7 examples of European cannibalism

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Cannibalism has been practiced in European medicine for centuries, so it is not a modern invention introduced with Overton window technology. All this was in Europe just a few hundred years ago …

1. Blood of the living

People in the past believed that they could rejuvenate by drinking the blood of young people. That is why the blood of old people was useless for creating "magic healing medicines."

For example, when Pope Innocent VIII died in 1492, doctors took blood of three young boysto save the Pope's life. Both the boys and the Pope died.

2. Ashes of a mummy

In the Middle Ages, mummy ashes were a popular "medicine" throughout Europe. This ingredient was imported from Egypt, where ancient corpses were ground into powder. It was believed that if this powder was eaten, a large number of health problems such as rashes, constipation and even paralysis could be cured.

People in the Middle East mixed the ashes of the mummy with oil and used it as a medicine as early as the 1800s. The use of mummies became so widespread that the Egyptian government finally passed legislation banning their sale.

On the subject: Europe Better Not to Know

3. Dead Man's Skull Moss

In addition to eating crushed human skulls, people in medieval times also ate the moss that grew on the skulls of the deceased. According to legend, it was necessary to collect the lichen "sleeping" from the skulls of the killed soldiers. The lichen was first scraped off the skulls, then dried and ground into powder.

From this powder, tinctures were made, which were taken as a magical cure for wounds. Much of medicine during the Middle Ages relied on sympathetic magic. For example, the pulverized heart was used to cure heart disease. British preacher John Keough wrote a recipe for vertigo in the 1700s, which was a tincture of a pulverized human heart. Patients were instructed to take heart medicine in the morning on an empty stomach.

4. Healing meat

According to a recipe written in the 17th century by the German pharmacologist Johann Schroeder, it was necessary to take the body of a red-haired man who died a violent death. The body had to be left in the moonlight for one full day and one night, after which its meat was cut from its bones. The meat was then mixed with myrrh and aloe and soaked in wine for several days. After the human flesh was well marinated, it was cut into strips and eaten.

5. Drops of the king

You might think that cannibalism was practiced only by the poor and uneducated people, but in fact it was also practiced by kings. For example, there was an elixir called "drops of the king". It was his English king Charles II who used "for good health." The recipe, which cost the king a whopping £ 6,000, described how to make a tincture from human skulls. The tincture skulls were supplied by gravediggers who excavated the bones in Ireland.

6. Treatment for the elderly

The desire to be forever young has led to crazy means throughout history. In the 15th century, the Italian priest Marsilio Ficino recommended drinking blood to overcome the effects of old age. He stated that older people can restore their youth by consuming fresh blood from a young man who died healthy.

Moreover, the young man should have been relatively happy throughout his life. Blood had to be collected from people who had died relatively recently. This form of "medical vampirism" has been encountered again and again over the centuries.

7. Standing on the scaffold

At first glance, it may seem that people during a public execution should stay away from the scaffold so that they do not get blood. However, it was different in Denmark. Epileptics often stood right next to the scaffold, cups in hand, to collect the blood of those executed. They believed that this blood could cure their epilepsy.

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