RESEARCH - Medieval England - Post 13: Disease, Pestilence (plague) and Medicine

So, The Black Death or Bubonic Plague had been and gone by the 15th century. It occurred, as previously stated, 1348-9 and 1361-2. But the affects were still being felt from the reduced population. I know I'm harping on about that, but it's important. 

Yay, the disease was over. Sadly, there were other plagues. I refer you back to the deadly list.

In 1485, at the start of the Tudors, there was a rather nasty Sweating Sickness aka English Sweat. It claimed thousands of lives in the 15th and 16th centuries. Part of the horror was its rapid killing power. There's a whole article on it here.

Medical thinking at the time sought to temper the four humors of the body:

{  1 Sanguine (Blood)

{  2 Choleric (Yellow Bile)

{  3 Melancholic (Black Bile)

{  4 Phlegmatic (Phlegm)

These were represented by the four elements, and manifested in the body as hot, cold, dry and moist. 

These could be interrupted by, yes, disease, but also demons, gods, witchcraft and astronomical events.

Wise women had known for centuries of the healing properties of plants. And even monks, who administered medical remedies as charity, grew physik/physic gardens. They grew herbs such as:

{  Dandelion     

{  Elecampane     

{  English Lavender     

{  Lovage     

{  Mallow         

{  Myrtle             

{  Pennyroyal               

{  Sage                         

{  St. John’s Wort                         

{  Thyme                      

{  Vervain           

{  Yarrow

Sadly, some of the plants were, in fact, toxic, so hindered rather than cured.

From the 12th century, schools of surgery were introduced. These were more medically trained than the barber surgeons who performed things such as bloodletting, tooth-pulling and wound-stitching. 

The medical surgeon was instructed on air, diet, exercise and drugs. The wise ones treated the wounds with vinegar or alcohol. But, they were fairly rare, as they were held liable for any fatality which resulted. And there were quite a few mishaps without antibiotics etc. 

However, these surgeons performed rapid amputations for those injured in battle - the quicker the better for the patient, to stop the loss of blood. And they made a rudimentary cast for broken limbs too. 

Bloodletting was performed in cases of fever, as clearly there was too much blood (heat) in the body!? Sweating was a way of ridding the body of excess fluid - fires, piles of blankets, hot cloths...all could be applied to encourage sweat.

Inducing vomiting or issuing a laxative were also deemed fine ways of ridding the body of those nasty excess humors.

Wine was seen as a restorative, so it wasn't all bad 😉

Along with physical treatments, prayer and penance were prescribed remedies, y'know, in case God was punishing the patient. 

You could always try to treat minor ailments and diseases yourself. Which, let's face it, you'd try. 

For this, you would need a store of: willow bark, honey, cobwebs, moss and live snails. 

Willowbark was a painkiller and may even have helped reduce inflammation. Worth giving it a chew, especially if you had a fever or headache! 😉

Honey was readily available. Its stickiness helped bind wounds whilst stopping them from drying out. Turns out, it has antimicrobial properties too, so not as silly as it first sounds. 

Now, cobwebs are astonishing. I sniffed at the thought, because eww! But, if it was clean, then the sticky web may have actually helped wounds. They would bind them together, and contain antiseptic and antifungal properties. The vitamin K in them may help blood clotting too - well, I never! 

Isabel in my book has recourse to use blood moss. This is used to soak up her menstrual flow. This actually happened! It's technical term is sphagnum moss, and was used for that and to mop up blood from wounds. 

Snails would be used to treat minor cuts and burns. It's been discovered that their slime does indeed contain antiseptic, anaesthetic, antibiotic, antiviral properties, along with collagen and elastin. So good is this icky substance, that it's now being put back into cosmetics. 

So there you have it, some helpful and not-so-helpful remedies.

Incidentally, the number of fatalities after medical intervention are in similar proportions today, just before you dismiss it all! 😲

Always in love and light,

TL

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My book, Love in the Roses is available for pre-order (click here).

 

To protect her family, she must marry the enemy!

The fictitious tale of a knight’s daughter, living life as it very well may have been in 1484.

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