The Apothecary
During the High Middle Ages period, the Western Medicine went through a simplifying process compared to the ancient times.
This medical art was kept thanks to the monasteries and to the most important cultural centres.
One of the most important therapy was based on using the couch grass, that is why the Apothecary’s' work was so important: they had a deep knowledge about the properties of herbs, spices, essential oils, minerals and all the natural cures that could treat the illnesses.
They used to sell those products in their natural form – fresh or dried – or in the form of potions, unguents, poultice, tincture and so on.
The doctors were often apothecaries too, especially because they wanted to keep the secret of the drugs' ingredients .
We can compare the apothecary figures to the current chemists.
Their job was considered one of the most profitable of that times since all the social classes used to visit the shops where to find the right cure at the right price.
In the Apothecary’s' shop you could find herbs, drugs, spices, but also perfumery, colours for painters and dyers, minerals, oils, candle wax, soaps, strings, papers and ink; everything was conserved in containers made of materials as glass, earthenware, horn, wood or in cloth bags.
We built our Stall representing the XII century Apothecary with historical materials (for example, the glasses made in Syria with the ancient techniques) where you can find some of the most common herbs and spices of the above mentioned period: from honey to galls, from myrrh to roots, from seeds to flowers in order to re-create the old phytotherapic medicines.
For every single element there are culinary values, healing virtues and also magical believes taken from the study of specialized books and old manuscripts.
Caterina Fiorini
This medical art was kept thanks to the monasteries and to the most important cultural centres.
One of the most important therapy was based on using the couch grass, that is why the Apothecary’s' work was so important: they had a deep knowledge about the properties of herbs, spices, essential oils, minerals and all the natural cures that could treat the illnesses.
They used to sell those products in their natural form – fresh or dried – or in the form of potions, unguents, poultice, tincture and so on.
The doctors were often apothecaries too, especially because they wanted to keep the secret of the drugs' ingredients .
We can compare the apothecary figures to the current chemists.
Their job was considered one of the most profitable of that times since all the social classes used to visit the shops where to find the right cure at the right price.
In the Apothecary’s' shop you could find herbs, drugs, spices, but also perfumery, colours for painters and dyers, minerals, oils, candle wax, soaps, strings, papers and ink; everything was conserved in containers made of materials as glass, earthenware, horn, wood or in cloth bags.
We built our Stall representing the XII century Apothecary with historical materials (for example, the glasses made in Syria with the ancient techniques) where you can find some of the most common herbs and spices of the above mentioned period: from honey to galls, from myrrh to roots, from seeds to flowers in order to re-create the old phytotherapic medicines.
For every single element there are culinary values, healing virtues and also magical believes taken from the study of specialized books and old manuscripts.
Caterina Fiorini