Added to this were the antimicrobial and insect-repelling properties of the herbs and spices.Ģ. There was some science behind this plague treatment vinegar has been known as a disinfectant since ancient Greek times. Vinegar was used as more of a preventative than as a cure for the Black Death the advice at the time was for the healthy to rub it on their bodies before dealing with the sick and the dead. Legend has it that four thieves who ransacked the homes of dead victims protected themselves with this concoction whilst they looted, and they never succumbed to the disease. Known as Four Thieves Vinegar, this Black Death cure from the Medieval Period mixed vinegar with garlic, herbs, and spices. The Vinegar Merchant, by Abraham Bosse, mid-to-late 17th century, via the Metropolitan Museum People were so horrified by this lack of time that they would sew themselves into their own funeral shrouds (besides, in some cases there was no one else left alive to do it). It took an average of three days from the first signs of infection, to death. Along with tried-and-true treatments, medieval doctors were desperate enough to try anything to stop the pandemic, the likes of which they had not seen before.įor anyone unfortunate enough to contract the Black Death, their days were most likely numbered. When the Black Death struck, medieval physicians turned to this theory in an effort to combat the disease, as well as trying new treatments. Medieval medicine adhered to Galen’s theory, and food was often used as medicine to correct an imbalance in the humors of a sick patient. If there was an imbalance of any of these humors, then illness would follow. The Greek physician Galen (129-201 CE) popularised a theory about the human body, which stated that it was made up of four fluids called “humors”: black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm. Medicine and the Black Death in the Medieval Period An apothecary publically preparing the drug theriac, under the supervision of a physician, c.
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