In the Middle Ages, the expression "love fever" did not mean a figure of speech, but a very real disease, for the treatment of which there were medical methods.
Love can really hurt. And although we often romanticize love suffering, the harsh reality is that almost all of us have experienced unpleasant symptoms caused by unrequited passion. Dizziness, feelings of hopelessness, palpitations, loss of appetite, insomnia, crying mood - sounds familiar?
Thanks to advances in biochemistry, modern scientists know how the neurotransmitters dopamine, adrenaline and serotonin affect the brain of a person in love, sometimes causing unpleasant symptoms.
However, the connection between love and the physical state of a person was noticed a long time ago. In medieval medicine, it was believed that the body and soul are inextricably intertwined and the body can reflect the state of mind.
Humoral imbalance
The medical ideas of the Middle Ages were based on the doctrine of four bodily fluids, or humors: blood, phlegm, black and yellow bile. It was believed that in a healthy person, all four fluids are in equilibrium, and imbalance causes illness.
Description and representation of bodily fluids according to Galen. Illustration for the manuscript, 1420
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These ideas were based on the theory of the ancient scientist Galen, who developed a system of communication between a person's temperament and the liquid prevailing in his body.
For example, an excess of black bile corresponded to a melancholic temperament, which made the body dry and cold. During the Middle Ages, it was believed that people with a melancholic disposition are most prone to love suffering.
The 11th century physician and monk Constantine the African translated a treatise on melancholy that was popular in medieval Europe. He clearly outlined the connection between an excess of black bile of melancholy in the body and a tendency to love suffering:
“Love, also called Eros, is a disease that affects the brain. Sometimes the reason for this love is a natural need to get rid of excess bodily fluids … this disease causes reflection and anxiety, while the patient seeks ways to find the object of his desires.
Treatment of unrequited love
Whatever the object of desire - and in the religious Middle Ages, for many women it became Christ - the inaccessibility or loss of the object brought suffering, from which it was difficult for a medieval melancholic to get rid of.
But because the state of melancholic love was considered to have such deep roots, there was a medical treatment for it. The patient was advised to have plenty of light and fresh air, rest and tranquility, inhalations, warm baths with plants that moisturize the skin (such as water lilies and violets).
They should eat lamb meat, lettuce, eggs, fish, ripe fruits. Since the time of Hippocrates, hellebore root has also been used. The excess black melancholic bile was treated with laxatives and bloodletting to restore the balance of bodily fluids.
Bloodletting. Illustration for the manuscript of Aldobrandino di Siena "Body Charter", France, late 13th century
Stories of suffering
Unsurprisingly, in the literature of medieval Europe, stories of thorny love and love suffering often contain medical references. The sorrow-sick character is a very common figure.
The lover and the priest. Illustration for the work "Confessions of a Lover", early 15th century
Such are, for example, the Black Knight from Chaucer's "The Book of the Duchess", or two lovers from the poem of Mary of France, whose secret love is described as "painful agony."
The plot of the 14th century poem "Confessions of a Lover" by John Gower revolves around a melancholic young man who is so sick of love that he wishes to die and asks Venus and Cupid for a cure for his illness.
Taking pity on the unfortunate, Venus creates a cooling balm and applies to his "wounded heart", temples and kidneys. Thanks to this medicine, his unbearable pain finally goes away.
The medical view of love continues to this day. In 1621, Robert Burton published a voluminous work entitled Anatomy of Melancholy. Sigmund Freud developed similar ideas in his book Sadness and Melancholy in the early 20th century.
The problem of a suffering heart clearly has deep roots. So if your heart is pierced by love flour, you can try one of these medieval recipes.
