[Sca-cooks] European period painkillers

[Stefan li Rous]

Phlip replied to me
> --- Stefan li Rous <stefan at texas.net> wrote:
> > So, what would the period solution to such injuries
> > be? Were there
> > any pain killers available? Even if they weren't as
> > effective?
>
> Depending on your when/where, opium and willowbark tea
> were available.

I guess I should have been more careful how I asked that question.
I was specifically talking about Europe and the adjacent cultures.

Was opium even known in Europe or the Middle East for that matter?
The same about willowbark. I thought the willow tree was a New
World plant.

> Marijuana derivatives, too, I think.

Hemp they had. And Platina does give various recipes using various
parts of the plant. See hemp-msg. So did the Persians.

> Alcohol, of course. Dunno what else- coca leaves,
> maybe, in the New World.... Hafta ask an herbalist- I
> know they used all kindsa diffe3rent herbs for
> different purposes, and some of them even worked-
> digitalis, for example, from foxglove, and aspirin
> from willow bark.....

Again, I believe the American indians used willow bark, but I've
not seen any indications of the Europeans doing so.

--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas          stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****