Medical Knowledge
Since the church administered and controlled every aspect of education, the training that doctors in the medieval times received had to be in accordance with religious teachings. In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII prohibited the process of autopsies, and therefore it was virtually impossible to study human anatomy. Doctors therefore would have had very little knowledge about the human body. This also resulted in treatments becoming more difficult and surgery of any form being almost impossible.
In Medieval England, medicine and health were very important aspects of life. However, towns were filthy and people had limited knowledge of hygiene and germs. People lived close together in both villages and towns and contagious diseases such as the Black Death could spread easily.
In the Medieval Period, priests were believed to have more importance than doctors. When someone was ill, the priest was always the leader of the treatment and the doctor was only permitted to assist the priest. Some houses were marked with a red cross to indicate that people were infected with the plague and many doctors who treated the sick also became infected. Sometimes, the doctor died sooner than their patients. Corpses were piled up on the streets and because so many people had died, governments were forced to release prisoners to assist in burying the corpses.
In Medieval England, medicine and health were very important aspects of life. However, towns were filthy and people had limited knowledge of hygiene and germs. People lived close together in both villages and towns and contagious diseases such as the Black Death could spread easily.
In the Medieval Period, priests were believed to have more importance than doctors. When someone was ill, the priest was always the leader of the treatment and the doctor was only permitted to assist the priest. Some houses were marked with a red cross to indicate that people were infected with the plague and many doctors who treated the sick also became infected. Sometimes, the doctor died sooner than their patients. Corpses were piled up on the streets and because so many people had died, governments were forced to release prisoners to assist in burying the corpses.
CRAZY CURES
People who were infected by the plague would often die within a few days. Common symptoms of the Black Death include bleeding from the lungs, high fever, severe vomiting and the victims’ bodies would usually be covered with gruesome boils.
Desperate victims attempted using alternative cures such as Aromatherapy, which treated the body using different smells. During the time of the Black Death, people were instructed to carry sweet smelling flowers with them and if they couldn’t get flowers, they were told to carry packets of herbs.
As some people considered the disease a punishment from God ,they attempted to cure themselves from the plague by whipping themselves while crying out for God’s mercy. It was thought that if God was punishing you, the only thing you could do to resolve it was to punish yourself.
Another cure for the Black Death was by consuming Treacle, a by-product of sugar. Unfortunately in order for the Treacle to be considered effective, it had to be at least ten years old.
Another concept that people believed was a cure for the plague was living in a sewer. When people realised that the Black Death plague was airborne, they began to visit and sometimes live in the sewers.
Bloodletting was another cure used which was removing blood from a patient to cure or prevent disease and illness. This concept was popular all over Europe during the Medieval Period. Leeches were a fairly painless method of Bloodletting, but most people could not afford them at the time. Instead, they had to cut their skin open.
One edible cure was the powder from crushed emeralds. This was done by grounding down emeralds to a fine powder. The powder would be consumed by either swallowing it on its own, mixing it with a liquid and drinking it like a potion, or mixing it with food and eating it.
Washing yourself with urine or smearing yourself with human feces were other practices that were believed to cure the Black Death.
The Vicary Method was a technique invented by and named after Thomas Vicary, an English doctor. In the Vicary Method, people would shave the bottom of a hen and strap the hen onto the swollen lymph nodes of the victim. Later, when the chicken got sick, they would wash it and repeat the Vicary Method over and over again, until only the chicken or victim was fit and healthy.
Another belief to cure the Black Death was the killing of Jews. Some people took religion irrationally and believed that the best cure for the plague was to remove Jews of the face of the Earth. In fact, in the Middle Ages, Jews were blamed for the Black Death and its effects because they were suspected of poisoning the air and infecting the wells. Unfortunately, in an attempt to cure themselves, people captured Jews and tortured them until they had admitted that they were behind the disease. Thousands of Jews were rounded up and executed to put an end to the disease.
After these methods failed, people resorted to other practices such as drinking mercury or arsenic, not having thoughts about the plague, not having thoughts about death in general, not running or walking outside, not having sad thoughts, not eating meat, not eating figs, not sleeping in the day, not bathing and not exercising at all.
Desperate victims attempted using alternative cures such as Aromatherapy, which treated the body using different smells. During the time of the Black Death, people were instructed to carry sweet smelling flowers with them and if they couldn’t get flowers, they were told to carry packets of herbs.
As some people considered the disease a punishment from God ,they attempted to cure themselves from the plague by whipping themselves while crying out for God’s mercy. It was thought that if God was punishing you, the only thing you could do to resolve it was to punish yourself.
Another cure for the Black Death was by consuming Treacle, a by-product of sugar. Unfortunately in order for the Treacle to be considered effective, it had to be at least ten years old.
Another concept that people believed was a cure for the plague was living in a sewer. When people realised that the Black Death plague was airborne, they began to visit and sometimes live in the sewers.
Bloodletting was another cure used which was removing blood from a patient to cure or prevent disease and illness. This concept was popular all over Europe during the Medieval Period. Leeches were a fairly painless method of Bloodletting, but most people could not afford them at the time. Instead, they had to cut their skin open.
One edible cure was the powder from crushed emeralds. This was done by grounding down emeralds to a fine powder. The powder would be consumed by either swallowing it on its own, mixing it with a liquid and drinking it like a potion, or mixing it with food and eating it.
Washing yourself with urine or smearing yourself with human feces were other practices that were believed to cure the Black Death.
The Vicary Method was a technique invented by and named after Thomas Vicary, an English doctor. In the Vicary Method, people would shave the bottom of a hen and strap the hen onto the swollen lymph nodes of the victim. Later, when the chicken got sick, they would wash it and repeat the Vicary Method over and over again, until only the chicken or victim was fit and healthy.
Another belief to cure the Black Death was the killing of Jews. Some people took religion irrationally and believed that the best cure for the plague was to remove Jews of the face of the Earth. In fact, in the Middle Ages, Jews were blamed for the Black Death and its effects because they were suspected of poisoning the air and infecting the wells. Unfortunately, in an attempt to cure themselves, people captured Jews and tortured them until they had admitted that they were behind the disease. Thousands of Jews were rounded up and executed to put an end to the disease.
After these methods failed, people resorted to other practices such as drinking mercury or arsenic, not having thoughts about the plague, not having thoughts about death in general, not running or walking outside, not having sad thoughts, not eating meat, not eating figs, not sleeping in the day, not bathing and not exercising at all.