It turns out the Dark Ages weren’t all that dark. According to new research, medieval medicine was way more sophisticated than previously thought, and some of its remedies are trending today on TikTok.
A new international research project featuring faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York reveals that people in the Middle Ages weren’t cooped up in castles, wallowing in superstition. They were developing health practices based on the best knowledge they had at the time—some of which mirror modern wellness trends.
“People were engaging with medicine on a much broader scale than had previously been thought,” said Meg Leja, an associate professor of history at Binghamton University who specializes in the political and cultural history of late antique and medieval Europe. "They were concerned about cures, they wanted to observe the natural world and jot down bits of information wherever they could in this period known as the “Dark Ages.'”
The key part of the phrase. They didn’t have a lot of knowledge, and couldn’t have until fundamental medical principles were discovered in the 20th century. The fact that they used things similar to modern day pseudoscientific “alternative” medicine, like detox, with little effect is not really surprising, that is where this kind of thing will always lead you.
The surprising thing is a historian of medicine treating it as some kind of mindblowing revelation.