Medicine In Medieval Times

Medicine has changed greatly since the medieval times. During the medieval times people worried about their health and what they could do to avoid sickness, or relieve symptoms if they did become sick. Medieval medicine was basic in an era when atrocious illnesses such as the Black Death that killed about one third of the population. Medicine was limited during the medieval time. There were no antibiotics, which meant it was almost impossible to cure illnesses, and diseases without them. Doctors had no idea what caused the awful illnesses and diseases. ¨Doctors often carried around special almanacs (or calendars) containing illustrated star charts, allowing them to check the positions of the stars before making a diagnosis.¨ The Catholic Church believed that illnesses were punishments from God for sinful behavior, and they blamed everything from demons, to bad smells, and the stars. For many peasants in Medieval England, disease and poor health were part of their daily life, and many of the diseases came from the towns that they lived in. ¨It used to be thought that medieval towns were filthy, without drains, sewers or rubbish collections.¨ Rats, lice and fleas thrived in the rushes strewn over the clay floors of people's houses, and they would usually change it once a year. Human waste and garbage was thrown into the streets
Most of the times the people that needed medicine would make it themselves from herbs. There was a big variety of medieval herbs grown in England and across Europe. The most popular herbs were sage, parsley, mint, and dill. They didn't just use herbs and spices for medicine, but they used herbs and spices to flavor their food. ¨A typical, medieval English peasant family would have used herbs extensively in cooking as they were easy and inexpensive to