This book is dedicated to the medicine of the Middle Ages - mysterious, strange and amazing. How did people in that era manage to protect themselves from many ailments, including deadly ones, that befell them? How could medicine exist if all sciences were subordinated to theology? Could a doctor check medications without ending up at the stake of the Inquisition? Do we know medieval recipes? Can you trust the medicines that existed then? Or would we die from them at the first sneeze? Would you and I survive if we fell into the hands of a surgeon who had no medical education and operated without anesthesia? Did this surgeon know anatomy? What if he decided to save us from headaches by drilling a hole in our skull? Would we survive if, during a plague epidemic, on the advice of a doctor, we ate viper meat and drank broth from it? How long would we live in such conditions? Did medieval medicine mark time or was it a source of useful knowledge? Nowadays, people are again becoming victims of new, unfamiliar epidemics. The question arises: did the doctors of the Middle Ages have lost recipes that could be useful today? By answering these questions, the book gives a clear picture of the history of Western European medicine. Open it on any page - you will find interesting historical facts, and sometimes the secrets of medieval healers. We will get acquainted with their recipes for all occasions - both how to fall in love with yourself and how to get rid of someone who bothers you. The book is intended for a wide range of readers: both those who are interested in or involved in medicine, and those who try to stay away from doctors.