Medieval Medicine

During the times of St. Hildegard...

This week in our look into St. Hildegard of Bingen, we dive into the world of medieval medicine. It is important to understand the context in which Hildegard was learning and practicing, along with considering the history which precedes modern western medicine. Enjoy, and if you’d like to read in full — this piece along all others in my St. Hildegard series — please consider becoming a paid subscriber. In doing so, you are supporting me and my work, disseminating knowledge and empowering with health sovereignty.

---

The medicine of the Middle Ages was a melting pot of traditional central European traditions and that of Greek antiquity.¹ Medical works from Greek antiquity reached the Latin West (ie, Europe), to form what was practiced in the time of Hildegard, featuring herbs, humoral systems, bloodletting, and more. Of course there were folk medicine practitioners who did a little bit of everything (just as there still are), but there were also a variety of specialists. The medica trained in monastic medicine traditions, chirurg(ic)us treated fractures and dislocations, the apothecarius or pigmentarius prepared and dispensed medicine, and barbers / surgeons performed bloodletting.²