Medicine







Elizabethan medicine was very simple and basic during Elizabeth I’s reign. They didn’t have medicine for many simple things that we do now. So very many people died of the simplest things, such as the common cold. There was not a high set of standards for health. They didn’t have the medicine that we have these days. Most of the things they used as medicines were things such as herbs.

To treat the Bubonic Plague or otherwise known as the “Black Death”, they lanced the buboes and put butter, onion and garlic on it. But they sometimes used, arsenic, lily root and even dried toad. To treat headaches they used herbs that had a sweet smell like rose and lavender. When someone had stomach pains they treated it with wormwood, mint and balm. For wounds they used vinegar to clean it. They believed back then that vinegar would kill disease. And for earaches, they put roasted onion inside of the ear. They used leeches and cupping to get blood. When a solider got a gunshot wound, they would use boiling oil to treat it. And there were no anesthetics used during surgeries. And also for broken limbs, they would just amputated, since they were extremely hard to fix.

Doctors were hard to come by back in the Elizabethan era. They didn’t know anything about the diseases and illnesses, much less how to treat them. The doctors believed that it all revolved around astrology. In order to tell if someone was ill, they payed close attention to bodily fluids. It was believed that you could tell what was wrong with someone by doing so. But usually only the wealthy could afford to see the physicians, because of the fees that they charged. If the lower classes were sick, they would be sent to the "wise woman" or the "cunning woman". She usually had a lot of herbs and home remedies to help them.

The doctors wore clothes that covered their whole body. They even wore a mask that covered their faces. But doing so kept them from getting sick while dealing with a sick patient. 

When someone of a higher class got sick, they asked the doctor to diagnose them. After that they would see if they had any types of herbs that might help him. And if they didn't, then they would go to the apothecary. The apothecary was a place where they make and give medicines to people when the doctor prescribed them to a patient. The apothecaries had herbs, oils, chemicals, cosmetics, and even perfumes. And sometimes the apothecaries didn't have anything to help them, so they went to the "wise lady" to get something that would help. There weren't vaccines back then like there are now. So coming in contact with any sick person was extremely dangerous. Especially since the streets of England were very unsanitary. Many people got sick from that. And then they gave the illness to other people. Now, there are vaccines that can prevent a lot of illnesses. Such as the ones to prevent pneumonia, and influenza. The Elizabethan Era of medicine was extremely simple and nothing compared to what it is now. They were pretty much clueless when it came to curing and figuring out illness. So plagues were very common and it would kill a lot of people, and just continue to keep spreading throughout England.

References States in a few paragraphs about how sick people got their medicines. Also talks about how they were treated for certain things. Summarizes what doctors did to help patients in a few short paragraphs. Chapter two talks about vaccinations that help prevent certain illness or diseases. Talks about the lack of sanitation and the diseases and illnesses that started taking over Elizabethan England. This website talks about what the doctors wore and how they protected themselves from getting sick.
 * Forp, P. (2008). Medicine in elizabethan england. Retrieved December 15, 2010 from []
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Lee, J. (2010, July 1). //The medical techniques of the period//. Retrieved December 15, 2010 from []
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Meadows, M. (2003). //Vaccinations (chapter 2)//. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Express.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">//Health and diet in elizabethan england//. (2010, November 18). Retrieved December 15, 2010 from []
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">//Elizabethan england medicine//. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2010 from http://www.elizabethanenglandlife.com/elizabethan-england-medicine.html