Medieval medicine

Girls in Year 8 welcomed a visitor from the past to Pipers today – a Medieval Barber Surgeon, who came to deliver a hugely interesting presentation about his life and work.

Barber Surgeons were medical practitioners who, unlike Physicians of the time, performed surgery, on their patients. The girls learnt that Barber Surgeons would usually learn their trade as an apprentice to a more experienced colleague and many would have no formal learning, and were often illiterate.

The workshop really brought the period to life for the girls as the Barber Surgeon talked about society in the 1400s and the roles he would have fulfilled. He explained to the girls about how the red and white pole, which is still used to identify a barber’s shop, was originally intended to reflect the blood and bandages used during bloodletting. This treatment was one of the main tasks of the Barber Surgeon, as well as extracting teeth, performing enemas, selling medicines, performing surgery and, of course, cutting hair. The groups were particularly interested to look at the leeches he had brought with him and the description of how the treatment worked.

The Barber Surgeon showed examples of the different medicines and items used for medical treatment, including a cauterising iron, surgical tools and an arrow extractor that would have been used to remove arrowheads from the wounds sustained by soldiers in battle.

The workshop covered all aspects of early medicine and also considered the developments of treatments and technology in the early Renaissance period. Girls learnt that as towns became more populated, more trade shops opened and with more discoveries and advances in medicine around the world, people sought out different types of treatments to relieve them from pain.

Mrs Tinnelly, Head of History, said “This workshop is a brilliant way for the girls to gain a real understanding of the medical problems faced by people in the 1400s. Looking at history in this way allows us all to fully appreciate how the acts of people back in the 1400s have directly impacted the way that medicine is practised today.”