Medicine1

Answer prepared by: Seffie wilkinson **
 * WHAT WERE COMMON MEDICAL BELIEFS, PRACTICES, PROCEDURES, AND MEDICINES IN shakespeare’s ENGLAND? HOW WERE THESE DIFFERENT IN NOBLE/MERCHANT/COMMON LIFE? WHAT, IF ANY, MEDICAL DISCOVERIES OR ADVANCEMENTS WERE MADE DURING SHAKESPEARE’S LIFETIME?

During the Elizabethan Era medicine had not advanced very much and was very basic. It consisted mainly of herbs and superstitions. According to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, one of the main medical beliefs was the four humors and the four elements. The four humors were blood, phlegm, choler (yellow bile), and melancholy (black bile). It was believed that if you had more of one humor than another, then this determined what you looked like physically and also what your personality was like. For example if you had more blood you were agreeable, ruddy, cheerful, and courageous. But, too much of one humor was not a good thing. The four elements included air (cold), water (moist), earth (dry), and fire (hot). These determined your personality and your health. Another Elizabethan medical belief was that gemstones held magical medical powers and could ease the mind and make anger go away. These medicines were very simple and not very effective.
 * Medicine in Elizabethan England**

According to Lia Ramsey’s article “Elizabethan England; Medical beliefs and practices”, medicine in the Elizabethan Age was made up mainly of herbs from all around the world. These herbs would come from the Indies, the Americas, Taprobane, and the Canary Islands. There were many medicines that were for minor illnesses, like for example if you had an earache you were supposed to rub roasted onion on the ear. If you had a sty; you were supposed to rub your eye with the tail of a black tomcat. To treat a mental illness, transfusing blood to the patient was the preferred method. To treat a head affliction one used rose, lavender, or bay. To treat heart problems, one used saffron, basil, and rosemary. These are just some of the many herbal medicines that the Elizabethans used. According to Lia Ramsey’s article “Elizabethan England; Medical Beliefs and Practices” there were a few medical procedures frequently used in Elizabethan medicine. One of these procedures was blood-letting. Bloodletting is when either a barber, or surgeon cuts into a patients vein so that they can “get out” an infection. This procedure caused blood loss in patients, and was later proved ineffective. Another common procedure that is still used to this day is tooth pulling, this was done by a barber. When a patient had a rotting tooth or a tooth was bothering them, they would go to the barber, and he would pull their tooth. Surgeries in Elizabethan England were mostly ineffective and many times did not turn out successful.

In Elizabethan Age not many discoveries were going on in the medical field, but there were a few minor discoveries. According to the article “Elizabethan Medicine and Illness”, William Harvey, a physician, was the first to describe the circulation of blood. At fist his work was not very popular, but later on his work became more famous. Another famous man was Thomas Linacre; he started the College of Physicians. This would start a new age of physicians that could study medicine. According to Lia Ramsey and her article “Elizabethan Age; Medical Beliefs and Practices” an army physician named Ambroise Pare discovered that when a patient with an open wound was kept in a clean area and they used clean hygiene that the wound would heal much more effectively. Though there were feats in the medical field still not much discovery came out of this time period.

During the Elizabethan Era noble and merchant medical care was different. Being a noble in Elizabethan England you were offered better treatments than a merchant in a community. Nobles would have been given better medical care, but the medicine was still not very advanced. Nobles would have been able to see the more skilled surgeons and physicians. The merchant may not have had enough money to pay for a medicine to help a medical problem. The first person he would go see was a medicine woman that lived near them. Even though at the time medicine was not that advanced, lower class and upper class medical care was different.

Medicine in the Elizabethan Age was very different from the way it is now. There were superstitions, and medicines that we would never dream of using for an illness, but it is amazing to look from then, to now, and see how far we have come in the medical field.



**Works Cited ** Harrison, William. //The description of England: the classic contemporary account of Tudor social life//. Ithaca, NY: Folger Shakespeare Library, 1968. 324, 265, 268. Print.
 * Books **

Picard, Liza. //Elizabeth's London: everyday life in Elizabethan London//. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1927. 100-102. Print. Unknown,. "Elizabethan Medicine and Illness." //Elizabethan Era//. Elizabethan Era, n.d. Web. 4 Apr 2010. .
 * Websites **

Ramsey, Lia. "Medical Beliefs and Practices." //Springfield K12//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Apr 2010. .

Unknown,."What are the four humours." //Shakespeare Birthplace trust//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Apr 2010. [what-are-the-four-humors&catid=24:elizabethan-england&Itemid=623|http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=76] [what-are-the-four-humors&catid=24:elizabethan-england&Itemid=623|what-are-the-four-humors&catid=24:elizabethan-england&Itemid=623].

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 * Pictures**