Crazy Cures for the Black Death

Greetings peasant! That Black Death caused havoc in Lancashire in the 1300s and we’re here to tell you how they cured the infected.

Leech Blood-Letting

Leeches anyone? The most popular attempt to cure the plague was bloodletting using leeches. It was thought that the leeches would draw out the bad blood that caused the disease and leave the good blood in the body. What a bloody mess!  

 

Rubbing Buboes with chopped up pigeons

Another bad attempt to cure the plague was to kill and chop up a pigeon then rub the bloody parts all over buboes. Bet it wasn’t hard to find pigeons around these parts!

 

Urine Bath

Did you know that clean urine has healing properties? Infected patients would bathe in it or even drink it…DOWN IN ONE LASS!

 

Ground-up emeralds

If you had some extra pennies, lying around you could afford to gobble down some crushed emeralds…TASTY! Peasants like you who couldn’t afford it though had to resort to arsenic or mercury but that only killed them quicker than the plague.   

 

Quarantine and Social Distancing

That’s right scoundrels…the only real effective way to prevent the spread of the plague was to social distance or quarantine for 40 days. Plague Doctors wore beaked masks which were believed to protect the wearer and provide distance between the doctor and the infected. Bet they poked a few eyes out with those!

 

There you have it, a list of cures for that ‘orrible Black Death. If you want to experience what it was like, head on down to the depths of The Blackpool Tower Dungeon.

 

Disclaimer: The Blackpool Tower Dungeon takes no responsibility for dirty scoundrels attempting any of these cures.