Disir
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...When it came to uncommon diseases of the animal world, healers often relied on a little magic—an accepted part of everyday life during the Middle Ages. According to Harrison, natural magic centered on the hidden properties of ingredients known to possess potent powers, like pulverized viper or green meadow frog, both of which were employed in remedies for fistulas (painful sores) in horses.
Most often, these substances were mixed into medicines and ingested. But that wasn’t the only way they were believed to be effective. Sometimes, writes Harrison in the journal Social History of Medicine, medical manuals suggested they be worn around the neck like a talisman, as in one cure that called for a golden oriole songbird to be strapped around a sickly horse. Other times, the method was even stranger, with horse owners advised to sew sheets of lead and tin—two key metals in medieval alchemy—into a horse’s forehead as a cure for farcy.
Some forms of natural magic were more esoteric. Physicians of the Middle Ages believed widely in the power of the stars to impact human health, subscribing to a worldview that saw all of creation as interconnected, with human beings at its center. Controversially, some vets also applied this logic to animals, using stars and celestial events—as referenced in diagrams like the “Zodiac horse”—to guide what surgeries to perform and when.
By the medieval era, certain holy figures had long been associated with specific animals and diseases, like Job with worms, Adam with snakes, or the aristocratic Thomas Becket with hawks and hunting birds. More obscure associations, like Saint Hippolytus and horses, grew out of folk traditions, local cults or the apocryphal lives of the saints. “It kind of doesn’t matter whether the relationship would stand up to biblical scrutiny,” Harrison says. “It’s just believed to be [accurate].”
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www.smithsonianmag.com
Lots of deities have been associated with specific animals and still are today. I don't know if the saints are still associated with animals. The concoctions are interesting. They had to have had some success to have been repeated which means that something in that combo had something really effective or it was short lived and something else was done as well. I wonder if there was ever a time when someone said--that horse died because no frogs could be found.
Most often, these substances were mixed into medicines and ingested. But that wasn’t the only way they were believed to be effective. Sometimes, writes Harrison in the journal Social History of Medicine, medical manuals suggested they be worn around the neck like a talisman, as in one cure that called for a golden oriole songbird to be strapped around a sickly horse. Other times, the method was even stranger, with horse owners advised to sew sheets of lead and tin—two key metals in medieval alchemy—into a horse’s forehead as a cure for farcy.
Some forms of natural magic were more esoteric. Physicians of the Middle Ages believed widely in the power of the stars to impact human health, subscribing to a worldview that saw all of creation as interconnected, with human beings at its center. Controversially, some vets also applied this logic to animals, using stars and celestial events—as referenced in diagrams like the “Zodiac horse”—to guide what surgeries to perform and when.
Calling on Christ
Natural magic could only get a veterinarian so far. In the face of mostly incurable diseases like farcy, healers might need to call on the supernatural. The safest and most common of these methods was to invoke the power of Christian saints and holy figures, a form of magic at various times endorsed by church authorities.By the medieval era, certain holy figures had long been associated with specific animals and diseases, like Job with worms, Adam with snakes, or the aristocratic Thomas Becket with hawks and hunting birds. More obscure associations, like Saint Hippolytus and horses, grew out of folk traditions, local cults or the apocryphal lives of the saints. “It kind of doesn’t matter whether the relationship would stand up to biblical scrutiny,” Harrison says. “It’s just believed to be [accurate].”
The Veterinary Magic of the Middle Ages
Medieval healers treated animals' ailments with a mix of faith, tradition and science
www.smithsonianmag.com
Lots of deities have been associated with specific animals and still are today. I don't know if the saints are still associated with animals. The concoctions are interesting. They had to have had some success to have been repeated which means that something in that combo had something really effective or it was short lived and something else was done as well. I wonder if there was ever a time when someone said--that horse died because no frogs could be found.
