The remedies of the Middle Ages often seem more magical than scientific, and that is because we miss the guiding thread that guided the doctors of that time.
To understand the application of treatments Medieval first you have to "get in" at the time: the doctors of the Middle Ages thought that the human body was a creation or microcosmic reflection of the universe .This belief came from the ancient Greco-Roman philosophical tradition (developed at from Hippocrates and Galen , among others), and constituted the foundation of medieval medicine.
For Galen, for example, good health depended of the balance of four fundamental factors: dry, wet, cold and hot; qualities present in the four moods : the Air was associated with the blood, the Fire with the cholera-which is found in the red or yellow bile-, the phlegm was moist and cold, and was associated with an aqueous, mucous substance, black bile was cold and dry, and was the least healthy of the moods.
The remedies of the Middle Ages were then based on the principle of totality , in restoring the balance of existence, and thus, for them an affliction could be due to a cosmological imbalance in the patient; the remedy had to correct such an imbalance (which makes us think that perhaps they knew some principles of Ayurvedic medicine), and were prepared from "simple"-where an ingredient of the remedy was taken from nature-, bleeding and windy to other procedures stranger to our modern eyes.
6 horrible Middle Ages remedies, but useful?
1.For jaundice, a live bat?
Abbess Hildegarda von Bingen wrote a famous treatise, Physica , where she explained and recommended many remedies from the Middle Ages; These remedies were based on the observation and the relation of the four moods we talked about at the beginning of the article.
In Galenic medicine, yellow bile was associated with jaundice; Hildegarda, in his Physica , has the remedy: you should stun a bat by gently tapping it, and then secure it on your upper back, your shoulders; you must be aware that the bat's back with yours.You leave it for a while, about 15 minutes, and then you tie it on your stomach, where you will leave it until the animal dies .
The Galenic relationship between jaundice and bat could indicate that this animal was able to counteract the heat of yellow bile through its own heat, or by its cooling properties.
2.Leon ear for hearing problems
Yes, even in verse.Again with the Physica of our Hildegarda, the fine Leonine hearing would help to recover the human.You must keep a lion's ear over the deaf ear until the first one warms up.At the same time say the following sentence: “Hey, adimacus, for the living God, and for the sharpness of the lion's great hearing ".
This cure, as you may have noticed, also worked with prayer, and with the idea of" the like cures the like ", both methods common in the remedies of the Middle Ages.The question was to get the ear...
3.For testicular ailments, swallow eggs
Another remedy of the multifacetic Hildegarda: burn a swallow egg –With shell and all–, and then grind finely until it turns to dust; add some chicken fat and mix.
Once this emulsion is made, you must apply it to the testicles.According to Hildegarda, the boiled egg has the balance of moods, so its healing powers are« undeniable ».
4.Unicorn penis to detect poison
Assuming you could find a unicorn, and also tear a fish away, you were lucky, because among the remedies of the Middle Ages , this-they said-was very effective.
If you suspected someone might be poisoning you, you just had to place your unicorn's fish under the plate or cup; if the food was hot, the fish would make it boil; and if what was on the plate was cold, the fish would release steam from the plate.
It was common during the Middle Ages to think of the unicorn as something extremely pure, so much so that they related it to Christ and its purity.
5.Viagra medieval?
The amount of remedies of the Middle Ages aimed at the treatment of impotence, contraception and conception, says much of the concern of that time for these issues.
For a man who has lost his" condition "and is cold in his body, the remedy is as follows: mix fennel and parsley seeds, agarwood, sedge, bark of cinnamon, cardamom and some other herbs (not mentioned), crush everything in a mortar and put in a bowl, add sugar and melt with heat.
After the mixture has melted, place in a glass what Stay and drink.This drink is supposed to be excellent for restoring manly potency in men.
6.Swallow gizzards for epilepsy
This is a recipe from the famous English doctor from the 14th century, Juan de Gaddesden .There are some small red stones in the gizzards of the swallows, and they are very useful if they hang from the patient's neck, be it epileptic or crazy.But they must be removed in half of the day.
The time of extraction was important for the English doctor: the sun is warm and the moon is cold.The stones are "hot", like the sun, and therefore the The effectiveness of this cure would be related to the fact that epileptic seizures were the result of excess heat or fire in the brain.
Another example of curing "the like with the like".
Without a doubt, the Medieval world has many surprises, and it is curious to glimpse it from our "modern superiority", do not you think? In addition to how truly difficult it would be to find the necessary ingredients for these remedies.Would you dare to apply any?
We invite you to continue in the Middle Ages, reading about intimate relationships and other remedies that are still used and work.
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