Medical treatment was available mainly to the wealthy, and those living in villages rarely had the help of doctors, who practiced mostly in the cities and courts. Remedies were often herbal in nature, but also included ground earthworms, urine, and animal excrement. Many medieval medical manuscripts contained recipes for remedies that called for hundreds of therapeutic substances--the notion that every substance in nature held some sort of power accounts for the enormous variety of substances. People outside the medical tradition administered many treatments. Coroners' rolls from the time reveal how laypersons often made sophisticated medical judgments without the aid of medical experts. From these reports we also learn about some of the major causes of death.

Medieval Folklore Therapies: Most folklore medicines were "simples" made of herbal ingredients, which were taken raw or in teas. One medicine that apothecaries (forerunners of chemists and pharmacists) dispensed was called "treacle" (theriac). Treacle was considered a cure-

The formula for treacle stems from a recipe developed by the Greek physician Galen and includes more than 60 ingredients, including the roasted skin of vipers. It took 40 days to make and 12 years to mature.

Epidemics struck repeatedly in the Middle Ages. People suffered from many diseases, including smallpox, dysentery, leprosy, respiratory illnesses, malaria, and syphilis. In those times, people died from measles, scarlet fever, and tuberculosis.Misconceptions: Leprosy was thought to be extremely contagious, though today we know it isn't contagious at all. Lepers were classed with heretics, Jews, homosexuals, prostitutes, pimps, and any others on the margins of society. When in public, lepers announced themselves by sounding bells and rattles to warn people away. Not allowed to touch food, in the marketplace, lepers had to point to their food choices with staffs.A person suspected of having leprosy was made to renounce the "normal" world and had to promise to abide by many restrictions. These restrictions included not touching anything or anyone, except for his or her spouse. Thousands were sent to leper colonies scattered all over Europe. Religious and municipal authorities operated these colonies, called “leprosaria,”. For some the leprosaria may not have been totally unbearable places. Lepers who had money could live in a leprosarium with their wives and children. Wealthy merchants often left money to the leper colonies in their wills.

Meticulous cleansing and ablutions are given a special importance in such routines. Physical exercise and walking are recommended. Diets and habits should always adjust to seasonal, climatic and geographical factors.

Astrology played a role in health and medicine in the middle Ages. It became especially important after the Black Death, when it was relied upon to forecast the spread of the disease. A person born under a sign of the moon, for example, might be prone to worry, frequent colds, and insanity, whereas people born under other signs of the zodiac could be prone to skin diseases.

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