Most of us wouldn’t consider the Middle Ages the epitome of medical sophistication, thanks to our perception of their barbaric and (from a modern perspective) ridiculous strategies for helping the ill. But against all prejudices, medieval medicine was actually more advanced and science-based than we might think.
A team of researchers from the State University of New York at Binghamton, Fordham, St. Andrews, Utrecht, and Oslo dug through hundreds of medieval manuscripts and compiled their findings into a catalog that updates our assumptions about medical practices during the early Middle Ages, often labeled the Dark Ages.
And given the current surge of alternative or natural wellness tips on social media, it may come as no surprise in the everything-old-is-new-again world of popular culture that medieval knowledge is making a comeback on platforms like TikTok.
Uncovering Ancient Knowledge
Meg Leja, an associate professor of history at Binghamton University, and her team meticulously reviewed hundreds of manuscripts from all over Europe dated up to the 11th century, looking for any mentions of medical practices.
And what they found surprised them. “People were engaging with medicine on a much broader scale than had previously been thought,” said Leja in a press statement. By expanding their research to manuscripts unrelated to medicine, such as those on grammar, theology, and poetry, they discovered that medieval people were far more preoccupied with their own health than historians had assumed.
This discovery is not only helping to update the Corpus of Early Medieval Latin Medicine (CEMLM) catalog, a collection of medical material from the Middle Ages, but also highlights how ancient knowledge doesn’t have to stay within dusty pages — it can undergo a renaissance in social media.
Read More: Modern Medicine Has Its Scientific Roots in the Middle Ages
Parallels to TikTok Wellness Trends
Platforms like TikTok have become havens for alternative wellness facts, ranging from natural remedies to homemade skincare and beauty treatments. Lately, there has been a growing interest in ancient practices, many of which are strangely similar to what medieval people were already doing.
“A lot of things that you see in these manuscripts are actually being promoted online currently as alternative medicine, but they have been around for thousands of years,” said Leja.
Some of the unusual practices mentioned in the study include using a mixture of crushed peach pits and rose oil on the forehead to alleviate migraine pain, or applying pieces of lizard to either promote luscious hair or to remove it entirely. While medieval folks were developing health practices based on the best knowledge they had at the time, their potential success (and odd creativity) might be exactly why they appeal to some health influencers today.
Dark Ages Not So Dark?
“It’s true that we do lack a lot of sources for the period. In that sense, it is ‘dark.’ But not in terms of any kind of ‘anti-science’ attitudes — people in the early Middle Ages were quite into science, into observation, into figuring out the utility of different natural substances, and trying to identify patterns and make predictions,” said Leja.
She added that medieval people were deeply concerned with cures and wanted to observe the natural world, jotting down bits of information wherever they could in this period.
Leja explained in the news statement that previous collections focused mainly on famous ancient medical figures like Hippocrates, who didn’t actually influence medieval people much. Moving forward, the team hopes to keep adding more material to the catalog to help researchers understand medieval medicine in a fuller, more holistic way.
This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.
Read More: Just How Dark Were the Dark Ages?
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Having worked as a biomedical research assistant in labs across three countries, Jenny excels at translating complex scientific concepts – ranging from medical breakthroughs and pharmacological discoveries to the latest in nutrition – into engaging, accessible content. Her interests extend to topics such as human evolution, psychology, and quirky animal stories. When she’s not immersed in a popular science book, you’ll find her catching waves or cruising around Vancouver Island on her longboard.
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