- Elizabethan medicine was based on humoral theory and the four elements of earth, air, fire and water. Illness was believed to be caused by an imbalance of the four humours: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. - Treatments included bleeding patients to restore humour balance, as blood was seen as most important. Other treatments were based on herbs. Surgery was also performed but medicine was still basic. - Doctors ranged from elite physicians to barbers and apothecaries. Sanitation was poor, leading to spread of plague and other diseases. - The official religion was the Church of England but Catholics faced fines or imprisonment. Puritanism advocated Calvin

1. Science and Health
Everything in the world is composed of
four elements:
Earth, Air, Fire and Water
In the human body, the humours are the
natural bodily fluids. They correspond to
the elements and have various qualities:
cold, dry, hot, and moist.
The nature or complexion of anything is
a combination of two of these
humourous qualities.

2. chart of the relationships of the humours and
elements. Most people are aware of this chart
to some degree
Element Humour Quality Nature
Choleric
Fire Choler (yellow bile) hot and dry (angry, temperame
ntal)
Sanguine
Air Blood hot and moist
(jolly, lusty)
Phlegmatic
Water Phlegm cold and moist
(sluggish, slow)
Melancholy (black Melancholic (sad,
Earth cold and dry
bile) lovesick)

3. When the humours are all in balance in a person, he or •
she is completely healthy. If they get out of balance,
illness results.
Doctors bleed their patients to restore this balance, •
because blood is considered to have pre-eminence over
the other humours.
Bleeding is performed with a lancet and a bowl, •
not with leeches (ick). In fact, leeching is a
separate type of operation.
Blood is usually drawn from the arm or the foot. •
Someone with a natural abundance of choler is said to be •
choleric, or naturally angry and quick-tempered. (Does
that mean you could call them 'pissy'?)
Black bile is considered to be the foam off the top of the •
blood. Whatever that is.

4. Andrew Boorde's Breviary of Health is a popular text
around many households for advice on staying
healthy.
There is nothing that doth comfort the heart so much •
beside God as honest mirth and good company. And
wine moderately taken doth comfort the heart, and
good bread doth confirm and steady a man's heart.
And all good and temperate drinks the which doth
engender good blood doth comfort the heart. All
manner of cordials and restoratives and all sweet
and soothing things do comfort the heart, and so
doth nutmeg and ginger and poached eggs not hard,
their yolks a cordial… But above all things, mirth is
best to bedward.
— A Breviary of Health, 1547

5. The liver, not the heart, is
considered the source of the
emotions, although the heart is the
source of love.
The stomach is the seat of courage.
The spleen is the source of anger.

6. Elizabethan Life - Elizabethan Medicine and
Illnesses
Elizabethan Medicine was extremely basic in an era when terrible •
illnesses such as the Bubonic Plague (Black Death ) were killing
nearly one third of the population. The above picture is of an
Elizabethan Physician. Just the sight of an Elizabethan Physician
in his strange clothing, especially the weird mask, was enough to
frighten anyone to death! But the Physicians clothes probably
saved his life and prevented him contracting the illnesses and
diseases of his patients such as the plague and typhoid. The
underlying cause of many of the Elizabethan illnesses was the
lack of sanitation, especially in large towns or cities such as
London. There were open sewers in the streets which were also
filled with garbage. This was occasionally removed and waste was
dumped into the nearest river such as the Thames. Diseases were
easily spread in this unsanitary environment where fleas, lice and
rats all flourished. There was no running water, this was obtained
from water pumps ( a main cause of the spread of typhoid ).

7. The Beliefs of the Elizabethan Physician
Medicine was basic, Physicians had no idea what •
caused the terrible illnesses and diseases. The beliefs
about the causes of illnesses were based on the
ancient teachings of Aristotle and Hippocrates. The
Physicians paid attention to a patients bodily fluids,
called Humours, which explains the reason why
patients where subjected to 'bleeding'. Other beliefs
of the Elizabethan Physicians centred around
Astrology. The Elizabethan medical profession had no
idea what caused the plague - the best they could
offer was to bled the patient or administer a
concoction of herbs.

8. The Clothes of the Physician
The Bubonic Plague was spread by the bacillus yersinia pestis (this is •
where the word pestilence is derived) carried by fleas and transmitted
normally by rodents. Back to the clothes of our Elizabethan Physician in
the above picture! Take a close look at what he is wearing. All of his body
is completely covered from head to foot, even his face by the ghastly
mask. Stout boots and gloves covered his hands and feet. Elizabethan
Physicians wore long dark robes with pointed hoods, leather gloves,
boots, and the most bizarre masks featuring long beaks which were filled
with begamot oil. Amulets of dried blood and ground-up toads were
worn at the waists of the Elizabethan Physicians. It was their custom to
douse themselves with vinegar and chew angelica before approaching a
victim. Although this might sound pointless today, these precautions
would have protected the Elizabethan Physician. The bizarre and
gruesome Physician masks would have acted as protection against
contracting the disease through breathing the same air as the victim.
Neither rats nor fleas could easily penetrate these defences.

9. Elizabethan Doctors
Elizabethan Medicine was administered by different people. •
Your doctor depended on your class and whether you had
money to pay the fee.

10. Elizabethan Physicians: •
Only the very wealthy would receive the ministrations of an Elizabethan
Physician who would have received an education at one of the Universities and
the College of Physicians. The usual fee would be a gold coin worth 10 shillings -
well beyond the means of most Elizabethans
Elizabethan Surgeons: •
Inferior to Physicians these had a similar reputation to the barbers with whom
they associated and belonged to the Company of Barber Surgeons
Barbers: •
The Barbers were inferior to the Surgeons, although they also belonged to the
Company of Barber Surgeons. They were only allowed to pull teeth or let blood
Elizabethan Apothocary: •
The usual route that most people took was to visit the apothecary, or dispenser
of drugs. The Apothocaries belonged to the Grocer's Guild and sold sweets,
cosmetics and perfumes as well as drugs
The Church: •
The Church provided some comfort for the poor
The local 'Wise Woman‘: •
The local 'wise woman' was often the first person contacted by poor people
The Elizabethan Housewife :- The ordinary Elizabethan housewife used •
various herbs to produce home made medicines and potions

11. Elizabethan
Medicine
Elizabethan medicines were basic, to say the
least. Letting blood was conducted by cupping
or leeches. The Medicine used to treat various
illnesses were as follows:

12. Bubonic Plague ( the Black Death ) •
Bubonic Plague was treated by lancing the buboes and applying a warm
poultice of butter, onion and garlic. Various other remedies were tried
including tobacco, arsenic, lily root and dried toad!
Head Pains •
Head Pains were treated with sweet-smelling herbs such as
rose, lavender, sage, and bay.
Stomach Pains and Sickness •
Stomach pains and sickness were treated
with wormwood, mint, and balm.
Lung Problems •
Lung problems given the medical treatment of liquorice and comfrey.
Wounds •
Vinegar was widely used as a cleansing agent as it was believed that it
would kill disease.

13. Elizabethan Elizabethan Medicine and Illnesses
Details, facts and information about other aspects of
Elizabethan Life can be accessed via the Elizabethan
Era Sitemap.
Elizabethan Medicine and Illnesses •
Interesting Facts and information about Elizabethan •
Medicine and Illnesses and Elizabethan Life
People, events and Elizabethan Medicine and Illnesses in •
Elizabethan Life
The Elizabethan medical profession •
Elizabethan Illnesses - Bubonic Plague, dysentery, typhoid •
Elizabethan Medicine - tobacco, arsenic, lily root and dried •
toad!
Physicians, Surgeons, barbers, apothecaries 

14. Religion •
Everyone has one. We were all brought up to be •
Christians of one sort or another. If you were born
before 1555, or so, your parents were Catholic. Until
later in the reign, it's safe to say your grandparents
were Catholic.
The official established state religion is the Church •
of England. It is referred to as the new religion or
the established church, but not yet as "C of E". (Do
inclination to acronyms and not give in to the modern
initialisms.)
Puritanism is not a separate religion, but a •
Calvinist leaning within the Anglican church. Puritans
do not yet look like Pilgrims (see Comparative
Religion).

15. Bei ng a R an C hol i c i s not a cr i m but •
om at e,
t her e i s a f i ne f or not conf or m ng t o t he
i
est abl i shed r el i gi on; t hat i s, f or not goi ng
t o chur ch on Sunday. And ever y chur ch i s a
pr ot est ant chur ch.
Payi ng t he f i ne does not al l ow you t o have •
a pr i est or pr act i ce t he C hol i c f ai t h.
at
Ther e i s no l egal w f or C hol i cs t o
ay at
pr act i ce t hei r f ai t h.
I t i s i l l egal t o be a C hol i c pr i est i n •
at
Engl and. I t i s ver y i l l egal t o be a Jesui t .
A non-conf or m ng C hol i c i s cal l ed a •
i at
r ecusant (r ec-YO -zant ) and i s gui l t y of
U
r ecusancy.
Ever yone i s r equi r ed t o at t end a chur ch •
ser vi ce once a m h. The ser vi ce i s
ont
r ef er r ed t o as t he Pr ayer Ser vi ce, or t he

16. Mass is a Catholic service only. It is illegal to hold or attend one at •
any time in the reign, though punishment varies. People of high
rank are less likely to get in trouble.
Older people may still refer to the service as a Mass, but it is •
politically touchy. Reformers refer to the detestable enormities of
the "Mass priests".
The rosary is period in several forms, including the modern one, •
and used only by Catholics. The rosary cross usually does not
include a corpus, or figure of Christ.
The Protestants sometimes refer to Roman Catholics as Romanists. •
Catholics do not refer to themselves as Papists.
The term Puritan is common in period, although sometimes the •
word precisionist is used.
The Pope published a writ (1570) absolving English Catholics from •
allegiance to the Queen, since she is (he says) a heretic. Anyone
who kills her is pre-absolved from the sin of murder.
You can apply the term atheist to anyone who disagrees with you in •
religion. In usage, it does not entirely mean you believe that there is
no God, but that you don't believe in my God. Any heretic can be
called an atheist. So can a Jew.

17. Reference
science and health: •
http://elizabethan.org/compendium/31.html
Medicine:
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-medicine-and-
illnesses.htm
religion:
http://elizabethan.org/compendium/7.html