I remember reading an account of some medieval knight who had his kneecap mangled during a boar hunt. They wrapped it back up in cloth and .. uh, he survived. That was pretty much it for “care” in the pre-antibiotic era. Sure there’s a lot of pointy things going at that guy but if they don’t kill you outright you’ve got a chance. It was the infections and doctors that’d kill you.
At least he’s not smiling. He looks decidedly on the fence about the whole thing.
Note penis on display. When did penises become a no-no? Was that victorian?
cartomancersays
I’ve used this very diagram to teach classes of schoolchildren about medieval medicine. People love themselves a good Wound Man, and this is one of the best in the Wellcome Collection.
You can tell it’s a 15th century Wound Man by the shape of the heart. Earlier ones just showed it as a circle or a couple of concentric circles – by this period people had begun to represent the two halves and approximate its true shape.
The little hat thing also tends to appear about this time. Nobody is quite sure what it’s supposed to be. One theory is that it’s an impacted metal shot from an early cannon, which is why there is no accompanying text to go with it – cannonball to the face is almost invariably fatal.
It’s actually a fairly good aide memoire for a battlefield surgeon. Note the arrows in the legs – the treatment for an arrow wound is different depending on whether the arrow has gone right through or lodged in the limb. Battlefield medicine was actually quite a growth area for medieval medical science.
Though the 15th century was a much better time to be alive than the 14th. You were probably resistant to the Plague if you were alive in the 15th century, and able to take advantage of the demographic collapse following the depopulation it caused.
Based on the shape of the heart I thought this was just a weirdly inappropriate Valentine card.
… from gamergate.
moarscienceplzsays
#6:
One theory is that it’s an impacted metal shot from an early cannon, which is why there is no accompanying text to go with it – cannonball to the face is almost invariably fatal.
But a dagger into the skull behind the eye is treatable?
Artorsays
Cartomancer makes many good points, but I notice the figure includes buboes at the armpits and groin. Plague was still a concern in the 1400’s.
UnknownEric the Apostatesays
Our patient appears to have an aardvark growing off his left arm. Was that the style at the time?
davidnanglesays
Weirdly, I am mostly squicked out by the left foot injury.
I remember reading an account of some medieval knight who had his kneecap mangled during a boar hunt. They wrapped it back up in cloth and .. uh, he survived. That was pretty much it for “care” in the pre-antibiotic era.
He survived sure, but it cost him his adventuring career.
blfsays
Our patient appears to have an aardvark growing off his left arm. Was that the style at the time?
There was indeed a fad(amongst the wealthy) for personalized small furry critters at about that time, albeit not everyone got the memo(and many of those who did couldn’t read it). So in addition to having plague-bearing rats and similar cute furry creatures attached to ones person, there are instances of alligators, eels, hawks, long pigs, and yes, aardvarks, attached to the same person. The less-wealthy tended to carry clubs to ward off the unwanted attentions of various animals interested in the life of being a personalized accessory.
He survived sure, but it cost him his adventuring career.
“I was a great adventurer, until I took a boar to the knee.”
dexitrobopersays
For more fun and games there’s Medieval Death Bot on twitter. E.g.
blfsays
(Nuts… re-reading me@15 I now note the final paragraph seems to have gone missing, which went something like this):
This naturally could led to incidents when an animal-encrusted 1%-er accidentally encountered a stinky other. One could be left with bites, and the other an animal-ornament squished underneath, or replaced-by, the club. Club-wearing never caught on as a new fad, even after animal-wearing faded(mostly due, it is now though, to the animal-wearers catching rabies and the embedded-club wearers assorted bacteria).
One theory is that it’s an impacted metal shot from an early cannon, which is why there is no accompanying text to go with it – cannonball to the face is almost invariably fatal.
But a dagger into the skull behind the eye is treatable?
Have you ever had a migraine? The phrase “dagger into the skull behind the eye” is a fairly, ah, graphic way to describe the pain, yes, but it really is that bad.
rqsays
People love themselves a good Wound Man
Yes, indeed! This is a fascinating teaching tool. So much blood and gore! But I bet it still wasn’t preparation enough for the real thing.
Thanks for the explanations and education, cartomancer!
dannysichelsays
@11 – can’t be, he doesn’t have an onion on his belt.
jrkrideausays
No, that is the treatment. Have you never heard of a lobotomy? Ice-picks were the 20th C instrument of choice but earlier medical practice used daggers.
It is a little-known fact that Leon Trotsky was not assassinated, his doctor botched the operation and then blamed Stalin to cover up.
And to think he went through all that without losing his cute little hat . . .
Operation, medieval style.
“Enhanced interegation”, Cheney–Bush ][ / trum-prat & thugs’s model…
(Does not work on peas. Advocated by nuts.)
Nobody in your courses are heading for the RN program, enh?
fusilier
James 2:24
I remember reading an account of some medieval knight who had his kneecap mangled during a boar hunt. They wrapped it back up in cloth and .. uh, he survived. That was pretty much it for “care” in the pre-antibiotic era. Sure there’s a lot of pointy things going at that guy but if they don’t kill you outright you’ve got a chance. It was the infections and doctors that’d kill you.
At least he’s not smiling. He looks decidedly on the fence about the whole thing.
Note penis on display. When did penises become a no-no? Was that victorian?
I’ve used this very diagram to teach classes of schoolchildren about medieval medicine. People love themselves a good Wound Man, and this is one of the best in the Wellcome Collection.
You can tell it’s a 15th century Wound Man by the shape of the heart. Earlier ones just showed it as a circle or a couple of concentric circles – by this period people had begun to represent the two halves and approximate its true shape.
The little hat thing also tends to appear about this time. Nobody is quite sure what it’s supposed to be. One theory is that it’s an impacted metal shot from an early cannon, which is why there is no accompanying text to go with it – cannonball to the face is almost invariably fatal.
It’s actually a fairly good aide memoire for a battlefield surgeon. Note the arrows in the legs – the treatment for an arrow wound is different depending on whether the arrow has gone right through or lodged in the limb. Battlefield medicine was actually quite a growth area for medieval medical science.
Though the 15th century was a much better time to be alive than the 14th. You were probably resistant to the Plague if you were alive in the 15th century, and able to take advantage of the demographic collapse following the depopulation it caused.
Based on the shape of the heart I thought this was just a weirdly inappropriate Valentine card.
Based on the shape of the heart I thought this was just a weirdly inappropriate Valentine card.
… from gamergate.
#6:
But a dagger into the skull behind the eye is treatable?
Cartomancer makes many good points, but I notice the figure includes buboes at the armpits and groin. Plague was still a concern in the 1400’s.
Our patient appears to have an aardvark growing off his left arm. Was that the style at the time?
Weirdly, I am mostly squicked out by the left foot injury.
Marcus Ranum
I note half a penis on display…
He survived sure, but it cost him his adventuring career.
There was indeed a fad(amongst the wealthy) for personalized small furry critters at about that time, albeit not everyone got the memo(and many of those who did couldn’t read it). So in addition to having plague-bearing rats and similar cute furry creatures attached to ones person, there are instances of alligators, eels, hawks, long pigs, and yes, aardvarks, attached to the same person. The less-wealthy tended to carry clubs to ward off the unwanted attentions of various animals interested in the life of being a personalized accessory.
He survived sure, but it cost him his adventuring career.
“I was a great adventurer, until I took a boar to the knee.”
For more fun and games there’s Medieval Death Bot on twitter. E.g.
(Nuts… re-reading me@15 I now note the final paragraph seems to have gone missing, which went something like this):
This naturally could led to incidents when an animal-encrusted 1%-er accidentally encountered a stinky other. One could be left with bites, and the other an animal-ornament squished underneath, or replaced-by, the club. Club-wearing never caught on as a new fad, even after animal-wearing faded(mostly due, it is now though, to the animal-wearers catching rabies and the embedded-club wearers assorted bacteria).
Cartomancer @ 6:
You’re a great teacher, you just taught me a lot, so thank you very much. Your students love you, I’d bet.
moarscienceplz
Have you ever had a migraine? The phrase “dagger into the skull behind the eye” is a fairly, ah, graphic way to describe the pain, yes, but it really is that bad.
Yes, indeed! This is a fascinating teaching tool. So much blood and gore! But I bet it still wasn’t preparation enough for the real thing.
Thanks for the explanations and education, cartomancer!
@11 – can’t be, he doesn’t have an onion on his belt.
No, that is the treatment. Have you never heard of a lobotomy? Ice-picks were the 20th C instrument of choice but earlier medical practice used daggers.
It is a little-known fact that Leon Trotsky was not assassinated, his doctor botched the operation and then blamed Stalin to cover up.
jrkrideau
I wasn’t talking lobotomies, dude. I was pointing out that the dagger could easily be symbolic.