Medicine In Elizabethan England

During the reign of Henry VIII (1485-1509) in England, the royal confiscation of monastic land s and church properties put a huge crutch on the entire charitable system. Between 1536 and 1544, one would have to search far and wide for medical help, and there was absolutely no help for indigent people in the city of London. In 1569, royal hospitals were finally restored, including Christ's Hospital for Children, St. Mary's of Bethlem for mental cases, and general hospitals such as St. Bartholomew's and St. Thomas'. However, hospitals were not the only options for a sick individual. Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558-1603) brought the restoration of general charity, and there were many types of professionals and individuals to turn to for seeking medicals attention. As a result of this broad spectrum of medical choices, a mixture of the theory of Humors, the Doctrine of Signatures, astrology, tradition, chemical science, and magic became the basis
The cause of illness was almost entirely unknown, and the beliefs were mostly based on teachings by ancient Greeks and astrology. The ignorance is also apparent in the common clothing of physicians, which were often seen as very strange. The clothing consisted of a large, full, dark cloak, boots, gloves, a hat, and a mask shaped like a bird's beak, which held bergamot oil. They also wore amulets of dried blood and ground-up toads at the waist for preventative purposes. It was also a custom to douse oneself with vinegar and to chew angelica before approaching the patient. These precautionary steps may seem very ridiculous and random. However, the popular belief about medicine formed from six different theories, which happened to make sense at the