treatments

• Supernatural treatments for the Black Death

  • Confess sins
  • Ask God for forgiveness through prayer
• There was an air of inevitability about the Black Death: once caught, people believed it was clearly God's will; if it was his will that the patient should die, there was no cure that would work
• Natural treatments for the Black Death

  • Bleeding
  • Purging
  • Strong-smelling herbs like aloe and myrrh
  • Theriaca
  • Lighting a fire and boiling vinegar
  • Lancing buboes
• Physicians tried bleeding and purging, but that didn't work and, in fact, seemed to make people die more quickly
• Physicians recommended strong-smelling herbs like aloe and myrrh, which were believed to have cleansing properties
• Physicians prescribed theriaca, as it was believed to work for lots of ailments
• Lighting a fire and boiling vinegar could also drive off the bad air
• Physicians or surgeons sometimes lanced the buboes, and occasionally, people whose buboes burst survived
• Everyday people were willing to try anything to survive the Black Death, including going to confession, praying, and seeking traditional cures like bleeding
• It quickly became clear that neither priests nor physicians were capable of curing the Black Death