Medieval Medicine

    A Quick Lesson in Medicine 

    Medicine has come a long way in the past few decades alone, nevermind the past few centuries. Nowadays, we have access to technologies and resources that even just twenty years ago people never would have dreamed of. We know more about the human anatomy, illnesses that affect it, what to use to cure diseases, and how these cures work in healing our bodies. Doctors can use your symptoms to diagnose the problem, and from there they can help you to heal. We seem to take such things for granted. We don't often think about how far medicine has come. 

     The Four Humors

 In medieval times, doctors often used something called the four humors as the basis of their diagnosis. The four humors were the four fluids of the body that were thought to determine a person's temperament or features (1). This belief comes from the ancient Greeks, believed to be started by Hippocrates (4). The four humors were blood, phlegm, yellow bile (choler), and black bile (melancholy) (1). Physicians believed that if you were ill, it was because your four humors were out of balance. They also attributed an imbalance of these fluids to physical imperfections and changes in temperament: i.e. if you were choleric (had an excess of yellow bile), you had a short temper. Now of course we know that these fluids are more often than not not the cause of an illness of change of personality. But, for a long time, the four humors were an essential part of medicine.

    Bleeding was one way to restore balance to the four humors. If it was believed that an illness or injury was the result of an excess of blood in the body, physicians would bleed you. Bloodletting, or bleeding, was very common as blood was thought to be the most dominant humor. Bloodletting was performed by scraping the skin with a small box containing multiple knives. Then, a dome shaped glass would be put over the area and suction or heat would be used to extract the air. (2)

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    Doctors for Common Folk

    During this time period, the vast majority of the population were peasants, and could not afford to see a doctor. So, most common folk would visit churches to receive medical care. Religion was the basis of most activities in this time, and as it was a Christian's duty to care for the sick, monasteries and convents often provided medical care (3). The general population would seek out the aid of the religious folks mostly in extreme circumstances. For more everyday illnesses, one could con
sult with a local wise woman. She would be skilled in the knowledge of herbal remedies and even sometimes magic. These healers had herb gardens or had apothecaries nearby which kept the herbs necessary for healing (5). 

Herbs: A Cure for Everything

Aside from practices such as bleeding, herbal remedies were the most popular form of medicine. monasteries, apothecaries, and wise women would keep herb gardens to ensure they had the necessary items for healing the sick. A book documenting herbs that were commonly used came all the way from Ancient Greece, written by a man named Dioscorides, a botanist, physician, and pharmacologist. His text was consulted with for over 1,500 years by healers (6). Some herbs had a variety of uses, while others were only used for very specific illness or injuries. 

Fun Fact: Herbal medicine is still used today! Health food stores and metaphysical stores carry herbs which are used to help cure illness, though should not be used in place of modern medicine for serious illnesses without consulting with a physician. For example, lavender is commonly used to reduce anxiety, calm the nerves, and encourage sleep. This stems from medieval herbal medicine! A growing number of modern society is reverting back to such ways, especially those who identify as Wiccan, pagan, or witches. (I myself am a pagan and what is referred to as a "baby witch". I am learning to use these herbs in my everyday life to encourage a positive environment and better physical and mental well-being.)

For a CrashCourse video on medieval medicine, click here!

Works Cited

1) "Humour." Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/science/humour-ancient-physiology.

2) Greenspa, Robert. "Gerry Greenstone, MD,. The History of Bloodletting. BCMJ, Vol. 52 No. 1, January, February, 2010, Page(s) 12-14- Premise." -, bcmj.org/premise/history-blodletting.

3) The role of the Church and monasteries - Developments in patient care – WJEC - GCSE History Revision - WJEC - BBC Bitesize. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z27nqhv/revision/1

4) (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/medm/hd_medm.htm

5) Medieval and Renaissance medicine: Practice and developments. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323533

6) Darslan. (2019, February 14). Health and herbs in the Dark Ages. Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://thebiomedicalscientist.net/science/health-and-herbs-dark-ages

7) (Video) Ancient & Medieval Medicine: Crash Course ... - YouTube. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGiZXQVGpbY

8) (n.d.). Retrieved from https://imageproxy.themaven.net//https%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.com%2F.image%2FMTU3ODc4NjAyNzE4NTIwNjQ5%2Flist-ancient-medical-techniques-bloodletting-2.jpg