of Tours), and a third probably claimed Hugh Capet in 996. Frequent outbreaks occurred
in the 13th century, in the wake of intensified travel. By the 15th century, variola had
become endemic, for children succumbed while adults survived contagion by having
acquired immunity, as did Charles V and Charles VIII. The latter contracted la vérole in
1494, on his march on Naples, from where his soldiers would spread a new “pox,” la
grosse vérole or “the French disease”—syphilis.
Luke Demaitre
[See also: BLACK DEATH; FAMINE; LEPROSY; MEDICAL PRACTICE AND
PRACTITIONERS; MEDICAL TEXTS; SCROFULA]
Ackernecht, Erwin. History and Geography of the Most Important Diseases. New York: Hafner,
1965.
Henschen, Folke. The History and Geography of Diseases, trans. Joan Tate. London: Longman,
1966.
Sendrall, Marcel, et al. Histoire culturelle de la maladie. Toulouse: Privat, 1980.
Sigal, Pierre André. “Miracles et guérisons au XIIe siècle.” Annales: Économies—Sociétés—
Civilisations 24(1969): 1522–39.
von Kraemer, Erik. Les maladies désignées par le nom d’un saint. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1949.
Wickersheimer, Ernest. “Les secrets et les conseils de maître Guillaume Boucher et ses confrères:
contribution à l’histoire de la médecine à Paris vers 1400.” Bulletin de la Société Française
d’Histoire de la Médecine 8(1909):199–305. [111 case histories.]
DISPUTATIO
. See SCHOLASTICISM
DIT
. As used by 13th-century authors, dit seems to designate a work treating, in the first
person, subjects of general interest, generally directed to a popular audience. Dits treat
topics as varied as women (good or bad), the churches of Paris, the butchers, bakers, or
weavers of that city, or recent events (e.g., Dit de la mort de Philippe de Grève). Many
have literary merit and can also be useful historical documents. Rutebeuf used the genre
for his political broadsides (e.g., Dit des cordeliers). Many 13th-century dits are
anonymous, written in octosyllabic couplets, but other forms of versification are found,
especially in Rutebeuf’s dits.
The nature of the genre changed over time. Dit came to designate longer works, a
change that may have begun with Jean de Condé, whose dits vary from sixty-six (Dit de
bonne chere) to 2,352 lines (Dit dou chevaliera le mance), or with his contemporary,
Watriquet de Couvin (fl. 1319–29). These longer dits, narrative rather than descriptive,
were directed largely to a courtly audience. The genre continued to flourish in the 14th
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