Caliphates. History of medicine Bear healing in ancient and medieval Rus'

Story

The most ancient state Eastern Slavs, known in history as Kievan Rus, emerged in the first half of the 9th century.

By this time, early feudal relations had formed in Rus'. The ancient Slavic cities of Kyiv, Smolensk, Polotsk, Chernigov, Pskov, Novgorod (see Fig. 62) became large centers of crafts and trade. The most important trade artery of ancient Rus' was “ great path from the Varangians to the Greeks,” which connected Rus' with Scandinavia and Byzantium.

An important event in the history of Rus' there was the adoption of Christianity as the state religion in 988 by Prince Vladimir (978-1015). This serious political act was not a random event: the emergence social inequality and the formation of classes were objective historical prerequisites for the replacement of pagan polytheism with monotheism. Christianity in Rus' has been known since the 9th century. Many close associates of Prince Igor (912-945) were Christians. His wife Olga (945-969), who reigned after Igor, visited Constantinople and was baptized, becoming the first Christian monarch in Rus'. Great importance to spread the ideas of Christianity in Kievan Rus had long-standing ties with Bulgaria - an intermediary in the transmission of culture, writing and religious literature. By the end of the 10th century. Kievan Rus had already entered into interaction with the Byzantine economy and Christian culture.

The adoption of Christianity by Kievan Rus had important political consequences. It contributed to the strengthening of feudalism, the centralization of the state and its rapprochement with European Christian countries (Byzantium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, England, Germany, Georgia, Armenia, etc.), which was also facilitated by dynastic marriages. These connections had a beneficial effect on the development of ancient Russian culture, education, and science.

The origins of the culture of Kievan Rus are connected with the traditional culture of the Slavic tribes, which, with the development of statehood, reached a high level, and was subsequently enriched by the influence of Byzantine culture. Antique and early medieval manuscripts came to Rus' through Bulgaria and Byzantium. On Slavic language they were translated by monks - the most educated people of that time. (The chroniclers Nikon, Nestor, Sylvester were monks.) Written on parchment in the era of Kievan Rus, these books have survived to this day.

The first library in the Old Russian state was collected in 1037 by Prince Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) - the third eldest son of Prince Vladimir. It was placed in the St. Sophia Cathedral, erected in Kyiv in 1036 at the behest of Yaroslav the Wise to commemorate the victory over the Pechenegs at the site of the victorious battle. Yaroslav contributed in every possible way to the spread of literacy in Rus', the rewriting of books and their translation into the Slavic language. He himself knew 5 foreign languages ​​and “diligently read books and read (them) often both night and day.” His granddaughter Yanka Vsevolodovna organized the first girls' school at the St. Andrew's Monastery in 1086. Under Yaroslav the Wise, the Kiev state achieved wide international recognition. Metropolitan Hilarion wrote at that time about the Kyiv princes: “They were not rulers in a bad country, but in a Russian one, which is known and heard in all ends of the earth.”

Old Russian state existed for three centuries. After the death of the last Kyiv prince Mstislav Vladimirovich (1125-1132), the son of Vladimir Monomakh, it broke up into several feudal estates. A period of feudal fragmentation began, which contributed to the loss of political independence of the Russian lands as a result of the invasion of the Mongol-Tatar hordes led by Batu Khan (1208-1255), the grandson of Genghis Khan.

Development of healing

Traditional medicine has been developing in Rus' for a long time. Traditional healers were called lechtsy. They are spoken of in the “Russian Truth” - the oldest code of Russian laws that has reached us, which was compiled under Yaroslav the Wise (in the first quarter of the 11th century) and was subsequently rewritten and supplemented many times. “Russkaya Pravda” legally established the remuneration of doctors: according to the laws of that time, a person who caused damage to the health of another person had to pay a fine to the state treasury and give the victim money to pay for treatment.

The healers passed on their healing knowledge and secrets from generation to generation, from father to son in the so-called “family schools.”

Medicines prepared from plants were very popular: wormwood, nettle, plantain, wild rosemary, "bodega", linden blossom, birch leaves, ash bark, juniper berries, as well as onions, garlic, horseradish, birch sap, and many other folk remedies.

Among medicines of animal origin, honey, raw cod liver, mare's milk and deer antlers occupied a special place.

Medicinal remedies of mineral origin have also found their place in folk healing. For abdominal pain, chrysolite stone, ground into powder, was taken orally. To facilitate childbirth, women wore jewelry made of yakhont. The healing properties of vinegar and copper sulfate, turpentine and saltpeter, “sulfur stone” and arsenic, silver, mercury, antimony and other minerals were known. The Russian people have long known about the healing properties of “sour water.” Its ancient name, Narzan, which has survived to this day, means “hero-water.”

Subsequently, the experience of traditional medicine was summarized in numerous herbalists and medical books (Fig. 66), which for the most part were compiled after the adoption of Christianity in Rus' and the spread of literacy. Unfortunately, many handwritten medical books were lost during wars and other disasters. A little more than 250 ancient Russian herbalists and healers have survived to this day. They contain descriptions of numerous traditional methods of Russian healing from the times of Christian Rus', 6aavle and Kyiv, and later - in Novgorod, Smolensk, Lvov. The monastery hospital of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the first Russian monastery founded in the first half of the 11th century, was widely known. in the vicinity of Kyiv and received its name from the caves (pechers), in which the monks originally settled.

The wounded and sick with various ailments came from all over Rus' to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and many found healing there. For the seriously ill, the monastery had special rooms (hospitals), where monks were on duty, caring for the sick. Monastic chronicles (“Kievo-Pechersk Patericon”, 12th century) report on several ascetic monks who became famous for their medical art. Among them is the “wonderful doctor” Anthony (11th century) who came from Athos, who personally looked after the sick, giving them his healing “potion”; the Monk Alimpiy ^\ c.4), who tapetized the daubing of the married women, and the Monk Agapit (died in 1095) - the closest disciple of the Monk Anthony.

Agapit treated and performed the most menial tasks for free, to be tolerant and cordial towards him, to do everything in his power to cure the patient and not to care about personal enrichment or professional vanity.

At the same time, healing in ancient Rus' was not a church monopoly: along with monastic medicine, there was also more ancient folk (secular) medicine. However, at this stage of history, pagan healers (magicians, sorcerers, sorcerers and witches) were declared servants of the devil and, as a rule, were persecuted.

Ylp-and the courts of princes. ". boyars ^most likely 12th century) served as secular lechts, both Russian and foreign. Thus, at the court of Vladimir Monomakh, an Armenian healer served, named after them and was very popular among the people. Once he healed Vladimir Monomakh * when he was still the prince of Chernigov - he sent him “potions”, from which Prince Vladimir quickly recovered. Upon recovery, the prince wished to generously reward his healer, but Agapit asked to hand over his dear

princely polarki for poor people.

“And they heard about him in the city, that there was a certain healer in the monastery, and many sick people came to him and recovered.”

Thus, the “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon” contains the first specific information about medical ethics in ancient Rus': the healer must be an example of philanthropy up to the point of self-sacrifice, for the sake of the patient, identify the disease by the pulse and appearance of the patient and was very popular among the people. And at the princely court in Chernigov in the 12th century. the famous healer Peter the Syrian (i.e., Syrian) served. The residents of Lech widely used the experience of traditional medicine in their practice.

Some ancient Russian monastic hospitals were also centers of education: they taught medicine and collected Greek and Byzantine manuscripts. In the process of translating manuscripts from Greek and Latin, the monks supplemented them with their knowledge based on the experience of Russian folk healing.

One of the most popular books of the 11th century. was “Svyatoslav’s Selectman”. Translated from Greek in Bulgaria, it was copied twice in Rus' (1073, 1076) for the son of Yaroslav the Wise, Prince Svyatoslav, from which it received its name. “Izbornik” in its content went beyond the scope of its original task - to connect social relations in Rus' with the norms of the new Christian morality - and acquired the features of an encyclopedia. It also describes some diseases, ideas about their causes, treatment and prevention that corresponded to that time, provides advice on vitality (for example, “vegetables have great strength”, or “drinking immeasurably” in itself “is rabies”) and contain recommendations. keep the body clean, wash regularly, perform ablutions.

The Izbornik talks about cutters (surgeons) who are able to “cut tissue”, amputate limbs, other sick or dead parts of the body, do therapeutic cauterizations using a hot iron, treat the damaged area with herbs and ointments. Described. drywall knives for dissection and medical sharpeners. At the same time, the Izbornik contains incurable ailments, against which the medicine of that time was powerless.

IN ancient Russian literature XII century There is information about female healers, chiropractor grandmothers who skillfully performed massage, and about attracting women to care for the sick.

In terms of the level of development of sanitary affairs, the Old Russian state in the X-XIV centuries was ahead of the countries of Western Europe. During archaeological excavations of ancient Novgorod, documents dating back to 1346 were found, which report the existence of hospitals for the civilian population in Novgorod and about spvg cialists -alchemists who prepared medicines.

On the territory of ancient Novgorod, multi-tiered (up to 30 floorings) wooden pavements created in the 10th-11th centuries, more than 2,100 buildings with hygienic items located in them, were discovered and studied, pottery and wooden catch basins and drainage systems were discovered - one of the oldest in Northern Europe ( Fig. 68). Note that in Germany the water supply system was built in the 15th century, and the first pavements were laid in the 14th century.

Integral integral part The medical and sanitary life of ancient Rus' was the Russian steam bath (Fig. 69), which has long been considered a wonderful means of healing. The bathhouse was the cleanest room in the estate. That is why, along with its direct purpose, the bathhouse was also used as a place where they delivered babies, provided first care to a newborn, set dislocations and performed bloodletting, performed massages and “put pots on,” treated colds and joint diseases, and rubbed medicinal ointments for skin diseases.

The first description of a Russian steam bath is contained in the chronicle of Nestor (11th century). Centuries later, the famous Russian obstetrician N. M. Maksimovich-Ambodik (1744-1812) wrote: “The Russian bath is still considered an indispensable remedy for many diseases. In medical science there is no medicine that would be equal to the power of... a bath” (1783).

In the Middle Ages, Europe was the scene of devastating epidemics. In Russian chronicles, along with numerous descriptions of the diseases of princes and individual representatives of the upper class (boyars, clergy), there are terrifying pictures of large epidemics of plague and other infectious diseases, which in Rus' were called “pestilence”, “pestilence” or “endemic diseases”. So, in 1092 in Kyiv, “many people died of various ailments.” In the central part of Rus', “in the summer of 6738 (1230) ... there was a pestilence in Smolensk, Stvo, Risha 4 poor women in two you put 16,000, and in the third 7,000, and in the fourth 9,000. The same evil happened for two years. That same summer there was a pestilence in Novgorod: from famine (hunger). And other people slaughtered their brother and killed them.” Death! thousands of residents of Smolensk indicates that the disease was extremely contagious and was accompanied by a high mortality rate. Chronicle of soo< щает также о «великом море» на I си в 1417 г.: «..мор бысть страшен ЗГ ло на люди в Великом Новгороде и э Пскове, и в Ладозе, и в Руси».

There was an opinion among the people that natural epidemics arise from changes in natural forces, changes in the position of the stars, the wrath of the gods, and changes in the years. In Russians folk tales t*-ma was portrayed as a tall woman with flowing hair? wearing white clothes, cholera - in the form of an evil old woman with a distorted face. The misunderstanding that dirt and poverty constituted a social danger led to non-compliance with hygiene rules and intensified epidemics: famine followed in their wake. In an effort to stop endemic diseases, people took the most desperate measures. For example, when in Novgorod in the 14th century. When the plague broke out, the Go-Eozhans built the Church of St. Andrew Stratelates within 24 hours, which has survived to this day. However, neither the construction of churches nor prayers saved the people from disasters - epidemics in Europe at that time claimed tens of thousands of human lives.

The most big number epidemics in Rus' occurred during the period of the Mongol-Tatar yoke (1240-1480).

The Mongol-Tatar yoke ravaged and devastated the Russian lands, as well as the states of Central Asia and the Caucasus. The ongoing struggle of the Russian people forced the conquerors to abandon the idea of ​​​​creating their own governing bodies in Rus'. Rus' retained its statehood, but the long-term oppression and ruin of the country by the Golden Horde led to the subsequent lag of the Russian lands in their development from the countries of Western Europe.

One of the centers of Russian medicine of that time was the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery, founded in 1397 and not subject to enemy invasion. Within the walls of the monastery at the beginning of the 15th century. monk Kirill Belozersky (1337-1427) translated from Greek “Galinovo on Hippocrates” (Galen’s comments to the “Hippocratic Collection”). There were several hospitals at the monastery. One of them has currently been restored and is protected by the state as an architectural monument.

In the XIII-XIV centuries. new cities have strengthened in the Russian lands: Tver, Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow, Kolomna, Kostroma, etc. Moscow stood at the head of the unification of Russian lands.

Rus

MEDICINE IN MEDIEVAL Rus'. MEDICINE IN THE ANCIENT RUSSIAN STATE (IX-XIV centuries) Kievan Rus, caliphates.

Development of healing

Healing existed in 3 forms: 1 - folk healing (witchcraft and witchcraft), 2 - monastic medicine (developed after the adoption of Christianity) and 3 - secular medicine.

Ethnoscience. It has been developing for a long time and was an integral part of pagan culture. Until the 19th century, it was the only available means of maintaining health. It united real knowledge of the healing powers of nature and faith in miraculous secrets. Healing was carried out by the pagan priestly class (sorcerers, witches, etc.) The scope of their activities included: public magical actions, witchcraft, fortune telling, etc. Later, folk healers were called healers. They are spoken of in the “Russian Truth” - the oldest code of Russian laws that has come down to us, which was compiled under Yaroslav the Wise. “Russian Truth” legally established the wages of healers: according to the laws of that time, a person who caused damage to the health of another person had to pay a fine to the state treasury and give the victim money to pay for treatment. The healers passed on their healing knowledge and secrets from generation to generation. Medicines made from plants were very popular. Among medicines of animal origin, honey, raw cod liver, mare's milk and deer antlers occupied a special place.

Products of mineral origin were used. To facilitate childbirth, women wore jewelry made of yakhont. The healing properties of vinegar and copper sulfate, silver, mercury, antimony and other minerals were known. The Russian people have long known about the healing properties of sour water. Subsequently, the experience of traditional medicine was summarized in numerous herbalists and medical books. A little more than 250 ancient Russian herbalists and healers have survived to this day.

Monastic medicine began to develop after the adoption of Christianity. Illness was perceived as punishment or the possession of demons, and recovery was spiritual forgiveness. The monastery hospital of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the first Russian monastery, was widely known. From all over Rus', the wounded and sick with various ailments went to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and many found healing there. For the seriously ill, the monastery had special rooms (hospitals), where monks were on duty, caring for the sick. Among them, the most famous are Anthony, Alimpius, who healed lepers, and Agapit. Agapit treated the inhabitants of the monastery for free, prepared medicines himself and cared for the sick, healed Prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich (sent him a potion) a man must be a model of philanthropy right down to self-sacrifice, for the sake of the patient, perform even the most menial tasks, be tolerant, etc.

Some ancient Russian monastic hospitals were also centers of education: they taught medicine and collected Greek and Byzantine manuscripts

One of the most popular books of the 11th century. was ʼʼIzbornikʼʼ. Its purpose was to connect social relations in Rus' with the norms of Christian morality.

The “Izbornik” talks about cutters (surgeons) who knew how to “cut tissue,” amputate limbs and other diseased or dead parts of the body, perform therapeutic cauterizations using a hot iron, and treat the damaged area with herbs and ointments. Knives for dissection and medical sharpeners are described. At the same time, the “Izbornik” lists incurable ailments, against which the medicine of that time was powerless.

In ancient Russian literature of the 12th century. There is information about female healers, chiropractor grandmothers who skillfully performed massage, and about attracting women to care for the sick.

Secular medicine The princes and boyars were served by secular doctors, both Russian and foreign. Thus, at the court of Vladimir Monomakh, an Armenian physician served. He knew how to determine diseases by the pulse and appearance of the patient.

There was a stubborn struggle between different areas of healing.

Sanitation

In terms of development, sanitary science was ahead of the countries of Western Europe. On the territory of ancient Novgorod, multi-tiered (up to 30 floorings) wooden pavements created in the 10th-11th centuries, more than 2100 buildings with hygienic items located in them, were discovered and studied, pottery and wooden catch basins and drainage systems were discovered - one of the oldest in Northern Europe. An integral part of the medical and sanitary life of ancient Rus' was the Russian steam bath, which has long been considered a wonderful means of healing. The bathhouse was the cleanest room in the estate. That is why, along with its direct purpose, the bathhouse was also used as a place where childbirth was delivered, first care was given to a newborn, dislocations were set and bloodletting was done, massages were performed and pots were applied, colds and joint diseases were treated, and medicinal ointments were rubbed for skin diseases.

Russian chronicles contain terrifying pictures of large epidemics of plague and other infectious diseases, which in Rus' were called “morom”. The population resorted to measures to limit contaminated areas - outposts were set up on the roads to cities captured by diseases and fences were set up in the forests. At the same time, the dead were buried in churches, which contributed to the spread of the infection. It was believed that the pestilence was caused by supernatural causes. The misunderstanding that the cause of disease was poverty and dirt intensified the epidemics.

Arabic-language culture and medicine

The translation activities of the Arabs played an invaluable role in preserving the heritage of those who preceded them. Civilizations.

In the field of disease theory, the Arabs adopted the ancient Greek teachings about the four elements and four bodily juices. According to the Arabs, each of the elements and liquids participates in the creation of four qualities: heat, cold, dryness and humidity, which determine the temperament of each person. It should be normal, in case of balance of all components, or “unbalanced”. When the balance is disturbed, the doctor’s task is to restore the original state.

In the treatment of internal diseases, primary attention was paid to establishing correct mode and only then were medications used.

Having borrowed from the Syrians the idea of ​​​​using alchemy in the field of medicine, the Arabs played an important role in the formation and development of pharmacy and the creation of the pharmacopoeia. Pharmacies began to open in cities for preparation and sale. Alchemists of the medieval Arabic-speaking East invented a water bath and alembic, used filtration, and obtained nitric and hydrochloric acids, bleach and alcohol. Al-Razi was an outstanding philosopher, physician and chemist of the early Middle Ages. Al-Razi compiled the first encyclopedic work on medicine in Arabic literature, A Comprehensive Book on Medicine in 25 volumes. Describing each disease, he analyzed it from the perspective of Greek, Syrian, Indian, Persian and Arab authors, after which he outlined his observations and conclusions. Another encyclopedic work by Ar-Razi, “The Medical Book,” in 10 volumes, summarized the knowledge of that time in the field of medical theory, pathology, medicinal healing, dietetics, hygiene and cosmetics, surgery, toxicology and infectious diseases.

Among the numerous works of Ar-Razi, the small treatise “On Smallpox and Measles” is of particular value. In it, Ar-Razi clearly formulated the idea of ​​​​the contagiousness of these diseases and described their differential diagnosis, treatment, nutrition of the patient, measures to protect against infection, and skin care for the sick.

Islamic traditions do not allow dissection of the human body, but have made significant contributions to the development individual areas anatomy and surgery. This was especially evident in ophthalmology. While studying the structure of the animal eye, the famous Egyptian astronomer and physician Ibn al-Haytham was the first to explain the refraction of rays in the media of the eye and give names to its parts, and put forward the idea of ​​vision correction using biconvex lenses.

Ammar ibn Ali al-Mausili also belongs to the galaxy of remarkable Arab ophthalmologists. The operation he developed to remove cataracts by suctioning the lens using a hollow needle he invented was a great success and was called the “Ammara operation.”

Ali ibn Isa made a great contribution to the development of the doctrine of eye diseases. He wrote a book “Memorandum for Oculists”. The first part of the book is devoted to a description of the eye and its structure, the second - to eye diseases that are felt by the senses, the third - to eye diseases that are invisible to the patient.

Treatment of eye diseases was the area of ​​medicine in which the influence of the Arab school was felt in Western Europe up to the 17th century.

TO outstanding achievements Arabs in the field of anatomy include a description of the pulmonary circulation.

Surgery in the medieval Arabic-speaking world was more of a craft because Islam prohibited autopsies.

Al-Zahrawi is considered the most outstanding surgeon of the medieval Arabic-speaking world. Al-Zahrawi operated brilliantly. His priorities include: the use of catgut in abdominal surgery and for subcutaneous sutures, suture with cast and two needles, the first use of the supine position in pelvic operations; he described what is now commonly called tuberculous bone disease and introduced cataract surgery into Western eye surgery.

Organization of hospital affairs received significant development in the caliphates. Initially, the establishment of hospitals was a secular matter. Hospitals founded by Muslims were of three types.

The first type included hospitals established by caliphs or famous Muslim figures and designed for a wide segment of the population. Οʜᴎ were financed by the state, had a staff of doctors and service personnel. Libraries and medical schools were created at hospitals. The training was theoretical and practical: students accompanied the teacher during his rounds in the hospital and visited sick people at home with him.

The second type of hospital was financed by famous doctors and religious figures and was small.

The third type of hospitals were military medical institutions. Οʜᴎ moved with the army and were located in tents, castles, and citadels. During military campaigns, along with male doctors, warriors were also accompanied by female doctors who cared for the wounded.

High level the organization of medical affairs in the medieval East is closely related to the development of hygiene and disease prevention. The ban on performing autopsies, on the one hand, limited research into the structure of the body and its functions, and on the other, directed the efforts of doctors to find other ways to preserve health and led to the development of rational hygienic measures. Many of them are enshrined in the Koran.

Medical education carried out:

1 – self-education, 2 – training from your parents who are doctors, 3 – training from famous doctors, 4 – training in medical schools.

The beginnings of healing among the Eastern Slavs were noted back in the primitive communal period. In the vast Kiev state that was formed after the unification of the Slavic tribes, medicine continued to develop along with culture. Ancient Rus' knew several forms of medical care: private medical practice, medical guardianship and hospital care.

In connection with the development of crafts in Kievan Rus of the 10th-13th centuries, it received further development ethnoscience. In Kyiv and Novgorod there were healers, that is, people for whom healing was a profession. The medical profession was of a craft nature and was understood as a special type of craft. Healing was carried out by secular people - men and women, as well as the clergy (mainly monks in monasteries after the adoption of Christianity). Healing was considered an honorable occupation: “The art of medicine is not celebrated both in the worldly and in monks.” Numerous written monuments that have survived to our time confirm the existence of feudal Rus' medical craft both among the general population and in monasteries.

It is necessary to reject the false statement of some medical historians (Richter) about Ancient Rus' as a country of lack of culture, inertia, about the dominance in Russian medicine of that time of mysticism, gross superstition, and in the life of the Russian people - blatant unsanitary conditions. Monuments visual arts and writing, archaeological research shows that the basic sanitary and hygienic skills of the Russian people were at a significant level for that time. Even at the dawn of their history, our ancestors had correct ideas in the field of sanitation and hygiene - public, food and personal. The time of the Kiev-Novgorod state was characterized by the presence of a certain level of sanitary culture among the Eastern Slavs.

In some cases, the Russian people were ahead of neighboring countries in introducing sanitary and hygienic measures into everyday life. The streets in Novgorod and Lvov were paved in the 10th century, i.e. much earlier than the streets of Western European cities. In Novgorod already in the 11th century there was a wooden pipeline. Archaeological research has discovered the remains of a bathhouse in Novgorod in the 10th century, in Staraya Ladoga - in the layer of the 9th-10th centuries. Foreigners have always noted with surprise the Russians’ love for the bathhouse. The agreement with Byzantium, dated according to the chronicle to 907, included the obligation of the defeated Byzantium to provide Russian merchants in Constantinople with the opportunity to use the bathhouse.

In feudal Rus' of the 11th-16th centuries, carriers medical knowledge folk doctors and artisans appeared. They passed on their practical experience from generation to generation, used the results of direct observation and experience of the Russian people, as well as various ways and healing techniques for numerous tribes that make up the vast Russian state. The practice of artisan doctors was paid and therefore was available only to the wealthy segments of the population.

City doctors ran shops selling medicines. Medicines were mainly of plant origin; Dozens of plant species were used for medicinal purposes. Archaeological finds show that the Russian soil abounded in medicinal plants and provided a rich choice for medicinal use. This circumstance was noted by Western European writers. Plants that were unknown in Western Europe were used.

As was shown earlier, in Armenia, Georgia and among the peoples of Central Asia, medical information was quite widespread even under the primitive communal and slave systems. Economic and cultural relations with Byzantium, Law, Armenia. Georgia and Central Asia contributed to the spread of medical knowledge in Kievan Rus.

Doctors came to Kyiv from Syria, for example, the doctor of Prince Nikolai of Chernigov (a very experienced doctor). Doctors from Armenia also came.

Information about the activities of doctors in Kievan Rus is contained in various sources: chronicles, legal acts of that time, charters, other written monuments and monuments of material culture. Medical elements were introduced into the system of Russian legal concepts and legal definitions: in the legal assessment of human health, bodily injuries, and establishing the fact of violent death.

By the end of the 10th century, Christianity became the official religion of the Kyiv state. The struggle between Christianity, which was implanted from above, and the old local paganism was accompanied by their adaptation to each other. The Church was unable to destroy pagan rituals and cults and tried to replace them with Christian ones. Temples and monasteries were built on the site of pagan prayer sites, icons were placed instead of idols and idols, the properties of pagan bots were transferred to Christian saints, the texts of conspiracies were altered in a Christian manner. Christianity was not able to immediately eradicate the religion of nature that existed among the Slavs. In essence, it did not refute the pagan gods, but overthrew them: Christianity declared the entire world of “spirits” with which the Slav populated nature to be “evil spirits,” “demons.” Thus ancient animism turned into folk demonology.

The introduction of Christianity influenced the development of ancient Russian medicine. The Orthodox religion brought from Byzantium transferred to Kievan Rus the connection between churches and monasteries with treatment that had been established there. The “Charter of Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavich” (late 10th or early 11th century) pointed to the doctor, his distinguished and legalized position in society, classifying the doctor as “church people, almshouse.” The Charter determined and legal status doctors and medical institutions, classifying them as subject to ecclesiastical judgment. This codification is significant: it gave authority to the lechs and provided the clergy with supervision over them. Medical law was approved for certain individuals and institutions. The set of legal norms of Kievan Rus “Russkaya Pravda” (XI-XII centuries) affirmed the right of medical practice and established the legality of doctors collecting fees from the population for treatment (“a lechpu bribe”). The laws of the “Charter of ... Vladimir” and “Russian Truth” remained in force for a long time. In subsequent centuries, they were included in most legislative collections (“Helmsmen’s Books”).

The monasteries in Kievan Rus were to a large extent the successors of Byzantine education. Some elements of medicine also penetrated their walls and were combined with the practice of Russian folk healing, which made it possible to engage in medical activities. The Patericon (chronicle of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, XI-XIII centuries) contains information about the appearance of their own doctors in monasteries and the recognition of secular doctors. Among the monks there were many artisans who were good at their profession; There were also Lechts among them.

Since the 11th century, following the example of Byzantium, hospitals began to be built at monasteries in Kievan Rus (“bathhouse buildings, doctors and hospitals provide healing to all who come free of charge”). Hospitals at monasteries were intended to serve not only the monastery, but also the surrounding population. The monasteries tried to concentrate healing in their own hands and declared persecution of traditional medicine. Prince Vladimir’s “Charter on Church Courts” (10th century) included sorcery and greenery among the crimes against the church and Christianity, but the church could not defeat traditional medicine.

Education in Kievan Rus was primarily the property of people from ruling class and the clergy. Many literary works of a historical, legal and theological nature, as well as natural science content, preserved from the time of Kievan Rus, testify not only to the high literary talent of their authors, but also to their wide awareness, general education, familiarity with Greek and Latin sources and many works Ancient East.

In Kievan Rus of the 11th-13th centuries, the embryos of real science are visible, that is, elements of objective, true knowledge of material reality in the spirit of spontaneous materialism.

Special medical books from Kievan Rus have not reached us, but their existence is very likely. They're talking about it general level culture of Kievan Rus and the presence of biological and medical issues in books of general content that have come down to us from Kievan Rus. The Shestodneva, for example, contains a description of the structure of the body and the functions of its organs: the lungs (“ivy”), bronchi (“proluki”), heart, liver (“estra”), and spleen (“tear”) are described. The granddaughter of Vladimir Monomakh Eupraxia-Zoya, who married the Byzantine emperor, left the composition “Ointments” in the 12th century, in which she reflected the medical experience of her homeland.

The Tatar-Mongol yoke did not contribute to the preservation of the ancient literary works of a special nature that did not have such wide circulation as theological works or legal codes.

The scourge of medieval Russian cities and monasteries - numerous fires destroyed many valuable sources.

IN written sources The time of Kievan Rus shows familiarity with the use of herbal medicines and their effect on the body. Many ancient manuscripts contain miniature drawings, which the historian figuratively called “windows through which one can see the disappeared world of Ancient Rus'.” The miniatures depict how the sick were treated, the wounded were treated, how hospitals at the monasteries were set up, and there are drawings of medicinal herbs, medical instruments, and prostheses. Starting from the 11th century, miniatures reflected public, food and personal hygiene, as well as the sanitation of the Russian people.

In the middle of the 13th century, Rus' was subjected to a Tatar invasion. In 1237-1238 Batu attacked North-Eastern Rus', and in 1240-1242. carried out a campaign in Southern Rus'. In 1240, the Tatars occupied Kyiv, the southern part of Poland, Hungary and Moravia. The Tatar invasion of the 13th century was a terrible disaster for the Russian people. The destruction of cities, the captivity of the population, heavy tribute, the reduction of crops - all this disrupted the economic, political and cultural development of the country. The Mongol conquerors trampled and plundered the flourishing culture of Kievan Rus at the time of its greatest rise.

The heroic struggle of the Russian people against the Tatar-Mongol enslavers, which did not stop throughout the 13th-15th centuries, did not allow the Tatars to move to the West, thereby creating the conditions for the development of Western European civilization.

The Tatar-Mongol yoke, which lasted from 1240 to 1480, with its economic, political and moral burden, slowed down the development of Rus' for a long time. The economic devastation associated with the Mongol yoke had a detrimental effect on the sanitary condition of Rus', contributing to the development of epidemics. “From this unfortunate time, which lasted about two centuries, Russia allowed Europe to overtake itself” (A. I. Herzen). The liberation struggle of the Russian people against the Tatar-Mongol enslavers was completed in the 15th century by the unification of Russian lands into a single national state.

Medicine in the Muscovite state of the 16th-17th centuries

From the second half of the 14th century, the process of national and economic unification of Rus' around Moscow took place. At the end of the 15th century, under Ivan III, the feudal Moscow state was created. Economic development took on a faster pace: the domestic market revived, trade relations with the East and West were established and expanded (in 1553, an English ship entered the mouth of the Northern Dvina). By the end of the 16th century, a merchant class had emerged: the living room hundred, the cloth hundred. Trade and craft settlements were formed in the cities. “Astonished Europe at the beginning of the reign of Ivan III, barely noticing the existence of Muscovy, squeezed between the Tatars and Lithuanians, was amazed by the sudden appearance of a huge state on its eastern borders.” Centralization government controlled and the transformation of Muscovite Rus' from a national to a multinational state in the 16th century led to significant cultural development.

With the formation of the Moscow state, especially from the beginning of the 16th century, there was rapid progress in the development of medicine. In connection with the growth and strengthening of the Muscovite state in the 16th and 17th centuries, transformations and innovations in the field of medicine arose.

In the 16th century in Muscovite Rus' there was a division of medical professions. There were more than a dozen of them: healers, doctors, greensmiths, gravers, ore throwers (bloodletters), dentists, full-time masters, chiropractors, stone cutters, midwives. Folk doctors and pharmacists-herbalists of the practical school provided medical care to the Russian people. Practice passed down for centuries, herbalists, medicinals were their science. Greengrocers treated diseases with herbs, roots and other drugs. Doctors had shops in shopping arcades where they sold collected herbs, seeds, flowers, roots and imported medicines. The owners of such shops studied the quality and healing power of the materials they sold. The shop owners - doctors, craftsmen and herbalists - were overwhelmingly Russian.

There were few doctors and they lived in cities. There is a lot of evidence about the activities of artisan doctors in Moscow, Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, etc. Payment for healing was made depending on the participation of the doctor, his awareness and the cost of the medicine. The services of doctors were primarily used by the wealthy sections of the urban population. The peasant poor, burdened with feudal obligations, could not pay for expensive doctor services and resorted to sources of more primitive medical care.

Pharmacy-type institutions in the 16th century were in different cities of the Moscow state. The so-called scribal books that have survived to this day, which are a census of households in cities for the purpose of establishing quitrents, provide accurate information (names, addresses and nature of activities) about Russian doctors of the 16th and 17th centuries. According to these data, in Novgorod in 1583 there were six doctors, one doctor and one healer, in Pskov in 1585-1588. - three greens. There is information about green rows and shops in Moscow, Serpukhov, Kolomna and other cities.

Early chronicles provide insight into how the wounded and sick were treated. Numerous evidence and miniatures in handwritten monuments show how in the XI-XIV centuries. in Rus', the sick and wounded were carried on stretchers, transported on pack stretchers and in carts. Caring for the injured and sick was widespread in Rus'. Guardianships existed in churches and in city districts. The Mongol invasion slowed down medical care by the people and the state. From the second half of the 14th century, medical care began to acquire its former patronage from the state and people. This was a consequence of major economic and political successes in the country: the strengthening of the Moscow principality, the subordination of other feudal estates to it, the expansion of territory, and the increase in trade and crafts. Battle of Kulikovo 1380 Medical care consisted of organizing shelters and almshouses for the crippled, crippled and other chronically ill.

Almshouses in Muscovite Rus' were maintained mainly by the population themselves; the role of the church was less than in Western Europe. Every 53 households in the village and city maintained an almshouse at their expense to house the sick and old: almshouses are known in Novgorod and Kolomna. To provide assistance in the form of charity, a doctor and a bloodletter visited the almshouse. Those who remained able to work were given the opportunity to work, for which almshouses were allocated land for cultivation.

The almshouses provided medical care to the population and were a link between the population and the monastery hospitals. City almshouses had a kind of reception area called “shops”. The sick were brought here for assistance, and the deceased was brought here for burial.

The Council of the Hundred Heads in 1551, convened by Ivan IV to discuss the internal structure of the country, also touched upon issues of “health, everyday life, family, public charity.” Stoglav’s decisions state:<Да повелит благочестивый царь всех прокаженных и состарившихся опи-сати по всем градам, опричь здравых строев.

Since the 14th century, monasteries, becoming fortresses, captured and developed significant areas of empty land. In the event of an enemy invasion, the surrounding population took refuge from the enemy behind the strong walls of the monasteries. By the beginning of the 16th century, many monasteries became large fiefdoms, owners of great wealth. In the conditions of a large monastic economy, there was a need not only for occasional medical care, but also for the organization of hospitals.

Large monasteries maintained hospitals. The regime of Russian monastery hospitals was largely determined by statutory provisions, including the rules for caring for the sick of the statute of Fyodor the Studian, borrowed from Byzantium, the first copies of which date back to the 12th century. By the 14th century there were large Russian colonies in Greek monasteries. From here many prominent Russian monks, bookworms, drafters of statutes, and abbots came to Russian monasteries. Through these persons, lists of various charters, regulations and other literature were transmitted to Rus'. Hospital rules c. Russian monasteries were subject to changes taking into account local characteristics.

Ancient Rus' often suffered large epidemics, especially in the 14th century. The chronicles report: “The pestilence was very strong in Smolensk, Kyiv and Suzdal, and throughout the land of Rusti, death was fierce and vain and quick. At that time not a single person remained in Glukhov, they were all wrinkled, and in Sitsa and on Bela Ozero...” (1351). “The pestilence in Pskov was very strong throughout the entire land of Pskov, and in the villages of death there were many. I still haven’t had time to bury the priest…” (1352). “...In Moscow there was a great and terrible pestilence; I couldn’t hide the dead while they were alive; Everywhere there were dead people, and many courtyards were left..." (1364), etc. The same is evidenced by preserved correspondence, reports of squad leaders, etc.

The chronicles provide material about the anti-epidemic measures used in Muscovite Rus': separating the sick from the healthy, cordoning off foci of infection, burning out infected houses and neighborhoods, burying the dead away from housing, outposts, fires on the roads. This shows that already at that time the people had an idea about the transmission of infectious diseases and the possibility of destruction and neutralization of the infection.

Under the influence of wars, economic and general political conditions, the consciousness of the need for state organization of medical affairs matured, which was carried out at the end of the 16th century during the reign of Ivan IV and especially in the middle of the 17th century during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. The beginning of the state organization of health care in the Moscow state was laid by the establishment under Ivan IV at the end of the 16th century of the Pharmacy Chamber, renamed in the 17th century into the Pharmacy Prikaz. While in the countries of Western Europe medical affairs were entirely the responsibility of monasteries and other religious institutions, in the Muscovite state of the 17th century, the management of all medical affairs was entrusted to a secular body - the Apothecary Prikaz. The Apothecary Order, along with other orders (Posolsky, Big Treasury, Inozemsky, Siberian, Streletsky, etc.) was part of the state apparatus of Moscow Rus' and existed throughout the 17th century.

The functions of the Pharmacy Order gradually became more complex and expanded. The pharmaceutical order was obliged to monitor pharmacies, doctors, care for the sick and “make efforts to ensure the general health of fellow citizens, to prevent the spread of sticky diseases.”

The Pharmacy Prikaz was in charge of the royal pharmacy, the collection and cultivation of medicinal plants, purchasing them in other countries, supervised the court doctors serving the royal family and boyars close to the king, controlled healing, invited foreign doctors, tested the knowledge of these doctors when entering the Russian service, appointed doctors to the regiments, provided regimental pharmacies (with medicines and conducted forensic medical examinations (“what caused death”) and general medical examinations.

The pharmaceutical order collected wild medicinal plants in various parts of the country. He was in charge of the collectors of medicinal plants. Lists of plants to be collected were compiled by the Pharmacy Order. Doctors and medical students supervised the collection of meats. Medicinal plants were bred by “experts” for sale to the Apothecary Order; the best “experts” were included in the lists of employees of the Apothecary Order.

There were two pharmacies in Moscow:

1) old, founded in 1581 in the Kremlin, opposite the Chudov Monastery, and

2) new, - from 1673, in the New Gostiny Dvor “a Ilyinka, opposite the Ambassadorial Court.

The new pharmacy supplied the troops; From it, medicines were sold “to people of all ranks” at the price available in the “index book.” Several pharmaceutical gardens were assigned to the new pharmacy, where medicinal plants were bred and cultivated.

In the 17th century, Russia waged frequent and prolonged wars with Poland, Sweden and Turkey, which made it necessary to organize the treatment of wounded soldiers and carry out sanitary measures among the troops and among the population. These needs could not be sufficiently satisfied by artisan doctors. The government was faced with the question of broader training of doctors. In order to have its own Russian doctors, the government tried to train Russians in medical science from foreign doctors who lived in Russia. Foreign doctors, upon entering the service, signed a signature that “for the sovereign’s salary, the students who were given for teaching will teach with great diligence ... with all diligence and without hiding anything.”

In the 17th century, the Moscow state sent a small number of young people (Russians and children of foreigners living in Russia) abroad to study medical sciences, but this event, due to the high cost and small number of those sent, did not bring a significant increase in the number of doctors in Muscovite Rus'. Therefore, it was decided to teach medicine more systematically. In 1653, under the Streletsky Order, a bone-setting school was opened, and the following year, 1654, under the Apothecary Order, a special medical school was organized. The royal decree wrote: “In the Pharmacy Order, archers and archer’s children and all other ranks, not from service people, should be accepted for medical training.” In August 1654, 30 students were recruited into the Pharmacy Order to study “medical, apothecary, chiropractic, alchemist and other matters.” The teachers were foreign doctors and experienced Russian doctors. The teaching began with medical botany, pharmacology and practical pharmacy, anatomy (from the skeleton and drawings) and physiological concepts were studied. After 2 years, pathological and therapeutic concepts were added - “signs of illness” (symptomatology, semiotics) and outpatient appointments. From the fourth year, students were assigned to healers to study surgery and bandaging techniques. With the doctors, the students went to war near Smolensk and Vyazma, where the entire Pharmacy Order was then with the tsar. The students of the school “washed out bullets and treated wounds and straightened broken bones, and this is what they were taught in medicine.” Those who graduated from school were sent to regiments with the rank of medical assistants. In the regiments, they had to prove themselves in practice, after which the Pharmacy Order approved them with the rank of “Russian doctors.” Thus, in the second half of the 17th century, the first cadres of Russian military and civilian doctors with school education were trained.

In contrast to the scholastic, purely book-based education in medicine at the medical faculties of medieval universities in Western Europe, the training of future doctors in the Moscow state in the 17th century was practical in nature. The Moscow state did not know the guild division of medical workers.

In 1681, the staff of the Pharmacy Prikaz exceeded 100 people: among them there were 23 foreigners: 6 doctors, 4 pharmacists, 3 alchemists, 10 healers. The bulk of the workers of the Pharmacy Prikaz were Russians: clerks - 9, Russian doctors - 21, students of medicine, chiropractic and chiselling - 38.

In Moscow in 1658, Epiphanius Slavinetsky translated Vesalius’ “Medical Anatomy” from Latin into Russian for the Tsar. The unfinished translation apparently burned down during one of Moscow's frequent fires. But the very fact of this difficult work is one of the many examples of the progressive traditions of Russian culture, responding to the advanced trends of world scientific thought.

The pharmacy order had a medical library well compiled for that time. In 1678, under the Pharmacy Prikaz, the position of translator was created, whose duties included translating such books “according to which ... Russians can be perfect doctors and pharmacists.” Medical views tended towards pronounced rationalism. This is especially felt in medical manuscripts of the 17th century.

Medical observation by that time had significantly enriched the symptomatology of diseases and often gave it a realistic interpretation. The result of symptomatology and related diagnostics by the 17th century were Russian handwritten medical books.

In the 16th and especially in the 17th centuries, handwritten books of medical content became widespread in Muscovite Rus': herbalists, medical books, “vertograds”, “pharmacies”. More than 200 such handwritten medical books have survived to this day. Some books were translations of ancient ancient medical works (Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen). Thus, at the beginning of the 15th century, Abbot Kirill of the Belozersky Monastery translated Galen’s commentaries on the works of Hippocrates from Latin into Russian under the title “Galinovo on Hippocrates.” This translation existed in lists in many monasteries. In 1612-1613 This book was used in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra to treat the wounded and sick during the siege of the Lavra by Polish invaders. The purpose of the “Herbalists” was to disseminate medical knowledge among literate people: the clergy, ruling circles and among doctors. They were used not only for treatment, but also as textbooks.

Some researchers (L.F. Zmeev) believed that Russian medical manuscripts are an imitation of East and West. A more careful study of the rich manuscript medical heritage, comparison of Russian manuscripts with the originals that served for translation, showed that Russian medical manuscripts in many cases are the product of original creativity. When translating foreign hospitals, significant changes were made to them taking into account the experience of Russian medical practice. Russian translators significantly changed the original text: they rearranged parts of the text, accompanied the translation with their own comments, cited local names of medicinal plants, indicated their distribution in our country, and added entire chapters devoted to plants found in Rus'. For a long time, Stefan Falimirz's medical book was considered to be a translation from a Polish printed edition of 1534. Research by domestic and Polish scientists has shown that the book “On Herbs and Their Effects”, which served as material for translation and publication in Krakow in 1534 in Polish, was written by a doctor from Rus', Stefan Falimirzh, who served with the Polish feudal lords. The book was compiled from several Russian handwritten herbal books and medical books of the 16th century; in it the author reflected the experience of doctors of Muscovite Rus' and wrote in many places: “in our Rus'.”

The Polish scientist physician and historian Matvey from Mekhov wrote in his “Treatise on the Two Sarmatias” at the beginning of the 16th century: “Rus abounds in many herbs and roots, not seen in other places.” The Italian historian Iovny Pavel Novokomekiy, in his “Book on the Embassy of Vasily, the Great Sovereign of Moscow to Pope Clement VII” in 1525, noted the widespread use of medicinal plants in Russian folk life.

By the 15th century, a certain amount of internal and external medicines had accumulated in the hands of healers and folk botanists - herbalists - which paved the way for the appearance of handwritten manuals on medicinal science and therapy, i.e. herbalists and physicians. Distributed in Western Europe as medical manuals, they penetrated into Russia at various times after their publication. Russian medicine, alien to Western European scholasticism, relied mainly on practice. Russian medicine of the 17th century showed great interest in the medicinal plants of their country. The initiative of the Pharmacy Order led to an expansion of the range of known medicinal plants. Russian pharmacy business in the 17th century did not depend on the foreign market. In the 16th-17th centuries, medicinal plants were sold in Moscow in seed, herb and vegetable rows in Kitay-Gorod and White City. Some herbal shops also sold prepared medicines. The pharmacy order carefully ensured that the medicines sold in herbal shops “did not cause havoc in the pharmacy to the sovereign’s treasury.” The state collected rent from greengrocers' shops, just like from commercial establishments.

Herbal medicines constituted the main part of the medicinal arsenal. Foreigners were interested in medicinal plants growing in Russia. In 1618, the English botanist Tradescant was sent to Russia under the guise of a private citizen. , Tradescant found hellebore, bird cherry and other medicinal plants in Russia, learned about the use of cloudberries as a remedy against scurvy, about the use of birch sap, lingonberries, blueberries and a number of other medicinal plants. Tradescant exported many grass seeds, shrubs and tree cuttings from Russia and used them to found the famous botanical garden in London.

Russian medicine in the Muscovite state did not avoid mysticism in its medicine. Mystical power was invested in precious stones, which were credited with the ability to cure diseases.

In the 17th century in Moscow civil hospitals emerged. In the middle of the 17th century (1650), boyar Fyodor Mikhailovich Rtishchev, partly with his own funds and partly with donations, created the first civilian hospital in Moscow with 15 beds. In 1682, a decree was issued to build two hospitals, or almshouses, in Moscow for the care of the poor. “And to treat them in any need, it is necessary that they have a doctor, a pharmacist, and three or four doctors with students and a small pharmacy”... One of these hospitals on the Granatny Dvor at the Nikitsky Gate was supposed to be used as a medical school. “So that in the hospital both patients would be treated and doctors would be taught. The combination of tasks is treating patients and training doctors.

In the Western Russian lands already at the beginning of the 16th century, and perhaps even earlier, there were doctors who received school education. They probably studied at the University of Prague (founded in 1347), at the University of Krakow (founded in 1364), at the Zamoyska Academy (founded in 1593 in Zamosc, near Lviv). At these educational institutions there were, as is known from their charters, special bursas for immigrants from the Eastern Slavic countries, primarily Lithuanians and Rusyns. Among them were those who studied medicine and became doctors, but their names are unknown. However, we know about some Russian doctors. One of them, George Drohobych, was born around 1450, from 1468 he studied at the University of Krakow at the Faculty of Philosophy, after which he studied at the University of Bologna, where in 1476 he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine and Philosophy. In 1488 he returned to Krakow and until his death in 1494 he was a professor. In 1483, Drohobych published in Rome in Latin the book “Judicium prognosticon” (astronomy with an emphasis on astrology), containing a mention of contagious diseases. Another doctor, Francis Georgy Skaryna, a man of outstanding abilities, did not find the proper conditions in his homeland for their use and development. Skaryna was born in Polotsk between 1485-1490. In 1503 or 1504 he entered the University of Krakow. In 1512 he received his doctorate in medicine from the University of Padua. Skaryna's cultural and educational activities as a translator and publisher are widely known: in 1515 he translated the psalter, in 1517-1519 - the Bible. Along with this, Skaryna was engaged in medical practice. Although we do not know Skaryna’s works of medical content, the possibility of their existence is quite likely. Doctor Pyotr Vasilyevich Posnikov

Poonikov was used mainly for diplomatic assignments: he participated in the “great embassy”, bought medicines in Holland, inspected the local academies in London, represented the Russian government in Paris for 10 years, and invited doctors to serve in Russia. During his stay in Italy, Poonikov was engaged in physiological experiments (“To kill living dogs, and to live dead ones - we don’t really need this thing,” clerk Voznitsyn wrote to Posnikov).

Foreign doctors appeared in the Moscow state starting from the 15th century. One of the first to bring a foreign doctor into Sofia's retinue was Paleologus in 1473. Some medical historians (for example, Richter) overestimated the role of foreign doctors, arguing that they played almost the main role in the medicine of the Moscow state. However, we have already seen that the main role was played by Russian doctors, who received their knowledge through apprenticeship. In the middle of the 17th century, under the Pharmacy Order, a medical school was created that trained doctors. Inviting foreigners did not mean the absence of their own masters.

In the 40s of the 16th century, under Ivan IV, the Moscow government invited a number of foreign doctors to serve. Especially many of them were invited in the 17th century. Foreign doctors in Muscovite Rus' were placed in a privileged position and received significantly higher salaries compared to domestic doctors. Many foreign doctors came for high earnings and usually did not live in Moscow for long, were not interested in the needs of the people, and did not strive to pass on their knowledge. As a result, they did nothing for the medical education of Russia, for the organization and improvement of medical care, and in many cases they came up with ideas that were even hostile to the Russian people.

In the 16th and 17th centuries in the Moscow state, the ground was prepared for the fundamental shifts and transformations that took place in domestic medicine in the 18th century.

History and theory of historical science

A.N. Bear

HEALING IN ANCIENT

AND MEDIEVAL Rus'

AND ITS STUDY

IN MODERN HISTORIOGRAPHY

IN The article analyzes Soviet and post-Soviet literature on the history of healing in Ancient and Medieval Rus'. Monographs by historians are assessed from the point of view of the use of sources, research methods and the concept of the development of domestic medicine

in the XI–XVI centuries. It is concluded that the concept of modern Russian historians is based on the views of historians of the Soviet era and contains a number of erroneous and controversial points.

Key words: Ancient Rus', Muscovy, medicine, history of medicine, historiography.

Works on the history of medicine written within the traditional direction show that it originates

V the early period - at least in the 10th century - and in the later period there was a consistent development of medicine in Rus'. In addition, the main driving force for the development of medical knowledge in these works is recognized as the royal court and the doctors who worked under it, and traditional medicine has been studied only since the second half of the 19th century. The studies of V.M. were carried out in a similar vein. Richter, F.L. Germana, N.Ya. Novombergsky 1 and many others. With the development of the history of medicine as a separate direction

V ancient Russian written monuments came to the attention of historians 2 .

The main conclusions made by pre-revolutionary historians were actively assimilated and processed by Soviet scientists. In Soviet times, works by N.A. appeared. Bogoyavlensky3 and M.K. Kuzmin4, and in post-Soviet times - M.B. Mirsky and T.V. Chumakova and S.M. Marchukova.

© Medved A.N., 2013

The work they did was enormous and deserves respect, but it cannot be denied that their work formed certain stereotypes that sometimes interfere with an adequate assessment of healing and healing in Ancient Rus'.

First of all, let's look at the sources mentioned by the authors.

Not as many of them have survived from this period as from the period of the mid-16th–17th centuries. ON THE. Bogoyavlensky5 studied dozens of written monuments on this topic, drawing on ancient Russian pictorial sources. At the same time, the author’s goal is obvious: an assessment of ancient Russian healing from the perspective of a researcher of the 20th century. But even Bogoyavlensky’s large and detailed analysis of written sources testifying to medical knowledge in Ancient Rus' was not accompanied by the main caveat: these works were translated (with the exception of individual herbalists and physicians of the 17th century) and did not go beyond the narrow circle of monastery libraries. In addition, some of these works were only part of large, diverse collections. In other words, the medical texts in these collections served as educational literature, but not as a guide to action. As a result, the modern reader gets the impression that already in Ancient Rus' a European-type society had formed, which perceived medicine as a science and fully recognized the priority of a rationalistic approach to the treatment of diseases.

The work of S.M. has exactly the same focus. Marchukova “Medicine in the Mirror of History”6, where an entire chapter is devoted to ancient Russian healing. Alas, here the author, in the section entitled “Medical Concepts in Old Russian Writings,” examines almost exclusively translated works. The section “Indian traditions in ancient Russian healing” is essentially a brief abstract of a separate work by Bogoyavlensky7, and the sections dedicated to the 16th–17th centuries once again repeat already known information about the work of foreign doctors at the royal court, the activities of the Pharmacy Prikaz and the maintenance of medicinal and herbal medicines this time. When mentioning sources, Marchukova repeats all the mistakes and stereotypes of her predecessors, adding new ones. For example, her work states

O that supposedly “birch bark letters from the beginning of the 14th century. report

O the existence of monastery hospitals in Ancient Novgorod" 8 . The author does not bother to refer to these “birch bark letters”. Perhaps because there were no birch bark letters where it was said

about hospitals, does not exist (to be convinced of this, it is enough to carefully read the most complete summary of letters collected in the book by A.A. Zaliznyak “Ancient Novgorod Dialect”). However, the author’s imagination is not limited to birch bark letters: on page 223 there is an illustration entitled “Surgical operation on the battlefield. Old Russian miniature". However, the author does not know that this ancient Russian miniature is an illustration for the famous collection of short stories about Alexander the Great “Alexandria”. It depicts an episode of another victory of Tsar Alexander over his enemies, after which he ordered the skinning of 3 thousand prisoners9. This miniature has nothing to do with medicine in general or ancient Russian healing in particular.

Of the latest generalizing works, the book by professional physician and historian of medicine M.B. deserves attention. Mirsky10, which seems to fully reflect all the features of a highly specialized approach to the history of healing. When mentioning certain sources, the author does not consider it necessary to pay attention to their origin, stylistic features and history of existence in ancient Russian lands.

For example, Mirsky mentions “the chronicle of the 11th century. “Posthumous miracles of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra the Wonderworker.” This “chronicle” (in fact, this text is not a chronicle, but an independent composition) is used by Mirsky in order to show the role of secular doctors in the ancient Russian state. But “Posthumous Miracles...” is a literary monument that was simply translated into Russian from Greek; it reflects Byzantine realities (only 3 out of 15 plots of this story are considered Old Russian works), but not Old Russian11.

Often the “Svyatoslav's Collection” (1073) is considered as evidence of solid medical knowledge in Rus'. Bogoyavlensky wrote about this, Mirsky also writes about this: “Another ancient manuscript “Svyatoslav’s Collection” (XI century) indicates that a doctor must be able to provide surgical assistance - be able to cut the skin, amputate limbs..., cauterize wounds and fight with suppuration"12. But did this source have serious significance for the dissemination of medical knowledge and does it reflect the real knowledge of Russian doctors? Yes, it describes various types of medical practice, contains information about nature and man, but most of this book consists of purely theological topics. Well, and most importantly: from beginning to end this

the book was a translation of the Bulgarian original of the 10th century. (customer - Tsar Simeon), that is, part of Byzantine culture. The same applies to the “Margarita” quoted by Mirsky (“the functions of a doctor are listed in the collection of the 12th–13th centuries”): this work is a collection of conversations and teachings of John Chrysostom. In Byzantium, books under this name existed at an earlier time; in Russian lands they appeared not in the 12th–13th centuries, but later in the 14th century. Moreover, the earliest surviving ancient Russian lists date back to the 15th century. The peak of Margarita’s popularity occurred at the end of the 15th–16th centuries, which was associated with ideological fermentation in the Russian lands13, and certainly not with the development of medical knowledge.

It should be noted here that in the early 1940s, in the historical and scientific literature, there was a tendency when studying ancient Russian sources to focus on their “natural science” component, completely ignoring the general focus of these works – enlightenment by faith. The founder of this tradition can be considered T.I. Raynov, the author of the first fundamental work on the history of knowledge of pre-Petrine Russia14. This approach was understandable in Soviet times. But what prevents modern researchers from looking at the sources they are considering more broadly?

In the works of Epiphany and Mirsky, the scribe Efrosin (second half of the 15th century) appears as a popularizer of medical knowledge. But upon a closer look15 it turns out that Euphrosynus’s books are devoted to literally everything: there is

And abbot Daniel's journey to Palestine, and descriptions of India,

And historical subjects related to biblical history, the history of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Russian history. Euphrosynus describes various natural phenomena and gives their interpretations (in accordance with the Christian interpretations of I. Damascus and the Patriarch of Constantinople Gennady). In the medical section (“Galinovo on Hypocrates”), individual provisions of the books of the “Hippocratic Corpus”, fragments of the Hellenistic scientist Alexander from Aphrodissia (3rd century AD) and much more are rewritten. Well, after describing the humoral theory of Hippocrates, Euphrosinus sets out the texts of prayers for various diseases: “If anyone chokes on a bone, call Saint Blaise for help,” “God of the Signs of Moses, having mercy on me, teach me to say, if anyone chokes a serpent,” etc.

Recognizing Efrosin’s books as “encyclopedias,” Mirsky, however, asserts: “There is no doubt that the manuscript

“Galinovo on Ipocrates” was intended for those Russian doctors who were engaged in medical practice, whether they were learned monks or professional doctors: most likely, the manuscript was intended for professionals.”16 But with the same success, Efrosin’s cell books could be addressed to historians, geographers, and natural scientists... Can they really be called sources of medical knowledge in Rus'? It is quite obvious to us that ancient medical treatises were perceived by their scribes rather as entertaining literature that broadened their horizons. Most of the information from these collections had no practical significance, because the collection of information about medicine here was random. Moreover, it seems that for Euphrosynus, the methods of religious “therapy”, which coexist in these collections with Hippocratic knowledge, seemed much more effective.

By the way, Mirsky uses outdated ideas: speaking about the collection “Lucidarius,” he names the Pskov mayor Georgy Tokmakov (died in 1578) as the translator of this collection. However, this is a fact assumed at one time by N.S. Tikhonravov17, is now questioned by a number of researchers18. Let us note that indeed Tokmakov could hardly have been the translator of this work, first mentioned by M. the Greek in 1518, and certainly not a “friend of N. Bulev” (as Mirsky claims).

In Mirsky’s book we again encounter the miniature from “Alexandria” already mentioned in relation to Marchukova’s book. Mirsky contributed to its “creative rethinking”, calling it “Picture of the “area” dissection of the human body: Old Russian miniature.”

Now let’s consider such a “birthmark” of historical medical historiography as one-sided interpretation. In modern historical and medical literature, issues of etiology, healing methods and the place of the doctor in ancient Russian society are extremely rarely understood. And if these questions are raised, then medical historians solve them simply by trying to project their rationalistic ideas onto the past.

For example, should the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Agapit (second half of the 11th century) be considered a doctor? He is interpreted in works on the history of ancient Russian medicine as one of the first Russian doctors known to us. For example, this is how Bogoyavlensky, the cultural historian Chumakova19 and Mirsky perceive him.

However, if you turn to the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon, it turns out that Agapit does not show any actual medical knowledge: he treats the sick with the same thing that he eats, and says prayers over them. Even when Prince Vladimir Monomakh falls ill, Agapit sends him the potion that he brewed for himself and does not even examine the sick prince. When a certain Armenian doctor tries to challenge Agapit to a medical debate, the monk refuses, saying that he does not know the answers. Of course, one can consider that Agapit’s “potion” is a dietary product (and diet is the prevention of disease, according to Hippocrates), but why did Monomakh instantly become healthy just after tasting the potion?

Agapit is a symbol of Orthodox “healing”, based not on operations and medications, but on mystical healing. The Armenian is a symbol of Hippocratic, Greek healing, based on knowledge, experience, intuition, and, possibly, magic. In the life of Agapit this type of healing is put to shame

And rejected, and healing itself turns out to be not so important here. The life of Agapit is not the story of the first Russian doctor, but the story of the struggle of the Orthodox faith with heterodoxy. And it is no coincidence that the abbot Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, tonsuring an Armenian who decided to become a monk after the death of Agapit, advised him to forget about treating someone else’s body and take care of healing his soul, following St. Agapitu.

The idea of ​​the advantage of spiritual healing over the treatment of physical ailments is confirmed by another fragment of the patericon, which describes the physician Peter. He was a servant of the Prince of Chernigov Saint (who became a monk), came from Syria. Peter came to the monastery to visit his former master, and the rest of the time he prepared medicines and treated the residents of Kyiv. But the patericon (with all the irony possible for such a source) speaks of Peter’s knowledge: “One day Peter himself fell ill, and the Holy One sent to him, saying: “If you don’t take medicine, you’ll get better quickly, but if you don’t listen to me, you’ll suffer a lot.” you will.” But he, relying on his art and thinking to get rid of the disease, drank the medicine and almost lost his life. Only the prayer of the blessed one healed him.” Further - more: “The doctor fell ill again, and the saint sent to announce to him: “On the third day you will recover if you do not take treatment.” The Syrian listened to him

And on the third day he was healed according to the word of the blessed one.” 20 . The Patericon clearly conveys the idea that treatment is harmful. The main thing is spiritual healing; the disease does not need to be specially treated, because it is a manifestation of God’s will, and you should not resist it.

Etiological concepts are discussed extremely rarely in modern historical and medical literature. Sometimes some authors take the path of vulgarization, saying that medieval people considered all diseases to be the machinations of the devil21. In contrast, Mirsky expresses a completely sensible idea that in “the religious consciousness of antiquity and the Middle Ages, illness was represented as punishment to a person for his sins, and recovery as forgiveness of them”22. However, further the author almost does not address this concept.

It would seem that it makes no difference how disease was understood in the early Middle Ages: a disease is a disease. Apparently, this is why both Epiphany and Mirsky constantly interpret various healing agents mentioned in ancient Russian sources (myrrh, lamp oil, paints, prosphora, blessed water) as medicinal agents. However, this does not take into account that

both Agapit and other monastic healers (Theodosius, Presbyter Damian, Alimpiy, Kirill Belozersky, Sergius of Radonezh) understand these remedies as healing. We repeat - healing, but not curative.

AND This is where it turns out that etiology is important: then it becomes clear what needs to be done with the patient - treat or heal.

Medical historian A.P. Levitsky at one time suggested: “...Strength lay in prayer, through which healing occurred...

The monks contrasted this gift of healing with healing based on human knowledge...”23 We saw this well in the example of the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon. In later hagiographic stories, such a contrast is found less frequently; simply because treatment is no longer mentioned there, and the focus is on healing. “Healing” is a one-time act when the patient recovers almost instantly. The main method of healing is ritual actions aimed at improving spiritual health. “Treatment” is a long-term process associated with taking medications and carrying out medical procedures, mainly related to improving the health of the body. Healing is irrational, treatment is rational.

Of course, one cannot discount here the peculiarities of the genre of hagiographic descriptions, which did not involve presenting the main character as a scholarly expert on Greek secular (“external”) bookishness. But the very fact of the constant appeal of the authors of lives specifically to healing testifies to the persistent

And a consistent desire to lead the reader to the main idea: only a miracle and faith can completely heal a person.

And the crowds of believing pilgrims moving from one religious shrine to another are confirmation of the adherence of the majority of ancient Russian society to the view of the clergy.

The topic of epidemics deserves special discussion.

This topic was studied in detail in pre-revolutionary literature24. We will only note that at least until the beginning of the 16th century. In ancient Russian sources we will not find a single mention of the real fight against epidemic diseases. Numerous chronicle information about these events is most often limited to descriptions of religious processions and the construction of churches to prevent pestilence. In the eyes of the ancient Russian man in the street, this disaster seemed to be God's punishment. It was possible to get rid of it (as well as from a serious and unknown illness) only by performing some kind of ritual action. The massive participation of the population in such actions confirms our thesis about the prevalence of such a view in ancient Russian society.

Only towards the end of the period under review does the first source appear, which contains a description of a different view of epidemics. We are referring to the well-known correspondence between the elder of the Elizarov monastery Philofey and the Pskov clerk Munekhin (1520s)25. Philotheus’s message is interesting as a clash of two views on illness: the view of an Orthodox scribe and a secular person. The first view provides for a passive attitude towards the epidemic, interpreting it solely as God’s punishment, which simply must be experienced. As a result, the main remedy is the coming of a priest to the sick. Munekhin’s view is closer to modern ideas about the epidemic; he is devoid of any features of the perception of the epidemic as God’s execution - one must save oneself from pestilence (by introducing quarantines).

If we return to the topic of ancient Russian etiologies, we get a very diverse picture. Diseases could arise: as punishment for the sins of the sick person; as atonement for the sins of others (a righteous person could also be sick here); as a result of the possession or external attack of demons (depending on the degree of righteousness of the person or compliance with the correct church rite); industrial injuries and combat wounds; natural causes (poisoning, poor quality food, water, old age).

Both pagan and Christian views of the world in this sense turned out to be similar: illness was understood either as a punishment from above, or as a manifestation of a person’s fate, or as a natural pattern. In the first case, the disease could only be healed by turning to higher powers (either by conspiracy or prayer).

In the second, do nothing at all. It was possible to treat only diseases whose cause was clear (wounds, poisoning). This view, running like a red thread through all hagiographic literature, turned out to be tenacious and survived in Russian society almost unchanged until the 18th century.

The next issue to consider is the evaluation of doctors and their activities.

Bogoyavlensky expressed an important idea that in the early period of Russian history the concepts of “magician”, “doctor”, “healer”, “baliy”, “zeleynik” and “sorcerer” were actually synonymous.

Mirsky reduces all ancient Russian doctors into two large categories - monastic and secular. Let us recall that the author does not see the difference between treatment and healing, and therefore for him the main difference between categories of doctors from each other is the provision of paid or free treatment.

Speaking about the prevalence of doctors in Ancient Rus', all authors refer us to “Russkaya Pravda”, where “medics” are mentioned. Note that in this case we are talking about simple operations related to the treatment of battle wounds, but not diseases. True, subsequent legal sources (Pskov Judicial Charter, Novgorod Judicial Charter and others) say nothing more about doctors and physicians.

In a later period (15th century), cases of sudden illnesses of church and secular “first persons” were quite often described. Some of them are described in some detail (for example, the illness and death in 1441 of Prince Yuri Dmitrievich Krasny26, Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Vasilyevich in 146227). From these descriptions it is clear that medical care at the courts of the nobility in the first half of the 15th century. was almost completely absent.

It seems that the situation changed in the second half of the 15th century, when foreign doctors appeared at the court of the Moscow Grand Dukes. The period of the reign of Ivan III generally differs from previous periods in the history of the Moscow Principality by a certain openness to Western innovations. However, even then it is difficult to talk about the beginning of the introduction of medicine into public life and about increasing the role of the doctor, because the social position of foreign doctors was not much different from the position of the Russian subjects of the Grand Duke.

The stories of the grand ducal doctors Leon and Anton are known. One was executed by order of the Grand Duke for failing to cure his son, and the other was killed by the son of Prince Karakuchi for

that he poisoned his father. It is noteworthy that in the latter case, Ivan III refused to pay a ransom for Anton and he was slaughtered “like a sheep.” These two cases show, firstly, the low social status of doctors and, secondly, their small number.

For comparison, here is a letter from King Henry VI of England to his physician and dean of Salisbury Cathedral, Gilbert Kaymer, written in 1455: “We greet you with confidence and love and since you know that we are busy and tormented by illness (and instability) which must to be relieved and cured by the mercy of our Lord, we need the help, attention and labors of such an expert... in the art of medicine as you, and among everything else, our love and desire is especially directed towards you, we wish (we command and with all our hearts we ask ), so that you will be with us in our Windsor Castle on the XII day of this month and take care of our special ... "28 As we see, King Henry’s doctor enjoyed much more respect from his patient than the doctors of the Grand Duke of Moscow from their master.

Regarding the case of Ivan III’s doctor Anton, one cannot help but notice another historiographical oddity: Marchukova’s book says that this doctor was stabbed to death for unsuccessful treatment29. Frankly speaking, the interpretation of the source in this case is very free.

The very presence of these doctors in Moscow is another evidence of the purely personal preferences of Ivan III, who tried to seem like an enlightened ruler and invited various specialists from Europe to his court. Naturally, therefore, one cannot consider the work of these doctors as the basis for creating conditions for the development of medical knowledge in the Moscow Principality.

The trends that we noted in relation to Ivan III continued during the reign of Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich. He also owned (there is no other way to say it) several foreign doctors. One of them was a certain Mark the Greek. In works on the history of medicine he is mentioned as a doctor, but this was only one of his occupations: he came to Rus' as a merchant. Obviously, the modest knowledge that he possessed was enough for the grand ducal court.

Nikolai Bulev and Fefil (Theophile), professional doctors at the court of Vasily III, deserve a special discussion. In the chronicles they appear in relation to the medical history of the Grand Duke. History itself has long been the object of historical and medical research. We will only draw attention to the fact that these doctors were called to the sick prince only through

Slide 2

Ancient Rus' (or, in other words, medieval Russia) was one of the significant states during the Middle Ages. Having emerged in the 9th century on the site of small principalities, it quickly became a powerful power, possessing, in particular, a fairly high culture, including medicine.

Slide 3

The culture of the Old Russian state was enriched by contacts with both the West and the East. Particularly important were the very fruitful ties with Byzantium, the custodian of the achievements of ancient civilization. These ties expanded and strengthened significantly after Ancient Russia adopted Christianity (10th century), although close ties with Greece, accompanied by the penetration of the achievements of ancient Greek culture, began in pre-Christian times. This also applies to medicine, which at that time was not at all limited to witchcraft or the use of folk remedies: being an integral part of culture, feeding on its achievements, medicine corresponded to its general level.

Slide 4

“Greek Christianity,” says the famous historian B.A. Rybakov, “found in Rus' in the 980s not simple village witchcraft, but a significantly developed pagan culture.... Paganism of ancient Rus' in the 9th-13th centuries. - an important section of Russian medieval culture." The Magi, who made up the main part of the priestly class of pre-Christian Rus', were engaged, among other things, in medicinal witchcraft - in this they were helped by women ("witches", from the word "to know - to know"), who later, in the 12th century, were called "godless women" .

Slide 5

The Magi had, in particular, to know the healing properties of herbs - this knowledge was the result of observations that were carried out, probably dating back to primitive society. It is right to believe that the Magi were healers who treated people with rational means of traditional medicine using some of the achievements of the ancient Greeks. “The first concepts of Greek medicine spread among us through Greek monks back in the 11th and 12th centuries,” V. M. Florinsky rightly asserted, “and there is no reason not to admit that already at that time translations and adaptations into Russian of Latin and Greek medical writings"

Slide 6

Ancient manuscripts reflected the ideas of their time about the universe, about natural phenomena, about the animal and plant world, about man. In the cultural heritage of the Old Russian state, works were discovered that contained certain theoretical material about nature and man: “The Six Days” of John Exarch of Bulgaria (10th century), “Selection of Svyatoslav” (11th century), “The Word of the Right Faith” by John of Damascus (12th century) “Physiologist ” (XIII century) It is important that many achievements of Byzantine, and through it ancient culture, including medicine, were brought to Rus'. It is not surprising that all these works were influenced by the works of Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen, Celsus, and other classics.

Slide 7

In the “Tale of the Right Faith,” John of Damascus (he lived in the 7th-8th centuries AD) paid attention to the structure of the human body, retelling, in essence, what Hippocrates wrote about the four elements; characterizing the organs and activities of the “senses,” he repeated (in a simplified form) what Aristotle wrote. Aristotle was followed in his description of human anatomy and physiology by the author of "Six Days". In his essay “On Diet for Acute Diseases,” Hippocrates considered food as the primary condition for maintaining health. The same line can be traced in ancient Russian literature. “Svyatoslav’s Collection” (11th century) contained certain hygienic requirements, connected, however, with religious motives (fasts, holidays etc.), but definitely adjacent “to the astrological views of antiquity”

Slide 8

The influence of the Magi and the belief in their omnipotence persisted for a very long time. Pagan beliefs, pagan antiquity, especially as it related to the preservation of health and the treatment of diseases, have not left people’s memory for a very long time, right up to our time, and have been passed on from generation to generation.

Slide 9

“One of the relics of pagan antiquity among all Slavs is the belief in witches and sorcerers. These are creatures endowed with supernatural power and greater knowledge (knowledge) than an ordinary person... Witches and sorcerers know the magical power of herbs. Wandering through fields and forests, they collect medicinal herbs, dig up roots and use them to treat diseases... Witches and sorcerers know how to heal wounds, treat diseases, stop bleeding, help with the bite of a snake and a mad dog.” N. S. Derzhavin

Slide 10

When Orthodox monasteries appeared in Rus', they became not only purely religious institutions. Educated monastic doctors and professionals in their field worked in the monastery and church hospitals that existed at that time. Of course, the main occupation of the scholar-monks, who then represented a very thin layer of carriers of intellectual culture, was most likely not healing the sick or studying and rewriting ancient literature, but theology, which absorbed the main intellectual aspirations of the clergy. But still, as historical sources testify, there were many so-called monastery doctors among them.

Slide 11

In addition to educated (to one degree or another) monastic doctors who treated their patients in monasteries, in medieval Russia there were numerous lay doctors, professional healers who learned the basics of their profession through apprenticeship, often in the families of hereditary healers. Among them prevailed: specialists of a “therapeutic” profile - kammuzhnye (for the treatment of aches, in the modern sense - rheumatism), intramural (they treated eye diseases), chepuchina (specialists in syphilis), those who treated for "spoilage" (the ancestors of modern psychoneurologists)

Slide 12

In accordance with the level of medicine of that time, ancient Russian doctors were mainly engaged in therapy, using both domestic flora and imported medicines as medicines. Therapy should also include the widely practiced treatment in baths. Surgery also existed in the Old Russian state: specialist surgeons performed surgical treatment, provided assistance for various wounds and injuries, and for diseases that were considered, in modern terms, “surgical.”

Slide 13

The cutters used various tools in their manipulations: most often they were a “knife” and a “brich” (razor). There was also a “cut” - a massive knife that was used to “cut” hard and “inflated apostemes” (subcutaneous abscesses). They used cutters and some of the carpenter's tools, for example, saw, drill, and adze. “Forps”, “needles”, “blades” (spatulas), spoons, probes, tweezers, pincers, etc. were also used. It is clear that all these tools were not kept in vain, but were used by cutters to carry out surgical treatment methods. True, this was mainly what is now called “minor surgery” - treatment of wounds and burns, tooth extraction, bloodletting, etc. But the cutters also performed larger operations: including amputations, treatment of bone fractures, and even such complex interventions as like craniotomy.

Slide 14

It has been proven that ancient Russian cutters mastered the technique of trepanation. In 1893, on the banks of the Dnieper, during excavations of a settlement of the 9th-12th centuries, a skull with a trephination hole in the area of ​​the frontal tubercle was found: smooth edges and the regular outlines of the defect indicated that trephination was carried out using tools. In 1949, near the Slavic city of Belaya Vezha, during excavations of a burial ground of the 10th-11th centuries. They found a skull with traces of two chopped wounds and intravital trepanation in the outer lateral part of the frontal bone.

Slide 15

So, medicine and surgery of Ancient Rus' was a natural and important part of the medicine and surgery of the medieval world. At the same time, methods of traditional medicine, which was an integral part of the original ancient Russian culture, were also preserved and widely used.

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