Cambridge, one of the world’s leading universities, has signed a project that will fall into the agenda like a bomb. In this project, which will cost 500 thousand pounds to complete, the treatment methods of the Middle Ages will be shared with the public. The project, which will be led by a scientist named James Freeman, will reveal very interesting treatment methods.
For Cambridge University’s project, 8,000 medicinal recipes from around 180 manuscripts to date will be examined. According to the statement, most of these manuscripts are from the 1400s to 1500s. But there are also some much older ones among them. So much so that the oldest of the manuscripts to be studied was written exactly 1000 years ago.
High resolution images and texts will be published for free
*Medieval manuscript.
The treatment methods in the medieval manuscripts will be shared with the public free of charge through the Cambridge Digital Library after they are examined and clarified. High-resolution images of the manuscripts and texts translated into English will also be included in the posts.
“People have tried to improve their health in every period of history”
*An image showing the places where blood can be drawn from people.
Commenting on the project, Dr. James Freeman states that people have struggled to improve their health in every period of history. Reminding that medicine was not that advanced in those years, however, the scientist explains that the available facilities were used and methods that are not valid for today were developed. So what are the treatment methods identified so far? Let’s look at some of the treatment methods used in the Middle Ages…
Although preferred in the Middle Ages, some treatment methods that are not used today [Definitely do not try at home!]
Cataract
*An informative text on urine tests in the Middle Ages.
Today, an interesting method was used for cataract, which is quite common and you can get rid of it with an operation performed in minutes. In those years, people mixed the gall bladder of a rabbit with honey and applied it to their eyes for 3 nights.
Gout
*Above, you see a page where information and stories of patients in the 14th century are kept.
One of the interesting treatment methods in the Middle Ages was related to gout caused by protein consumption. People who salted an owl and cooked it until it turned into powder mixed this powder with wild boar fat. The resulting ointment was applied to the patient’s body, and it was believed that this would cure the disease. In addition, cooking a puppy with snail and sage stuffed and turning it into an ointment using oil was one of the methods used for gout.
What else is there!
Medieval treatment methods to be shared with the public are not limited to these. Dr. In the statements made by James Freeman, it is stated that methods have been developed for limb pain. In addition, the methods used to understand whether the skull is broken in armed injuries and the methods of how to boil a broken bone are also included in the manuscripts. On the other hand; In those years, interesting methods were developed for couples who did not have children. All these will be shared with all the details in the next 2 years.
To access the Cambridge Digital Library, you can use the link here.
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