BLOODLETTING FOR BALANCE

This gruesome practice was around before the Middle Ages

GREECE

Although it’s thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt, the Greeks were always fond of bloodletting as a medical cure. They believed that some diseases were caused by an overabundance of blood, and doctors like Erasistratus in the 4th century BCE were keen advocates of this theory. That meant some blood needed to be let out of the body to bring everything back into balance.

This idea of balance was furthered a few hundred years later by the Greco-roman doctor Galen, who encouraged the widespread use of the practice throughout the Roman Empire. In fact, it was so popular that it persisted into the Middle Ages and beyond – George Washington had five to seven pints drained from him in just 16 hours in a bid to cure a bad illness. Alas, it didn’t work and he died soon after.