Treatments and Torture Procedures: Medieval Medical Practices

Various sources influenced medieval medical practices, including ancient theories, religious beliefs, and limited understanding. This article delves into the different treatments and torturous procedures employed in the name of healing during the Middle Ages.

The Medieval period is a time when the boundaries between treatments and torture procedures are known to overlap. Although there were doctors then, there was limited understanding of the human body and diseases. Such limitations in knowledge paved the way for using bizarre and horrifying methods. From bloodletting to iron branding, some of those methods are now deemed barbaric by today’s medical standards. The Medieval Period was when medicine was as much about superstition and punishment as it was about healing.

In this article, we will examine a dark chapter of medical history and uncover treatments where a disturbing legacy of cruelty and misunderstanding tarnished the quest for healing.

Photo by: Claudio Carrozzo

Medieval Medical Practices: The Ideas That Shaped Them

Medieval medicine was significantly based on the ideas and writings of ancient Greek and Roman physicians, particularly Hippocrates and Galen. Their treatments revolved around balancing the body’s four humors—blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.

Medical treatments during the Middle Ages combined natural and supernatural methods. Doctors used natural therapies such as purging, while local wise women used herbal remedies to heal. Some people turned to superstitious beliefs and astrology to find treatment.

The Middle Ages was also an era where religion heavily influenced medicine. Doctors at that time are either priests or religious scholars. Many of those who are sick view illness as a punishment from God, which is why prayer is considered one of the primary methods of healing. Monasteries offer care and treatment based on herbs and prayers. That is why hospitals are born out of religious institutions. It can be noted that the Church considered traditional cures involving potions as witchcraft.

The contrast between healing and harm within the Medieval medical practices, propelled by superstition, limited scientific understanding, and religious beliefs, shaped the procedures that were misunderstood as healing.

Painful Remedies and Treatments in the Middle Age

Bloodletting through leeches was among the most well-documented forms of treatment during the Medieval era. Leeches were used for bloodletting to help balance the body’s four humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile). The worms were also utilized to treat skin inflammation and rheumatic pain. Bloodletting could be a painful process and could result in severe blood loss, infection, and, in some cases, death.

Branding or cauterization was also employed as a medical treatment during the Middle Ages. It involves applying a hot iron to wounds to stop bleeding and cleanse infected areas. The procedure causes intense pain and major scars. While it was thought to promote healing through controlled burns, the lack of sterilization often caused further complications.

During the Middle Ages, the rack, a torture device, was repurposed to treat spinal deformities or injuries. It was grounded on the idea that it would help stretch and realign the spine. The procedure also caused immense pain to the patients and often left the patient paralyzed or worse.

Another painful treatment that can be likened to torture during the Medieval era is trepanning, or the practice of drilling holes in a person’s skull. The practice was done to treat migraines, epilepsy, and mental disorders. Many people during the Middle Ages believed it was also done to release “evil spirits” or pressure from the brain. It is a painful procedure and often fatal due to the infections and the absence of anesthesia.

Trepanation is the oldest known surgical procedure to treat mental health disorders. Unfortunately, patients with mental illness have suffered horribly throughout history. Patricia Lubeck’s “Asylum Scandals” offers a glimpse of the abuse, neglect, torture, and murder in state hospitals from 1867 to 1915, where some patients were treated poorly and even killed.

What Put an End to Painful Treatments

Medieval treatments, which were known to be painful, began to decline during the Renaissance or the Period of Enlightenment. A detailed and better understanding of medicine, diseases, and human anatomy contributed to correcting Medieval misconceptions. In addition, education challenged the traditional reliance on humoral theory and superstitions.

Intellectual movement fostered medical developments such as the use of antiseptic techniques. The rise of professional medical standards and ethical codes also played an integral part in abandoning painful medieval treatments. It opened the way for more humane and effective treatments. Today, compassion and scientific accuracy have replaced torturous approaches to healing, all of which have improved our medical care.   

In a nutshell, medical care has come a long way. In her book, “Asylum Scandals: Abuse, Torture, Corruption and Murder in Minnesota’s State Hospitals,” author Patricia Lubeck encourages readers to take care of people better by unmasking the painful medical procedures utilized by insane asylums in the past.

The path to healing does not need to cause immense pain, and patients of all sorts have the right to proper treatment. Uncover the dark secrets of Minnesota’s two oldest state hospitals in “Asylum Scandals,” now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.