The Rampant Outbreak of Sexually Transmitted Diseases During The Middle Ages...

Medieval Madness

26-06-2023 • 10 mins

Throughout human history one thing has remained constant, namely the enjoyment of having sex, but by the late Middle Ages both gonorrhoea and syphilis were widespread. Although the poor could only make do with superstition and herbal remedies, the rich could rely on their expensive physicians. Without antibiotics though the success of any treatment was mostly based on luck. Especially when you consider that one popular medication, for those who could afford it, was mercury ointment, which we now know to be toxic and would end up fatally poisoning the patient anyway.