Medieval Treatments for the Black Death

Revision – watch the clip and see how much you know!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZy6XilXDZQ

Read sources 1 – 5 and place a tick in the appropriate column to identify the kind of remedy being suggested

Source Applying something

Ingesting something

Surgery of some kind

Other

1

2

3

4

5

Answer the following questions in relation to the sources

1. Which of the proposals would be the most likely to have a positive effect on dealing with the plague? Explain your answer.

Refer to Source 1. Do you think Guy de Chauliac’s remedy was the reason for his survival? Why/ why not?

Examine Source 3. It was written in 1869 but the author had collected sources from the time of the Black Death. Why might historians consider this source very useful?

Group activity

In groups of 4, study the image of the Plague Doctor (Source 7).

Plague doctors were often quite inexperienced, and were employed by town councils to attend to plague victims.

Using your knowledge of medieval and scientific treatments for the plague, design a mask that Plague Doctors could wear when dealing with patients who were either potential victims or already suffering from the plague.

Clearly label the features of your mask, explaining your choices.