Page 41 - British Museum: SYTYGIB Medieval Castle

Docs would stick these onto their patients and let them gobble away until the patient was better, which was quite unlikely. If anything, it probably made them weaker.
I think this one has been eating garlic.
Yuck! He tastes awful!
I´ll have yours – I love garlic!
Amazingly, leeches are still used in medicine today! But docs only pop them on to certain patients to improve blood-flow to particular areas of the body rather than believing they cure everything.
Aside from all this blood business, many treatments were a mixture of herbal remedies and supernatural ideas. Many people believed illness was caused by witchcraft, demons, curses, bad smells and the will of God. Because of this people would do things like smell strong flowers, use charms to ward off evil and even have holes drilled in their skull!
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Doyoueverwish . . .
you could build something really cool in your garden?
It would come in really handy. You could make jam doughnuts appear in a puff of smoke or turn your teacher into a pink baboon.
In medieval times magic and charms were everywhere – and some of it was pretty weird.
Sealskin was used as a charm to repel lightning, while a hare’s foot tied to the left arm would protect you from danger. We strongly urge you NoT to try these out. It won’t be good for you or for the seals and hares.
Another animal-related belief was that dabbing yourself with blood of a lion would keep you safe from all other beasts. Great – no more wasp stings! Only problem was you had to get
a blood sample from a lion. Wasp sting or lion bite – you decide.
Herbs were also said to have magical properties – and we’re not talking about a bag of basil from your local supermarket.
For instance, sprigs of rosemary at your door were thought to ward off venomous snakes, while five nettle leaves held in the hand would save you from fear (presumably not the fear of getting nasty nettle stings, though).
One of the weirdest magical beliefs was that sage allowed to decay while surrounded by dung would create a bird with a serpent’s tail. Anyone who touched it would go out of their mind for 15 days.
Don’t you just hAtE it when that happens? Annoying herb-poop bird!
Health and medicine