Prof John Henderson

Positions held:

Professor of Italian Renaissance History, Department of History, Classics & Archaeology

Supervision and teaching
Supervision and teaching

Supervision

Supervisions external to Birkbeck:

1

Supervisions within Birkbeck:

4

Current doctoral researchers
- KATHRYN HUNTER
  
  Nature of supervision:
  Joint Principal Supervisor, Oct 2016 onwards
Doctoral alumni since 2013-14
- SARAH MCBRYDE
  
  Nature of supervision:
  Joint Principal Supervisor, Oct 2017
  
  Title of thesis:
  Making a Visible Difference: Symbolism and Individuality in Representations of the Medici Court Dwarfs in Early Modern Florence
  
  Awarded:
  2022
- SARAH LENNARD-BROWN
  
  Nature of supervision:
  Joint Principal Supervisor, Oct 2013
  
  Title of thesis:
  Almshouses of London and Westminster: their role in lay piety and the relief of poverty, 1330-1600
  
  Awarded:
  2021
Publications
Publications
Article
- Henderson, John (2020) “The Invisible Enemy”: fighting the Plague in Early Modern Italy. Centaurus 62 (2), pp. 263-274. ISSN 0008-8994.
- Henderson, John and Garbellotti, M. (2008) Introduction: teoria e pratica medica. rimedi e formacopee in eta moderna. Medicina e Storia : Rivista di Storia Della Medicina e Della Sanit 8 (15), pp. 190. ISSN 1722-2206.
- Henderson, John (2007) Epidemie, miasmi e il corpo dei poveri a Firenze nella prima età moderna. Storia Urbana
- Henderson, John (2003) Historians and plagues in pre-industrial Italy over the Longue Durée. History of Philosophy of the Life Sciences 25 (4), pp. 481-499. ISSN 0391-9714.
- Henderson, John (2001) Healing the body and saving the soul: hospitals in renaissance Florence. Renaissance Studies 15 (2), pp. 188-216. ISSN 0269-1213.
- Henderson, John (2001) 'La schifezza, madre della corruzione'. Peste e società nella Firenze della prima età moderna: 1630-1631. Medicina & storia : rivista di storia della medicina e della sanità 2, pp. 23-56. ISSN 1722-2206.
- Henderson, John (2001) Ospedali Fiorentini ed opere d’arte nel rinascimento: valore storico e ruolo sanitario-devozionale. Medicina nei Secoli 12, pp. 273-295. ISSN 0394-9001.
- Henderson, John and Joannides, P. (1991) A franciscan triptych by Fra Angelico. Arte Cristiana
- Henderson, John and Park, K.P. (1991) 'The first hospital among christians': the Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova in early sixteenth-century Florence. Medical History 35 (2), pp. 164-188. ISSN 0025-7273.
- Henderson, John (1990) Religious confraternities and politics in fifteenth-century Florence. Collegium Medievale 12, pp. 53-72. ISSN 2387-6700.
- Henderson, John (1988) The parish and the poor in Florence at the time of the Black Death: the case of San Frediano. Continuity and Change 3, pp. 247-272. ISSN 0268-4160.
- Henderson, John (1986) Confraternities and the church in late medieval Florence. Studies in Church History XXIV, pp. 69-83. ISSN 0424-2084.
- Henderson, John (1986) Review article: society and religion in renaissance Florence. The Historical Journal 29 (1), pp. 213-225. ISSN 0018-246X.
- Henderson, John (1985) Le confraternite religiose nella Firenze del tardo medio evo: patroni spirituali e anche politici?. Ricerche Storiche XV, pp. 77-94.
- Henderson, John (1978) The flagellant movement and flagellant confraternities in central Italy, 1260-1400. Studies in Church History XV, pp. 147-160. ISSN 0424-2084.
Book
- Henderson, John (2019) Florence under siege: surviving plague in an early modern city. New Haven, U.S. and London, UK: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300196344.
- Henderson, John and Horden, P. and Pastore, A., eds. (2007) The impact of hospitals in Europe: 300 - 2000. Frankfurt, Germany: Peter Lang Publisher. ISBN 9783039110018.
- Henderson, John (2006) The Renaissance hospital: healing the body and healing the souls. New Haven, Conn.; London, UK: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300109955.
- Henderson, John (1998) Pieta' e carita' nella Firenze del Basso Medioevo. Florence, Italy: Casa Editrice Le Lettere. ISBN 9788871663753.
- Arrizabalaga, J. and Henderson, John and French, R. (1997) The great pox: the French disease in Renaissance France. New Haven, Connecticut, USA: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300082999.
- Henderson, John and Wall, R., eds. (1994) Poor women and children in the European past. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 9780415077163.
- Henderson, John (1994) Piety and charity in late Medieval Florence. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780198202714.
- Verdon, T.V. and Henderson, John, eds. (1990) Christianity and renaissance: image and religious imagination in the Quattrocento. Syracuse, USA: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815624561.
Book Section
- Henderson, John (2020) Visualising the Great Pox in Early Modern Italy: patients, symptoms and treatment. In: Stolberg, M. (ed.) Bildliche Darstellungen gesunder und kranker Körper in der Frühen Neuzeit (1450-1750). Munich, Germany: Historisches Kolleg, Munich. (In Press)
- Henderson, John (2020) Representing infirmity in Early Modern Florence. In: Henderson, John and Jacobs, F. and Nelson, J.K. (eds.) Representing Infirmity: Diseased Bodies in Renaissance Italy. Body and the City. London, UK: Routledge. ISBN 9780367470203. (In Press)
- Engelmann, L. and Henderson, John and Lynteris, C. (2018) Introduction: the plague and the city in history. In: Engelmann, L. and Henderson, John and Lynteris, C. (eds.) Plague and the City. The Body in the City. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 9781138326125.
- Henderson, John (2018) ‘Filth is the Mother of Corruption’: plague and the built environment in Early Modern Florence. In: Engelmann, L. and Henderson, John and Lynteris, C. (eds.) Plague and the City. The Body in the City. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 9781138326125.
- Henderson, John (2018) "Filth is the mother of corruption”: plague, the poor and the environment in early modern Florence. In: Engelmann, L. and Henderson, John and Lynteris, C. (eds.) Plague and the City. Body and the City. London, UK: Routledge. pp. 69-90. ISBN 9781138326125.
- Henderson, John (2017) The impact of plague in Florence, 1630-1631, re-evaluating the evidence. In: Fantini, B. (ed.) Epidémies et sociétés, passé, présent et futur. Edizioni ETS. pp. 57-70. ISBN 9788846749857.
- Henderson, John and Rose, C. (2016) Plague and the city: methodological considerations in mapping disease in early modern Florence. In: Terpstra, N. and Rose, C. (eds.) Mapping Space, Sense, and Movement in Florence: Historical GIS and the Early Modern City. Routledge Research in Digital Humanities. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. pp. 125-146. ISBN 9781138184893.
- Henderson, John (2013) Coping with plagues in Renaissance Italy. In: Clark, L. and Rawcliffe, C. (eds.) Society in an Age of Plague. The Fifteenth Century. Woodbridge, Suffollk, UK: Boydell and Brewer. ISBN 9781843838753.
- Henderson, John (2013) More feared than death itself? isolation hospitals and plague in seventeenth-century Florence. In: Bonfield, C. and Huguet-Termes, T. and Reinarz, J. (eds.) Hospitals and Communities, 1100-1960. Oxford, UK: Peter Lang. ISBN 9783034302449.
- Henderson, John (2010) Public health, pollution and the problem of waste disposal in early modern Tuscany. In: Cavaciocchi, S. (ed.) Le interazioni fra economia e ambiente biologico nell'Europa preindustriale secc. XIII-XVIII. Economic and biological interactions in pre-industrial Europe from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Atti delle «Settimane di Studi» e altri Convegni. Florence, Italy: Firenze University Press. pp. 373-382. ISBN 9788884535856.
- Henderson, John (2007) Caring for the poor: commessi and commesse in the hospitals of renaissance Florence. In: Drossbach, G. (ed.) Hospitaler in Mittelalter und Fruher Neuzeit: Frankreich, Deutschland und Italien. Eine vergleichende Geschichte. Pariser Historische Studien. Munich, Germany: De Gruyter. pp. 163-172. ISBN 9783486840544.
- Henderson, John and Horden, Peregrine and Pastore, Alessandro (2007) Introduction, the world of the hospital: comparisons and continuities. In: Henderson, John and Horden, Peregrine and Pastore, Alessandro (eds.) The Impact of Hospitals, 300–2000. Oxford, UK: Peter Lang Publishing Group. pp. 15-58. ISBN 9783039110018.
- Henderson, John (2006) Fracastoro, mal francese e la cura con il legno santo. In: Pastore, A. and Peruzzi, E. (eds.) Girolamo Fracastoro: Fra medicina, filosofia e scienze della natural. Florence, Italy: Casa Editrice. pp. 73-89. ISBN 9788822255235.
- Henderson, John (2006) The art of healing: hospital wards and the sick in renaissance Florence. In: Helas, P. and Wolf, G. (eds.) Armut und Armenfürsorge in der italienischen Stadtkulturzwischen 13. und 16. Jahrhundert. Bilde, Texte und sozial Pratiken. Frankfurt, Germany: Peter Lang. pp. 79-96. ISBN 9783631558461.
- Henderson, John (2005) Medizin für den körper und medizin für die seele: hospitäler im Florenz der renaissance. In: Matheus, M. (ed.) Funktions - und Strukturwandel spatmittelalterlicher Hospitaler im europaischen Vergleich. Stuttgart, Germany: Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 9783515082334.
- Henderson, John (2005) Santa Maria nuova nel quadro europeo del rinascimento: bellezza e terapia. In: Ghidetti, E. and Diana, E. (eds.) La bellezza come terapia. Arte e assistenza nell'ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova di Firenze. Florence, Italy: David Brown Book Company. pp. 27-44. ISBN 9788883049408.
- Henderson, John (2004) Living and dying in the city. In: Sonnino, E. (ed.) Living in the City. Rome, Italy: Università La Sapienza. ISBN 9788887242355.
- Henderson, John (2004) The material culture of health: hospitals in renaissance Italy. In: Steger, F. and Jankrift, K.P. (eds.) Gesundheit, Krankheit: Kulturtransfer medizinischen Wissens von der Spätantike bis in die Frühe Neuzeit. Beihefte zum Archiv für Kulturgeschichte. Cologne: Böhlau Verlag Wien Köln Weimar. pp. 155-166. ISBN 9783412138035.
- Henderson, John (2003) The Black Death. In: McItterick, R. (ed.) The Times Medieval Atlas. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195221589.
- Henderson, John (2000) Antechambers of death? poverty and sickness in the hospitals of renaissance Florence. In: Zamagni, V. (ed.) Povertà e innovazioni istituzionali in Italia. Dal Medioevo ad oggi. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino. pp. 111-129. ISBN 9788815076694.
- Henderson, John (2000) Ospedali ed epidemie a Firenze nel rinascimento: peste e mal Francese. In: Aleardi, A. (ed.) L’Ospedale e la Città Dalla fondazione di S. Maria Nuova al sistema ospedaliero del 2000. Florence, Italy: Ediziona Polistampa. pp. 16-27. ISBN 9788883041907.
- Henderson, John (1999) Charity and welfare in early modern Tuscany. In: Grell, O.P. and Cunningham, A. and Arrizabalaga, J. (eds.) Health Care and Poor Relief in Counter-Reformation Europe. Abingdon, UK: Psychology Press. pp. 56-86. ISBN 9780415178440.
- Henderson, John (1999) Cura del corpo e cura dell' anima: ospedali a Firenze e in Italia. In: Pieri Venturi, E. and Sandri, L. (eds.) La nuova città. Florence, Italy: Della Fondazione Michelucci. pp. 93-102.
- Henderson, John (1998) The mal francese in sixteenth-century Rome: the ospedale di San Giacomo in Augusta and the 'incurabili'. In: Sonnino, E. (ed.) Popolazione e società a Roma dal medioevo all'età contemporanea. Rome, Italy: Il Calamo. pp. 483-523. ISBN 9788886148498.
- Henderson, John (1997) 'Splendide case di cura': spedali, medicina ed assistenza a Firenze nel trecento. In: Grieco, A. and Sandri, L. (eds.) Ospedali e città: L'Italia del Centro-Nord, XIII-XVI secolo. Florence, Italy: Casa Editrice Le Lettere. pp. 15-50. ISBN 9788871663258.
- Henderson, John (1994) Women, children and poverty in Florence at the time of the black death. In: Henderson, John and Wall, R. (eds.) Poor Women and Children in the European Past. Abingdon, UK: Psychology Press. pp. 160-179. ISBN 9780415077163.
- Henderson, John (1993) La peste nera a Firenze: teorie mediche e la politica governativa. In: Betri, M.L. and Pastore, A. (eds.) L'arte di Guarire: Aspetti della professione medica tra medioevo ed età contemporanea. Milan, Italy: La Cooperativa Libraria Universitaria Editrice Bologna. pp. 11-29. ISBN 9788849104547.
- Henderson, John (1992) The Black Death in Florence: medical and communal reactions. In: Bassett, S. (ed.) Death in towns: urban responses to the dying and the dead, 100–1600. Leicester, UK: Leicester University Press. ISBN 9780718522803.
- Henderson, John (1990) Penitence and the laity in fifteenth-century Florence. In: Verdon, T. and Henderson, John (eds.) Christianity and the Renaissance: image and religious imagination in the Quattrocento. Syracuse, USA: Syracuse University Press. pp. 229-249. ISBN 9780815624141.
- Henderson, John (1989) Charity in late medieval Florence: the role of religious confraternities. In: Smyth, C.H. and Garfagnini, G.C. (eds.) Florence and Milan: comparisons and relations. Florence, Italy: La Nuova Italia. pp. 67-84. ISBN 9788822107176.
- Henderson, John (1989) Plague in renaissance Florence: medical theory and government response. In: Bulst, N. and Delort, R. (eds.) Maladies et société. Paris, France: CNRS Editions. pp. 165-186. ISBN 9782222041993.
- Henderson, John (1989) The hospitals of late-medieval Florence: a preliminary survey. In: Granshaw, L. and Porter, R. (eds.) The Hospital in History. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. pp. 63-92. ISBN 9780415056038.
- Henderson, John (1988) Confraternities and death in renaissance Florence. In: Denley, P. and Elam, C. (eds.) Florence and Italy: Renaissance Studies in Honour of Nicolai Rubinstein. London, UK: Westfield Publications in Medieval Studies. pp. 383-394. ISBN 9781870059015.
- Henderson, John (1987) Epidemie nella Firenze del rinascimento: teoria sanitaria e provvedimenti governative. In: Pastore, A. and Sorcinelli, P. (eds.) Sanità e Società: Emilia Romagna, Toscana, Marche, Umbria, Lazio. Secoli XVI-XX. Udine: Casamassima.
Conference Item
- Henderson, John (2011) Death in Florence: plague, public health and the poor in early modern Italy. Inaugural lecture, 2011, Birkbeck, University of London, UK
Editorial
- Henderson, John (1988) Introduction: charity and the poor in Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Continuity and Change 3 (2), pp. 145-151. Cambridge Journals. ISSN 0268-4160.
Other
- Henderson, John and Park, K. (2005) The Italian patient: health care in renaissance Italy. Milton Keynes, UK: Open University.

Prof John Henderson

Supervision and teaching

Supervision

Current doctoral researchers

KATHRYN HUNTER

Doctoral alumni since 2013-14

SARAH MCBRYDE

SARAH LENNARD-BROWN

Publications

Article

Book

Book Section

Conference Item

Editorial

Other