Physicians of the Middle Ages. General characteristics of the state of medicine in the Middle Ages. Medical instruments and operations

The medieval period lasted approximately one thousand years, from the fifth to the fifteenth century AD. It began at the end of Classical Antiquity, around the time the western Roman Empire fell, before the rise of the Renaissance and the age of discovery. The Middle Ages are usually divided into three periods: early, high and late. The early period of the Middle Ages is also known as the Dark Ages; many historians, especially those of the Renaissance, saw the Middle Ages as a period of stagnation.

Around the year 500 AD, hordes of Goths, Vikings, Vandals and Saxons, collectively referred to as barbarians, took over most of Western Europe, breaking it up into a large number of tiny territories ruled by feudal lords. The feudal lords literally owned their peasants, known as serfs. Such domains did not have a public health system, universities or centers of education.

Scientific theories and ideas had practically no chance of spreading, since the connection between the fiefs was rather poor; the only place where they continued to receive knowledge and study science remained monasteries. Moreover, in many places the monks were the only people who could read and write! During this period, many scientific and medical works, the heritage of the Greek and Roman civilizations were lost. Fortunately, most of these works were translated into Arabic by Muslims in the Middle East, the books were stored in Islamic learning centers.

In the Middle Ages, politics, lifestyle, beliefs and thoughts were governed by the Roman Catholic Church; most of the population believed in omens and otherworldly forces. Society was largely authoritarian, and asking questions was sometimes deadly. By the end of the tenth century, around 1066, positive changes began: in 1167 the University of Oxford was founded, in 1110 the University of Paris. As the kings became the owners of more and more territory, their wealth increased, as a result of which their courts became a kind of cultural centers. The formation of cities also began, and with them the problem of public health began to develop.

Stagnation in medicine in the Middle Ages

Much of the medical knowledge of the Greek and Roman civilizations was lost, while the quality of medieval medical knowledge was very poor. The Catholic Church did not allow postmortem examination of corpses; moreover, any creative activity was suppressed in people. There were also no attempts to maintain public health, most of the time the feudal lords were at war with each other. The authoritarian church forced people to blindly believe in everything that Galen wrote, and they also encouraged turning to the saints and God for healing. Thus, many believed that any disease was a punishment sent by God, as a result of which they did not even try to treat it.

However, some people still had contact with Muslim doctors and scientists during the period of the Crusades and even went to the East to gain knowledge. In the 12th century, a large number of medical books and documents were translated from Arabic into European languages. Among the translated works was Avicenna's Canon of Medicine, which included knowledge of Greek, Indian and Islamic medicine; his translation became a staple of the study of medicine for several centuries.

Medieval medicine and the theory of body fluids

The theory of humor, or human fluids, originated in ancient Egypt, and then was adapted by Greek scientists and doctors, Roman, medieval Islamic and European doctors; it prevailed until the 19th century. Her followers believed that human life is determined by the four body fluids, humor, which affect health. That is why all four fluids must coexist in balance; this theory is attributed to Hippocrates and his associates. Humor was also known as cambium.

The four fluids were:

Black bile: it was associated with melancholy, liver, cold dry climate and earth;
Yellow bile: it was associated with phlegm, lungs, cold damp climates and water;
Phlegm: she was associated with a sanguine type of character, head, warm humid climate and air;
Blood: She was associated with the choleric temperament, the gallbladder, warm dry climates and fire.

According to this theory, all diseases were caused by an excess or deficiency of one of the humors, doctors believed that the level of each humor was constantly changing depending on the food, drink, inhaled substances and occupation. The imbalance of fluids leads not only to the development of physical problems, but also to changes in the personality of a person.

Lung health problems were caused by the presence of an increased amount of phlegm, the use of leeches, the maintenance of a special diet and the use of specific drugs were suggested as treatment. Most of the medicines were made from herbs, which were most often grown in monasteries, with each type of liquid having its own plants. Perhaps the most popular medieval book on herbalism is the Ergest Reading Book, dated 1400 and written in Welsh.

European medieval hospitals

In the Middle Ages, hospitals were very different from modern hospitals. They were more like hospices or nursing homes; blind, crippled, pilgrims, travelers, orphans, people with mental illness periodically lived in them. They were provided with shelter and food, as well as some medical care. Monasteries throughout Europe had several hospitals providing medical and spiritual care.

The oldest hospital in France is the hospital in Lyon, built in 542 by King Gilbert the First, the oldest hospital in Paris was founded in 652 by the 28th bishop of Paris; the oldest hospital in Italy was built in 898 in Sienna. The oldest hospital in England was founded in 937 by the Saxons.

During the Crusades in the 12th century, the number of hospitals built increased markedly, with a building boom occurring in the 13th century in Italy; by the end of the 14th century, there were more than 30 hospitals in France, some of which still exist and are recognized as monuments of architectural heritage. Interestingly, the plague in the 14th century led to the construction of even more hospitals.

The only bright spot in the period of medical medieval stagnation, oddly enough, was surgery. In those days, operations were performed by so-called barbers, not doctors. Thanks to frequent wars, surgeons acquired a precious fetter. So, it was noted that wine is an effective antiseptic, it was used to wash wounds and prevent the development of infection. Some surgeons considered pus to be a bad sign, while others argued that the body was detoxifying in this way.

Medieval surgeons used the following natural substances:

- mandrake root;
- opium;
- bile of a wild boar;
- hemlock.

Medieval surgeons were good experts in external surgery, able to treat cataracts, ulcers and various types of wounds. According to medical records, they were even able to perform operations to remove bladder stones. However, no one was aware of the link between poor hygiene and the risk of infection, and many wounds were fatal due to infections. Also, some patients with neurological disorders, such as epilepsy, had a hole drilled in their skull to release demons.

Renaissance medicine

During the Renaissance, medicine, especially surgery, began to develop much faster. Girolamo Fracastoro (1478-1553), an Italian physician, poet and researcher in geography, astronomy and mathematics, suggested that epidemics could be caused by environmental pathogens that are transmitted from person to person through direct or indirect contact. He also suggested using mercury and guaiaco oil to treat syphilis.

Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), a Flemish anatomist and physician, was the author of one of the most significant books on human anatomy, De Humani Corporis Fabrica. He dissected corpses and carried out a thorough study of the structure of the human body, determining the detailed structure of the body. The development of technology and printing during the Renaissance made it possible to publish books with detailed illustrations.

William Harvey (1578-1657), an English physician, was the first to correctly describe the circulation and properties of blood. Paracelsus (Philip Aurelius Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, 1493-1541), a German-Swiss physician, astrologer, alchemist, botanist and occultist in general, was the first to use minerals and chemical compounds. He believed that diseases and health are based on a harmonious relationship between man and nature. He also suggested that some diseases could be treated with chemical compounds.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is recognized by many as an undeniable genius, he was indeed an expert in many fields, including painting, sculpture, science, engineering, mathematics, music, anatomy, invention, cartography. Da Vinci not only knew how to reproduce the smallest details of the human body, he also studied the mechanical functions of bones and muscle movements. Da Vinci is known as one of the first researchers in biomechanics.

Amboise Pare (1510-1590) from France is known as the founder of modern anatomy and surgery. He was the personal surgeon of the kings of France and was known for his surgical knowledge and skills, as well as the effective treatment of war wounds. Paré also invented several surgical instruments. Amboise Pare also restored the method of arterial ligation during amputation, stopping cautery, which significantly increased the survival rate.

During the Renaissance, Europe began trade relations with many countries, which led to the exposure of Europeans to new pathogens. The plague began in Asia and in 1348 struck Western and Mediterranean Europe, according to historians, it was brought to Italy by merchants who left the Crimea due to hostilities. In the six years that the plague raged, almost one-third of the population of Europe died, which amounted to approximately 25 million people. Periodically, the plague returned and subsequent epidemics occurred in several places until the 17th century. The Spaniards, in turn, brought to the New World their deadly diseases for the natives: influenza, measles and smallpox. The latter, in twenty years, reduced the population of the island of Hispaniola, which Columbus discovered, from 250 thousand people to six thousand people. Then the smallpox virus made its way to the mainland, where it hit the Aztec civilization. According to historians, more than half of Mexico City's population was dead by 1650.

The era of the formation and development of feudalism in Western Europe (5th-13th centuries) was usually characterized as a period of decline in culture, a time of obscurantism, ignorance and superstition. The very concept of "Middle Ages" took root in the minds as a synonym for backwardness, lack of culture and lack of rights, as a symbol of everything gloomy and reactionary. In the atmosphere of the Middle Ages, when prayers and holy relics were considered more effective means of treatment than medicines, when the opening of a corpse and the study of its anatomy were recognized as a mortal sin, and an attack on authorities was considered heresy, the method of Galen, an inquisitive researcher and experimenter, was forgotten; only the “system” he invented remained as the final “scientific” basis of medicine, and the “scientific” scholastic doctors studied, quoted and commented on Galen.

In the development of Western European medieval society, three stages can be distinguished: - the early Middle Ages (V-X centuries) - the process of folding the main structures characteristic of the Middle Ages is underway;

Classical Middle Ages (XI-XV centuries) - the time of maximum development of medieval feudal institutions;

Late Middle Ages (XV-XVII centuries) - a new capitalist society begins to form. This division is largely arbitrary, although generally accepted; depending on the stage, the main characteristics of Western European society change. Before considering the features of each stage, we highlight the most important features inherent in the entire period of the Middle Ages.

Marked by superstition and dogmatism, the medicine of medieval Europe did not need research. Diagnoses were based on urinalysis; therapy returned to primitive magic, spells, amulets. Doctors used unthinkable and useless, and sometimes even harmful drugs. The most common methods were herbal medicine and bloodletting. Hygiene and sanitation fell to an extremely low level, which caused frequent epidemics.

Prayers, fasting, repentance became the main remedies. The nature of diseases was no longer associated with natural causes, being considered a punishment for sins. At the same time, the positive side of Christianity was mercy, which required a patient attitude towards the sick and crippled. Medical care in the first hospitals was limited to isolation and care. The methods of treating contagious and mentally ill patients were a kind of psychotherapy: instilling hope for salvation, assurances of the support of heavenly forces, supplemented by the benevolence of the staff.

The Eastern countries became the place for the creation of medical encyclopedias, among which the most impressive in terms of volume and value of content was considered the “Canon of Medicine”, compiled by the great Avicenna. The five books of this unique work summarize the knowledge and experience of Greek, Roman and Asian doctors. Having more than 30 Latin editions, the work of Avicenna for several centuries was an indispensable guide for every physician in medieval Europe.

Starting from the 10th century, the center of Arabic science moved to the Caliphate of Cordoba. The great surgeons Ibn Zuhru, Ibn Rushd and Maimonides worked in the state formed on the territory of Spain. The Arab school of surgery was based on rational methods, proven by many years of clinical practice, free from religious dogma, followed by European medicine.

Modern researchers consider medieval medical schools as "a ray of light in the darkness of ignorance", a kind of harbinger of the Renaissance. Contrary to popular belief, the schools only partly rehabilitated Greek scholarship, primarily through Arabic translations. The return to Hippocrates, Galen and Aristotle was of a formal nature, that is, while recognizing the theory, the followers rejected the invaluable practice of their ancestors.

The medieval society of Western Europe was agrarian. The basis of the economy is agriculture, and the vast majority of the population was employed in this area. Labor in agriculture, as well as in other branches of production, was manual, which predetermined its low efficiency and slow overall rates of technical and economic evolution.

The vast majority of the population of Western Europe throughout the entire period of the Middle Ages lived outside the city. If cities were very important for ancient Europe - they were independent centers of life, the nature of which was predominantly municipal, and a person’s belonging to a city determined his civil rights, then in Medieval Europe, especially in the first seven centuries, the role of cities was insignificant, although over time time, the influence of cities is increasing.

The Western European Middle Ages is a period of domination of natural economy and weak development of commodity-money relations. The insignificant level of specialization of the regions associated with this type of economy determined the development of mainly long-distance (foreign) rather than near (internal) trade. Long-distance trade was focused mainly on the upper strata of society. Industry during this period existed in the form of handicrafts and manufactory.

The era of the Middle Ages is characterized by an exceptionally strong role of the church and a high degree of ideologization of society. If in the ancient world each nation had its own religion, which reflected its national characteristics, history, temperament, way of thinking, then in medieval Europe there is one religion for all peoples - Christianity, which became the basis for uniting Europeans into one family, folding a single European civilization.

If in the East the cultural upsurge of the 1st millennium A.D. e. took place on a solid foundation of well-established ancient cultural traditions, then the peoples of Western Europe by this time had just begun the process of cultural development and the formation of class relations. “The Middle Ages developed from a completely primitive state. It wiped out ancient civilization, ancient philosophy, politics and jurisprudence, and the beginning of everything from the very beginning. The only thing that the Middle Ages took from the lost ancient world was Christianity and several dilapidated cities that had lost all their former civilization. (F. Engels). At the same time, if in the East the established cultural traditions allowed for a long time to resist the shackling influence of the dogma of organized religions, then in the West the church, even subjected to in the 5th-7th centuries. "barbarization", was the only public institution that preserved the remnants of late antique culture. From the very beginning of the conversion of the barbarian tribes to Christianity, she took control of their cultural development and spiritual life, ideology, education and medicine. And then we should talk not about the Greek-Latin, but about the Romano-Germanic cultural community and Byzantine culture, which followed their own special paths.

Are you afraid to go to doctor appointments, check-ups and procedures? Do you think doctors hurt? Once upon a time, skilled doctors treated with red-hot iron and dirty knives. And today you can relax: modern medicine is much safer than medieval medicine.

Enema

Modern enemas differ significantly from medieval ones. They were placed with the help of huge metal devices, and the liquid used was a mixture of boar bile. Only the bravest guy could agree to such heroism.

One of the daredevils is King Louis XIV of France. During his life, he experienced over two thousand incredible enemas. Some of them were put on the guy at a time when the king was sitting on his throne.

Source: triggerpit.com

antiseptic

One of the doctors of King Henry VIII of England had a great sense of humor. The doctor recommended using human urine as an antiseptic. Thanks to this initiative, warriors often washed their wounds after the battle with a miracle liquid.

In 1666, during an outbreak of plague in England, epidemiologist George Thomson advised the use of urine in the fight against plague. There was a whole medical preparation made on this liquid. It was sold for money, and was called the Essence of urine.

Source: mport.bigmir.net

Cataract treatment

Cataract treatment in the Middle Ages is one of the most sophisticated occupations. The craftsmen pressed the lens into the eye itself and pierced the sclera with a thick iron needle with a hole inside. The sclera is the white mucous membrane of the eyeball, which is often covered with red vessels if you sleep little and drink a lot. The lens was sucked out with a needle. The brave decision of the brave guys is to cure the cataract with total blindness.

Source: archive.feedblitz.com

Haemorrhoids

Medieval man believed: if you do not pray to one of the gods, you will get hemorrhoids. And they treated such a disease in a more than harsh way: they inserted fittings made of red-hot iron into the anus. Therefore, the guys of the Middle Ages were more than just afraid and bowed before the hemorrhoidal deity.

Source: newsdesk.si.edu

Surgery

It is better not to lie down on the operating table of a medieval surgeon. Otherwise, he will cut you with non-sterile knives. And don't dream of anesthesia. Patients, if they survived after such bloody events, did not last long: medical torture infected the human body with deadly infections.

Source: triggerpit.com

Anesthesia

Medieval anesthesiologists were not much different from their fellow surgeons. While some slaughtered poor patients with non-sterile knives, others used tinctures of herbs and wine as anesthesia. One of the most popular anesthetic plants is belladonna. Atropine, which is part of the herb, can cause excitement, reaching rabies. But to prevent patients from behaving too violently, medieval anesthesiologists mixed opium into the potion.

Source: commons.wikimedia.org

trepanation of the skull

Medieval doctors believed that craniotomy would help cure epilepsy, migraine, mental disorders, and stabilize blood pressure. So the guys broke the heads of the poor patients. Needless to say, such an operation is a complex and dangerous procedure, the sterility of which is threatened even by bacteria flying in the air. You yourself have already guessed about the frequent outcomes of treatment.

ArticleDavid Morton . Attention : not for the faint of heart !

1. Surgery: unhygienic, gross and terribly painful

It is no secret that in the Middle Ages, doctors had a very poor understanding of the anatomy of the human body, and patients had to endure terrible pain. After all, little was known about painkillers and antiseptics. In a word, not the best time to become a patient, but... if you value your life, the choice was not great...

To relieve the pain, you would have to do something even more painful to yourself and, if you are lucky, you will get better. Surgeons in the early Middle Ages were monks, because they had access to the best medical literature at that time - most often written by Arab scientists. But in 1215 the pope forbade monastics to practice medicine. The monks had to teach the peasants to perform not particularly complex operations on their own. Farmers whose knowledge of practical medicine had previously been limited to the castration of domestic animals had to learn how to perform a bunch of different operations - from pulling out diseased teeth to cataract surgery of the eyes.

But there was also success. Archaeologists at excavations in England discovered the skull of a peasant, dated to around 1100. And apparently its owner was hit by something heavy and sharp. A closer examination revealed that the peasant had undergone an operation that saved his life. He underwent trepanation - an operation when a hole is drilled in the skull and fragments of the skull are taken out through it. As a result, the pressure on the brain weakened and the man survived. One can only imagine how much it hurt! (Photo from Wikipedia: Anatomy lesson)

2. Belladonna: a powerful painkiller with a possible fatal outcome

In the Middle Ages, surgery was resorted to only in the most neglected situations - under the knife or death. One of the reasons for this is that there was simply no truly reliable pain reliever that could relieve the excruciating pain from the harsh cutting and chopping procedures. Of course, you could get some incomprehensible potions that relieve pain or put you to sleep during the operation, but who knows what an unfamiliar drug dealer will slip you ... Such potions were most often a concoction of the juice of various herbs, bile of a castrated boar, opium, whitewash, juice hemlock and vinegar. This "cocktail" was mixed into wine before being given to the patient.

In the English language of the Middle Ages, there was a word describing painkillers - " dwale' (pronounced like dwaluh). This word means belladonna.

The hemlock juice itself could easily be fatal. The "painkiller" could put the patient into a deep sleep, allowing the surgeon to do his job. If they go too far, the patient could even stop breathing.

Paracelsus, a Swiss physician, was the first to think of using ether as an anesthetic. However, ether was not widely accepted and used infrequently. It began to be used again 300 years later in America. Paracelsus also used laudanum, a tincture of opium, to relieve pain. (Photo by pubmedcentral: Belladonna is an old English pain reliever)

3. Witchcraft: Pagan Rituals and Religious Penance as a Form of Healing

Early Medieval medicine was most often a mixture of paganism, religion, and the fruits of science. Since the church has gained more power, performing pagan "rituals" has become a punishable crime. Such punishable crimes may have included the following:

"Ifthe healer, approaching the house where the patient lies, will see a nearby stone, turn it over, and if he [the healer] sees some living creature under it - be it a worm, an ant, or another creature, then the healer can confidently assert, that the patient will recover.(From the book "The Corrector & Physician", English. "The Teacher and the Physician").

Patients who have ever been in contact with patients with bubonic plague were advised to conduct penance - which consisted in the fact that you confess all your sins and then say0 the prayer prescribed by the priest. By the way, this was the most popular way of "treatment". The sick were told that perhaps death would pass by if they correctly confessed all their sins. (photo motv)

4. Eye surgery: painful and blinding

Cataract surgery in the Middle Ages usually involved some kind of particularly sharp instrument, such as a knife or a large needle, which was used to pierce the cornea and try to push the lens of the eye out of the resulting capsule and push it down to the bottom of the eye.

As soon as Muslim medicine became widespread in medieval Europe, the technique of performing cataract operations was improved. A syringe was now used to extract the cataract. The unwanted vision-clouding substance was simply sucked out by them. A hollow metal hypodermic syringe was inserted into the white part of the eye and the cataract was successfully removed by simply sucking it out.

5. Do you have difficulty urinating? Insert a metal catheter there!

Stagnation of urine in the bladder due to syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases can no doubt be called one of the most common diseases of the time when antibiotics simply did not exist. A urine catheter is a metal tube that is inserted through the urethra into the bladder. It was first used in the mid 1300s. When the tube failed to reach the target in order to remove the barrier to the emission of water, other procedures had to be devised, some of them very ingenious, but, most likely, all were quite painful, however, as well as the situation itself.

Here is a description of the treatment of kidney stones: “If you are going to remove kidney stones, then, first of all, make sure that you have everything: a person with not hefty strength should be put on a bench, and his legs should be put on a chair; the patient should sit on his knees, his legs should be tied to the neck with a bandage or lie on the assistant's shoulders. The doctor should stand next to the patient and insert two fingers of the right hand into the anus, while pressing with the left hand on the patient's pubic area. As soon as the fingers reach the bubble from above, it will need to be felt all over. If your fingers feel for a hard, firmly seated ball, then this is a kidney stone ... If you want to remove a stone, then this should be preceded by a light diet and fasting for two days. On the third day, ... feel for the stone, push it to the neck of the bladder; there, at the entrance, put two fingers over the anus and make a longitudinal incision with an instrument, then remove the stone.(Photo: McKinney Collection)

6. A surgeon on the battlefield: pulling out arrows is not for you to pick your nose ...

The longbow, a large and powerful weapon capable of sending arrows over great distances, gained a lot of fans in the Middle Ages. But this created a real problem for field surgeons: how to get an arrow out of the bodies of soldiers.

Combat arrowheads were not always glued to the shaft, more often they were attached with warm beeswax. When the wax hardened, the arrows could be used without problems, but after the shot, when it was necessary to pull the arrow, the shaft of the arrow was pulled out, and the tip often remained inside the body.

One solution to this problem is an arrow spoon inspired by an Arab physician named Albucasis(Albucasis). The spoon was inserted into the wound and attached to the arrowhead so that it could be safely pulled out of the wound without causing damage, since the teeth of the tip were closed.

Wounds like this were also treated with cauterization, where a red-hot piece of iron was applied to the wound to cauterize tissue and blood vessels and prevent blood loss and infection. Cauterization was often used in amputations.

In the illustration above, you can see the engraving "Wounded Man", which was often used in various medical treatises to illustrate the kind of wounds that a field surgeon can see on the battlefield. (Photo: )

7. Bloodletting: a panacea for all diseases

Medieval doctors believed that most human diseases are the result of excess fluid in the body (!). The treatment was to get rid of excess fluid by pumping a large amount of blood from the body. Two methods were commonly used for this procedure: hirudotherapy and opening a vein.

During hirudotherapy, a physician applied a leech, a blood-sucking worm, to the patient. It was believed that leeches should be placed in the place that worries the patient the most. The leeches were allowed to bleed until the patient began to faint.

Opening a vein is a direct cutting of the veins, usually on the inside of the arm, to release a decent amount of blood. For this procedure, a lancet was used - a thin knife about 1.27 cm long, piercing a vein and leaving a small wound. The blood dripped into a bowl, which was used to quantify the amount of blood received.

Monks in many monasteries often resorted to the procedure of bloodletting - moreover, regardless of whether they were sick or not. So to speak, for prevention. At the same time, they were released for several days from their usual duties for rehabilitation. (Photo: McKinney Collection and)

8. Childbearing: women were told to prepare for your death

Childbirth in the Middle Ages was considered such a lethal act that the Church advised pregnant women to prepare a shroud in advance and confess their sins in case of death.

Midwives were important to the Church because of their role in emergency baptisms and were regulated by Roman Catholic law. A popular medieval proverb says: "The better the witch, the better the midwife"("The better the witch; the better the midwife"). To protect against witchcraft, the Church required midwives to obtain a license from bishops and take an oath not to use magic at work during childbirth.

In situations where the baby is born in the wrong position and exit is difficult, midwives have had to turn the baby right in the womb or shake the bed to try to put the fetus in a more correct position. A dead baby that could not be removed was usually cut into pieces right in the uterus with sharp instruments and pulled out with a special tool. The remaining placenta was removed using a counterweight, which pulled it out by force. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Source 9Clyster: A Medieval Method of Injecting Drugs into the Anus

The clyster is a medieval version of the enema, an instrument for injecting fluid into the body through the anus. The clyster looks like a long metal tube with a cup-shaped top, through which the healer poured medicinal fluids. At the other end, narrow, several holes were made. With this end, this instrument was inserted into the place below the back. The liquid was poured in, and to heighten the effect, an instrument resembling a piston was used to drive the drugs into the intestine.

The most popular liquid used in klyster was warm water. However, various mythical miracle potions were sometimes used, such as those made from the bile of a hungry boar or vinegar.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the medieval klyster was replaced by the more familiar enema pear. In France, such treatment has even become quite fashionable. King Louis XIV was given 2,000 enemas throughout his reign. (Photo by CMA)

10 Hemorrhoids: Treat Anus Agony With Hardened Iron

Treatment of many illnesses in the Middle Ages often included prayers to patron saints in the hope of divine intervention. An Irish monk of the 7th century, Saint Fiacre was the patron saint of hemorrhoid sufferers. Due to gardening, he developed hemorrhoids, but one day, sitting on a stone, he was miraculously healed. The stone has survived to this day and is still visited by everyone seeking such healing. In the Middle Ages, this disease was often called the "Curse of St. Fiacre."

In especially severe cases of hemorrhoids, medieval healers used cauterization with hot metal for treatment. Others believed that the problem could be solved by pushing the hemorrhoids out with their nails. This method of treatment was proposed by the Greek physician Hippocrates.

"Dark Ages" - such a definition is given by many historians to the era of the Middle Ages in Europe. Throughout the medieval period, nature remained a closed book. As proof, they cite the complete absence of hygiene in the Middle Ages, both in private dwellings and in cities in general, as well as the raging epidemics of plague, leprosy, various skin diseases, etc. during this entire period.

How and under what conditions were people born? What diseases could a person of that period suffer from, how was treatment carried out, by what means was medical care provided? How advanced was medicine in that period? What did medieval medical instruments look like? When did hospitals and pharmacies appear? Where can you get medical education? These questions can be answered by studying the history of medicine in the Middle Ages, toxicology, epidemiology, and pharmacology.

Term « the medicine » originated from the Latin word "medicari" - to prescribe a remedy

Medicine is a practical activity and a system of scientific knowledge about the preservation and strengthening of people's health, the treatment of the sick and the prevention of diseases, the achievement of longevity by human society in terms of health and performance. Medicine has developed in close connection with the whole life of society, with the economy, culture, worldview of people. Like any other field of knowledge, medicine is not a combination of ready-made, once-for-all truths, but the result of a long and complex process of growth and enrichment. The development of medicine is inseparable from the development of natural science and technical branches of knowledge, from the general history of all mankind at the dawn of its existence and in each subsequent period of its change and transformation.

In the Middle Ages, practical medicine was mainly developed, which was carried out by bath attendants and barbers. They did bloodletting, set joints, amputated. The profession of a bath attendant in the public mind was associated with "unclean" professions associated with a sick human body, blood, and corpses; for a long time the stamp of rejection lay on them. In the Late Middle Ages, the authority of the bath attendant-barber as a practical doctor began to increase, and it was to them that patients most often turned. High demands were placed on the skill of a bath attendant-healer: he had to complete an apprenticeship within eight years, pass an exam in the presence of the elders of the bath attendant guild, a representative of the city council and doctors of medicine. In some European cities at the end of the XV century. from among bathhouse attendants, shops of surgeons were established.

Surgery: unhygienic, rude and terribly painful

In the Middle Ages, doctors had a very poor understanding of the anatomy of the human body, and the sick had to endure terrible pain. After all, little was known about painkillers and antiseptics, but the choice was not great ...

Belladonna: strong painkillers with a possible fatal outcome

In the English language of the Middle Ages, there was a word describing painkillers - " dwale' (pronounced like dwaluh). This word means belladonna.

During this period of history, it was widely believed that diseases could most often be caused by an excess of fluid in the body, therefore the most common operation of that period was bloodletting. Bloodletting was usually carried out by two methods: hirudotherapy - a physician applied a leech to the patient, and exactly on the place that most worried the patient; or opening the veins - direct cutting of the veins on the inside of the arm. The doctor cut a vein with a thin lancet, and the blood flowed into a bowl.

Also, with a lancet or a thin needle, an operation was performed to remove the clouded lens of the eye (cataract). These operations were very painful and dangerous.

Amputation of limbs was also a popular operation. This was done with a sickle-shaped amputation knife and a saw. First, with a circular motion of the knife, the skin was cut to the bone, and then the bone was sawn.

Teeth were mostly pulled out with iron tongs, so for such an operation they turned to either a barber or a blacksmith.

The Middle Ages was a "dark" and unenlightened time of bloody battles, cruel conspiracies, inquisitorial torture and bonfires. Medieval methods of treatment were the same. Because of the unwillingness of the church to allow science into the life of society, diseases that can now be easily cured in that era led to massive epidemics and death. A sick person, instead of medical and moral assistance, received general contempt and became an outcast rejected by all. Even the process of giving birth to a child was not a cause for joy, but a source of endless torment, often ending in the death of both the child and the mother. “Prepare for death” - women in labor were admonished before childbirth.

Diseases of the Middle Ages

These were mainly tuberculosis, scurvy, malaria, smallpox, whooping cough, scabies, various deformities, and nervous diseases. The companions of all wars were dysentery, typhus and cholera, from which, until the middle of the 19th century, significantly more soldiers died than from battles. But the scourge of the Middle Ages was the bubonic plague. It first appeared in Europe in the 8th century. In 1347, the plague was brought by Genoese sailors from the East and within three years spread throughout the continent. By 1354, the plague also struck the Netherlands, Czech, Polish, Hungarian lands and Russia. The only recipe used by the population until the 17th century came down to the Latin advice cito, longe, tarde, that is, to flee from the infected area sooner, further and return later.

Another scourge of the Middle Ages was leprosy or leprosy. The peak incidence falls on the XII-XIII centuries, coinciding with the strengthening of contacts between Europe and the East. Patients with leprosy were forbidden to appear in society, use public baths. For lepers, there were special hospitals - leper colonies or infirmaries (on behalf of St. Lazarus, from the parable of the rich man and Lazarus from the Gospel), which were built outside the city limits, along important roads, so that the sick could beg for alms - the only source of their existence.

At the end of the XV century. syphilis appeared in Europe, presumably brought from America by the satellites of Columbus.

It was believed that human health depends on the harmonious combination of four basic fluids in his body - blood, mucus, black and yellow bile.

Today we live in a completely different world, where most diseases are treatable, and medicine is improving very quickly. A professional doctor can buy high quality medical instruments and treat people with the latest knowledge and experience.

When writing this article, data from