FEMALE PHYSICIANS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

Determined to make a difference despite the male dominance of the medical world, these pioneering women overcame numerous obstacles in their efforts to aid the infirm

- Bee Ginger

It’s no secret that the medieval period was a man’s world, an age when – with a few exceptions – kings wielded ultimate power backed by male counsel.

Educational opportunities for women were relatively rare, and the notion of females being more skilled surgeons and doctors than their male peers was considered ludicrous. Yet such a forbidding combination of factors did not prevent women from earning a reputation as excellent healers, even if they weren’t recognised as physicians.

During this fascinating time the peasantry often relied on the guidance of a ‘wise woman’. These healers possessed expert knowledge of the powers of herbs and remedies, and they played an important role as midwives in an age when giving birth was often fatal.

Drawing on the land around them, wise women used a variety of ingredients (from plants to animal parts) to create ointments and other forms of medicine. These women would pass down their expertise to the next generation, ensuring the survival of their ‘charms’ or ‘spells’ (as their concoctions were often called, terms that would prove dangerous when healers began to be suspected and tried for witchcraft).

They were not the only women who worked tirelessly to improve the lot of the masses –  or their rulers. Throughout medieval Europe and the Arab world, women strived to enhance their understanding of the human body and establish safe, hygienic environments in which to treat patients, be they orphans, wounded warriors or royalty. Their efforts were met with very different societal reactions, with some receiving the appreciation of nobles while others were hauled before a court of law and tried for the crime of refusing to give up on people who had been discarded by frustrated male physicians unable to  find a cure.