Health and Medicine

            

In the Middle Ages, going to doctor for being ill or unhealthy was a fast way to death. The Medieval doctors, or surgeons, were not very scientific, and there was no idea of germs. Even though doctors were not that trustworthy or cured illnesses, they were so expensive that peasants were hardly able to afford them. Instead, they visited an ‘apothecary’ (a not trained chemist) or a ‘wise women’ who worked with herd and other natural medicine. The medieval peasant believed that any illness was punishment from god for sinful behavior and they had to pray, do good deeds and go on a pilgrimage to be forgiven and cured.

The medieval church also stated that the world was made up of 4 elements which were represented by 4 liquids (humours) in human body. Numbering, there were:

-          Blood

-          Yellow bile

-          Black bile

-          Phlegm

These humours had to be balanced in human body; otherwise they were believed to cause illness and disease. According to 17^th century doctors, if you had too much blood, doctors used leeches and bleed you to cure fever or bad temper. The black bile made you depressed and doctors would give a purgative. Too much of yellow bile was cured by making you vomit. People with too much of phlegm were supposed to be sad who were supposed to be cured by making them  hot and sticky.

The main reason of medieval people dying early was dirty conditions but being ill took a huge part too. The ill people were usually treated in a wrong way, which leaded them to serious illness or even death. For madness and evil spirits inside the head, surgeons used trepanning, cutting a hole into the skull to release evil spirits. Also, bad blood was drained from a certain spot of the body using a dirty knife or leeches.