ABSTRACT
The starting point of the chapter is the fact that research on bodies in the Middle Ages has still to deal with the question of whether the bodies examined are the product or the raw material of cultural practice. The first section stresses that there is no clear set of structures, behaviors, events, objects, experiences, and words which refer to the body. It can be said that although there has been substantial research on a medieval history of bodies, it still consists of a vast number of insights only loosely bound by this label. In the following sections the chapter gives an overview of the state of research by focusing on the four kinds of medieval bodies: common bodies, noble bodies, religious bodies, and reproductive bodies.
