Many of the medicinal remedies used in the Middle Ages they had been inherited from ancient physicists and physicians. Although some were lost, others were transmitted orally and others were collected in manuscripts that have survived to this day. Of all these, there are several that we find incredible that they were used on a daily basis by healers, apothecaries and doctors in the West.
Saint Paul's potion for intestinal gas, memory or stomach problems
Attributed to Saint Paul, this potion contained liquorice, sage, willow, roses, fennel, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cormorant blood, mandrake, dragon blood and three varieties of pepper. Licorice is good for bronchitis and coughs; sage was thought to improve memory and improve blood flow to the brain; Willow contains salicylic acid, which has anti-inflammatory action and helps blood flow, which is why it is a component of aspirin. Regarding fennel, cinnamon and ginger are carminative, that is, they help reduce intestinal gas and could alleviate stomach cramps.
What purpose would cormorant blood have in this potion? It would provide iron to a person with anemia; Mandrake, although poisonous, is a good remedy for insomnia when used in small doses. Dragon's blood, which would not be such, but the resin of the dragon tree, a typically subtropical tree that we find in the Canary Islands, Cape Verde or Morocco, would have its application as an antiseptic, antibiotic, antiviral and healing agent; also some communities use it to treat dysentery.
The remedy for sciatica
We find this remedy in some medieval recipes that read more or less like this:
Perhaps, bed rest and heat applied to the painful area could be enough for an improvement, without going into the benefits of the ingredients of this remedy.
The cure for burns and scratches
This home remedy could help reduce the blisters and ease the pain. More or less recent research has shown that snail slime contains antioxidants, is antiseptic, anesthetic, anti-irritant, anti-inflammatory, and has antibiotic and antiviral properties, with the same properties as collagen. And best of all, snail slime has been marketed for some years for injuries such as cuts, burns, or grazes.
The remedy against styes
According to the Bald's Leechbook, an ancient Anglo-Saxon manuscript dating from the mid-10th century with instructions on medicinal remedies that is kept in the British Library, to cure styes, the following procedure should be followed:
It is proven that onion, garlic and bull gall have antibiotic properties that could be used to cure a stye. The wine contains acetic acid that in nine days could react with the copper in the bronze container and form copper salts, which are bactericidal. And this remedy was successfully tested by students at the University of Nottingham.
And for the drop
The potion used was also based on another medieval recipe that today we would consider abominable:
The cure for migraines
The master formula would be like this:
Betony was used by the Tudor apothecary as a basic ingredient in infused remedies for all kinds of ailments and in topical poultices. Modern medicine still uses alkaloid drugs present in betony to treat migraines and severe headaches. Glycosides derived from verbena are also used in modern treatments against migraines, depression and anxiety.
In case of a severe throat infection
In this case, as in the remedy for gout, an animal should be sacrificed, in this case a fat cat that had to be eviscerated and perfectly cleaned should be skinned. You would have to have hedgehog fat and bear fat, resins, fenugreek, sage, honeysuckle gum and virgin wax. Everything would be shredded and the cat would be stuffed like a goose. Roast everything and collect the fat that should be applied to the patient.
And to cure cough
You have to take the horehound juice and mix it with diapenidion. Then eat it. Horehound is a plant in the mint family and is good for coughs; For its part, diapenidion is an electuary, that is, a preparation based on vegetables and honey or syrup, which contains barley water, sugar and egg white.
An infallible potion for the stomach
To avoid the gases that cause colic, you have to use cumin and anise in equal parts, soak it in wine and then add more wine to cover this mixture and then let it rest for three days and nights. It is then removed and placed on a plate of ash for nine days. After that time, take everything and put it in a clay pot until you get a powder. It will be added to a stew, a stew or a concoction and this will eliminate the gases that are the cause of colic. Both cumin and anise are carminative and have been successfully tested in contemporary times.