Glossary of the Body

The absence or suppression of menstruation, considered a serious medical condition in humoral medicine. Physicians believed retained menstrual blood could corrupt and poison the body, making amenorrhoea a key diagnostic symptom in conditions like green sickness.

A practitioner who prepared and sold medicines, the forerunner of the modern pharmacist. In the early modern medical hierarchy, apothecaries occupied a distinct role from physicians (who diagnosed) and surgeons (who operated), though boundaries between these professions were often contested.

The inability to conceive, a condition of great concern in early modern medicine. Barrenness was attributed to humoral imbalance, a cold womb, or obstruction of the menses. Treatments ranged from dietary changes and herbal remedies to aphrodisiacs and fertility rituals. Both men and women could be considered barren, though the condition was disproportionately blamed on women.

The therapeutic removal of blood from the body using lancets, leeches, or cupping. A cornerstone of humoral medicine for over two thousand years, it was prescribed to restore the balance of the four humours and treat conditions from fever to melancholy.

The surgical delivery of a child through an incision in the mother's abdomen and uterus. For most of history, the operation was performed only on women who had already died — known as sectio in mortua — to save the child or ensure baptism. Successful caesareans on living women remained extremely rare until the modern era.

A state of muscular rigidity, fixed posture, and apparent unconsciousness. Identified by Jean-Martin Charcot as one of the three phases of hysteria in the nineteenth century, alongside lethargy and somnambulism.

One of the four temperaments in humoral medicine, associated with an excess of yellow bile. The choleric temperament was considered hot and dry, and characterised by an ambitious, irritable, and aggressive disposition. Choleric individuals were thought to be prone to fevers and inflammatory conditions.

A technique for separating substances by heating a liquid and collecting the condensed vapour. Central to both alchemy and early modern pharmacy, distillation was used to prepare medicines, perfumes, and cosmetics. Books of secrets and alchemical treatises frequently described distillation apparatus and methods.

Painful menstruation, treated in early modern medicine with herbal remedies, warm baths, and emmenagogues. Humoral physicians attributed it to cold or obstructed humours in the womb.

An alchemical preparation believed to cure disease or prolong life indefinitely. The quest for a universal elixir — capable of healing all ailments — was a driving force behind Renaissance alchemy and the development of experimental pharmacy. Often linked to the philosopher's stone, the elixir of life represented the medical dimension of the alchemical quest.

A remedy or substance intended to stimulate or restore menstrual flow. Widely prescribed in humoral medicine, emmenagogues ranged from herbal preparations to vigorous exercise, and were sometimes used as a euphemism for abortifacients.

The therapeutic application of warm, moist cloths or aromatic vapours to the body, used especially for uterine ailments. Often combined with fumigation, where fragrant or foul-smelling substances were burned beneath a seated patient to lure or repel the wandering womb.

A condition diagnosed in young unmarried women, characterised by pallor, fatigue, and loss of appetite. Physicians attributed it to menstrual retention and prescribed marriage as the cure. Now understood as a form of iron-deficiency anaemia.

The four bodily fluids — blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile — believed to govern health and temperament in ancient and early modern medicine. Illness was understood as an imbalance of these humours, and treatments aimed to restore equilibrium.

A gendered medical diagnosis attributed to dysfunction of the womb, characterised by convulsions, paralysis, and emotional disturbance. From the Greek hystera (womb), it was used from antiquity through the nineteenth century to pathologise women's bodies and behaviour.

Fine, downy hair that covers the body of a foetus in the womb, normally shed before or shortly after birth. When it appears in adults, it is a sign of severe malnutrition — observed in cases of holy anorexia among medieval fasting saints and now recognised as a clinical symptom of anorexia nervosa.

A state of deep drowsiness or unconsciousness, distinct from normal sleep. Identified by Charcot as one of the three phases of hysteria, it was also used more broadly in early modern medicine to describe conditions of extreme torpor.

The period of postpartum confinement, typically lasting three to five weeks, during which a new mother remained in bed in a darkened room attended by female relatives and a midwife. A deeply ritualised social and medical practice in early modern Europe.

A condition associated with an excess of black bile, one of the four humours. Melancholy was understood as both a temperament (cold and dry) and a disease characterised by sadness, fear, and delusion. It was a major category in early modern medicine and inspired Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621).

The onset of menstruation in adolescent girls, considered a critical life stage in humoral medicine. Physicians believed that failure to menstruate at the expected age caused a dangerous build-up of blood, leading to conditions like green sickness.

Corrupted or 'bad' air believed to cause disease, arising from rotting matter, swamps, or filth. The dominant theory of disease transmission from antiquity until the acceptance of germ theory in the late nineteenth century.

A device or medicated preparation inserted into the vagina for therapeutic purposes, including delivering medicine, supporting a prolapsed uterus, or treating conditions attributed to the wandering womb. Used from antiquity through the early modern period.

A legendary alchemical substance believed capable of turning base metals into gold and producing the elixir of life. The pursuit of the philosopher's stone drove centuries of alchemical experimentation and contributed to the development of chemistry and pharmacy.

One of the four humours in ancient and early modern medicine, phlegm was considered cold and moist in quality. Associated with the element of water, the brain, and the winter season, an excess of phlegm was believed to produce a phlegmatic temperament — calm, sluggish, and unemotional. Physicians treated phlegmatic imbalances through warming and drying remedies.

One of the four temperaments in humoral medicine, associated with an excess of phlegm. The phlegmatic temperament was considered cold and moist, and characterised by a calm, sluggish, and unemotional disposition. Phlegm was one of the four humours and was associated with the brain and with winter.

A compulsive craving for non-food substances such as chalk, earth, or charcoal. Frequently reported as a symptom of green sickness in young women, it was interpreted by humoral physicians as evidence of corrupted appetite caused by menstrual retention.

An excess of blood in the body, a condition humoral physicians believed women were especially prone to. Plethora was the primary justification for bloodletting and for the medical view that menstruation was necessary to expel surplus blood.

An early modern figure who collected, tested, and published practical knowledge — medical recipes, alchemical procedures, cosmetic preparations, and household remedies. Professors of secrets travelled widely, gathering knowledge from learned physicians and common people alike, and disseminated it through printed 'books of secrets' that reached a broad readership.

A medical treatment aimed at violently evacuating the body through vomiting or diarrhoea. In humoral medicine, purging was used alongside bloodletting to restore the balance of the four humours by expelling corrupt or excess matter.

The first perceptible movement of the foetus in the womb, typically felt around the fourth or fifth month of pregnancy. In early modern law and medicine, quickening was the moment a pregnancy was confirmed and the foetus was considered to have a soul.

One of the four temperaments in humoral medicine, associated with an excess of blood. The sanguine temperament was considered hot and moist, and characterised by a cheerful, sociable, and amorous disposition. Sanguine individuals were thought to have ruddy complexions and robust health.

A trance or sleepwalking state in which a person performs complex actions while apparently unconscious. Identified by Charcot as the third phase of hysteria, it was also central to nineteenth-century debates about hypnosis and the unconscious mind.

A sexually transmitted disease that spread rapidly through Europe from the late 15th century. Each nation blamed another for its origin — the 'French disease' to the Italians and English, the 'Neapolitan disease' to the French. Treatments included mercury and guaiacum wood, with Paracelsus controversially advocating internal mercury preparations.

The diagnostic examination of urine by colour, clarity, smell, and taste to determine a patient's health, predict fertility, or detect pregnancy. One of the most widely practised diagnostic techniques from antiquity through the Renaissance.

The ancient belief that the uterus could move freely through a woman's body, causing illness by pressing on other organs. Originating in Egyptian and Greek medicine, the concept underpinned diagnoses like suffocation of the mother and persisted into the early modern period.