Humans have always been aware of their bodies as something both part of themselves and, at the same time, something other than themselves. Medieval society, which was entirely religious, found a logical solution to this paradox in the dualism between body and soul. In extreme cases, this could lead mystics to hate, humiliate, and even destroy their own bodies. However, this extremism was not shared by society as a whole. Doctors and theologians carefully studied the body and its needs, while ordinary people strove to care for it, warm it, nourish it, and give it pleasure, despite the often limited means available at the time. Historian Alessandro Barbero tells us of a distant era in which life and care for the body seem unthinkable to us today.