatkine and Montréal: Les Presses de L'Université de Montréal, 1992), 69-80.
"Dietetics of Pregnancy: A Fifteenth-Century Perspective" Fifteenth-Century Studies 19 (1992): 301-318.
"Die 'Physica' Hildegards von Bingen als Quelle für das 'Kochbuch Meister Eberhards"' Sudhoffs Archiv 76 (1992): 87-96.
"Von stichellinges magin vnd mucken fuezzen: Mittelalterliche Rezeptliteratur in der Parodie" Seminar 28 (1992): 1-16.
"Straubs Gesundheitslehre: Heinrich Wittenwilers Ring im Kontext mittelalterlicher Fachliteratur" in Medieval German Literature: Proceedings from the 23rd International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 5-8, 1988, ed. Albrecht Classen (Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1989), 171-80.
Translation
Johanna Maria van Winter, "Nahrungsmittel in den Niederlanden im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert", German to English, "The Low Countries in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, " in Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe: A Book of Essays, ed. Melitta Weiss Adamson (New York and London: Routledge, 2002), 197-214.
Courses recently taught at UWO
- German 1030 German for Beginners
- German 2200 Intermediate German
- German 2293a Language: Conversation, Composition, Grammar
- German 3300G/CLC 2236G Literature and Culture of the Middle Ages
- German 3333F/CLC 3391F City Studies: Vienna
- German 3392G Language and Contemporary Society: Advanced
- German 3395G German Media Studies
- Comparative Literature 690b The Body in Medieval and Renaissance Discourses
