Practical medicine

Practical Medicine

Most people living in poorer, rural communities could not afford doctors’ fees. They treated themselves at home using ingredients from kitchen gardens or the local area. People also consulted local healers or apothecaries – part of a network of traditional community organisation in rural settings and small towns.

The recipe books contain an enormous range of remedies and ingredients, for treating any possible illness or health issue. Cures are based on how the virtues or intrinsic properties of plants and animals act on the body’s humours to correct imbalances. Plants in particular, because of their variety and local availability, were widely used – but the remedies also contain animal matter and imported or luxury elements, such as spices or apothecaries’ preparations.

The recipes include instructions for how to gather, measure, prepare and cook the ingredients. This could take place in the kitchen at the hearth, in the ‘still room’ of a local healer or aristocrat, or the preparation room of an apothecary.

Some medical recipes may have been more effective treatments because local healers had considerable experience, practical skills and knowledge of local ingredients. When the recipes failed to heal, this was because they were based on inaccurate theories, or because the science used was flawed. How bodies worked was not fully understood, and often symptoms were treated rather than the underlying diseases.