The integration of the palaeopathology and medical history of the crusades

Abstract

The concurrent use of the techniques of palaeopathology and medical history allows a more thorough assessment of disease in a past community than if just one discipline is used. The crusades to the Medieval eastern Mediterranean have left many manuscripts providing written evidence of disease and its treatment, but it is only in recent years that any palaeopathological assessment of Crusader Period settlements have been undertaken. Human skeletal remains from the 12th century Templar site of Le Petit Gerin are discussed in the context of contemporary accounts of disease in historical records, legal documents, pilgrim journeys and medical texts. Cases of weapon injuries to the shoulder and skull and also osteomyelitis in the sacrum and ulna in association with dental disease are presented here. Both of these are areas of particular relevance to the crusades due to the violent nature of the period and the widespread cultivation of sugar cane, a crop known to cause dental disease when eaten in large amounts. Treatment of recent weapon injuries to the shoulder involved cleaning the wound with wine or vinegar and then bringing the soft tissues together with bandages and sometimes stitching. Skull wounds were cleaned, the scalp retracted and ink applied to show any fractures, and bone fragments removed with forceps, chisel or trephine to prevent them damaging the brain. Osteomyelitis could be treated with modification of diet, topical application of ointments, washing the wound with vinegar, or surgery to remove the infected bone or amputate the diseased part of a limb. Anaesthetics such as the ‘soporific sponge’ could be used to relieve pain during an operation, but great care had to be taken not to give the patient too much of the drugs, which could cause death from a respiratory arrest. The laws in the Crusader States were strict regarding malpractice and if a citizen died as a result of poor medical skill, the doctor would have been hung. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.