A
Short List of Some Prominent Historical Herbalists
Hippocrates
(460
– 370 BCE)
~
Father of Western medicine
~
Developed the Hippocratic oath (which is still taken by physicians)
~
Developed the theory of the humours
Dioscorides
(40
- 90 CE)
~Wrote
De
Materia Medica
~Precursor
to all other pharmacoepias
~Circulated
in Greek, Latin and Arabic
~Prime
historical force about ancient medicine
Galen
(129 - 200 CE)
~
Based his knowledge on Hippocrates' humour theory and added the
temperaments/degrees and how humoural imbalance contributed to them.
~Refined
the descriptions of the degrees
Ibn
Sīnā
aka Avicenna
(980 – 1037 CE)
~Wrote
The
Book of Healing
and The
Canon of Medicine
~The
Canon
described contagious diseases and STI's
~
Believed in the miasma (vapour) theory as the cause of epidemics
~
Wrote about the importance of hygiene
Hildegard
of Bingen
(1098 – 1179 CE)
~
Wrote Physica
~
Covered the scientific and medicinal properties of plants, stones,
fish, reptiles and animals
~
Wrote Causae
and Curae
~
Covered the connections of the human body to the natural world and
the causes and cures of various diseases.
~
One of only female herbalists known about
Moshe
ben Maimon aka Maimonides
(1135 – 1204 CE)
~Jewish
physician living in Moor occupied Spain
~
Wrote on specific conditions such as asthma
~
Promoted healthy living and the avoidance of overabundance
~Wrote
Glossary
of Drug Names
Nicholas
Culpeper (1606
– 1654 CE)
~
Wrote The
English Physician
and
The Complete Herbal
~
Focused on reason rather than tradition.
What
were some of the limitations of medieval herbalism?
Naming
The
binomial (two name) naming system that we are familiar with,
lavandula officinalis for example, did not come about until 1753.
This means that lavender was lavender and there was no real way,
without an accurate description of the plant itself, to know if the
lavender you had was the same as your neighbours.
Location
Some
herbs that we now take for granted were not widely available due to
where they grew. There was some trading, but large amounts of
Mediterranean herbs (rosemary for example) would not have made it to
the Scandinavian areas. In other cases, herbs like allspice,
vanilla, chocolate and chili peppers belonged to the New World and
did not come to be known until the late 15th/early
16th
centuries. Even once the herb was known, it was not always readily
available. Nutmeg, for instance, was under a Dutch monopoly until
the 18th
century.
Wars
and trade routes
The
transport and availability of some herbs was dependent on outside
forces. During the Spice Trade before the Crusades, exotic spices
would have more widely available than during the era of the Crusades
themselves.
Biological
Understanding (Of the body and the herbs)
While
the early medical practices had a general idea of how the body and
herbs worked, they were incredibly rudimentary. The knowledge of the
causes of illness, bacteria and the like, were unknown until the
Victorian Era. Due to this lack of knowledge, the practice of
healing was often more trial and error than firm science.
Social
Status
Wealth
was an important factor in the availability of some herbs. Saffron,
for instance, was a mark of great wealth. Medicine using saffron
would not have been readily available to the lower classes and
commoners.
Now,
for some practical stuff.
We
are going to make 5 herbal preparations with 4 different herbs (one
will be used twice).
1)
Sachets filled with lavender
A
sachet is a herb filled cloth bag.
Lavender
serves two purposes: sleep aid and moth repellent.
2)
Decoction of Chamomile
A
decoction is made by boiling the herbs in water for about 10 to 15
minutes.
Chamomile
can be used to ease stomach and digestion issues, tension, nightmares
and colic.
3)
Compress of Chamomile
A
compress is a cloth soaked in either a cooled infusion or a decoction
and then placed on the body.
Chamomile
can be used to ease the sting of burns, in particular sunburns.
4)
Infusion of Peppermint
An
infusion (or tisane) is made by steeping the herbs in boiled water.
Peppermint
can be used for digestive issues (including gas), insomnia, sore
mouths and throats, and
morning
sickness (in the second trimester – it is dangerous in the first)
5)
Poultice of Mustard seed
A poultice is made by the grinding of herbs with a small amount of
liquid and then placed on the skin.
Mustard
can be used to draw blood to an affected area, such as a bite or
burn.
Sources
used (as well as some of my favourites)
Cosman,
Madeleine Pelner and Linda Gale Jones. Handbook
to Life in the Medieval World.
Infobase Publishing, 2008.
Culpeper,
Nicholas. Culpeper's
Medicine: A Practice of Western Holistic Medicine.
Dioscorides.
De
Materia Medica.
(This
is often my first stop when determining if an herb was period)
Green,
Monica H. The
Trotula: An English Translation of the Medieval Compendium of Women's
Medicine.
University
of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia, 2002.
Grieve,
Margaret. A
Modern Herbal
http://www.botanical.com (Last accessed June 29, 2015) A
fantastic resource for the history of herbs)
Lev,
Efrayim and Zohar 'Amar. Practical
Materia Medica of the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean According to the
Cairo Genizah.
Brill, 2008.(A
fantastic non-Christian resource)
Pazzini,
Adalberto and Emma Pirani. Herbarium: Natural
Remedies from a Medieval Manuscript.
New York: Rizooli, 1980.
The
Good Wife's Guide (Le Ménagier de Paris): A Medieval Household Book.
Cornell University Press, 2012
Strehlow,
Dr. Wighard and Gottfried Hertzka. M.D. Hildegard
of Bingen's Medicine.
Santa Fe: Bear and Company Inc., 1998.
Tobyn,
Graeme. Culpeper's
Medicine: A Practice of Western Holistic Medicine.
Shaftesbury: Element, 1997.
Van
Arsdall, Anne. Medieval
Herbal Remedies: The Old English Herbarium and Anglo-Saxon
Medicine. Routledge:
New York, 2002.
Wood,
Matthew. The
Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to Old World Medicinal Plants.
North Atlantic Books: Berkley, 2008. (A
new find that uses everyday language to explain some of the more
confusing herbal theories and history)
