After the fall of Rome, European cities became little more than over-crowded pits of filth and disease. The Church’s strict doctrines forbidding the personal use of aromatics meant that the pious rarely, or never, washed and were proud to reek of ‘honest’ dirt and sweat.1
Purifying Plants to Fight Disease
Outbreaks of plague changed this way of thinking, because it was believed that odours were responsible for disease. Aromatics were gradually reintroduced to the populace in daily life - often used in an attempt to disguise and overcome the foul stenches of the cities. Bonfires of fragrant woods were lit in towns to cleanse the air. People used pomanders - oranges stuck with cloves - to freshen their homes. Physicians recommended hanging herbs by windows and sprinkling floors with rosewater and vinegar.1 It was also observed that perfumers appeared to be immune to outbreaks of plague. This led to the belief that the plants they worked with were medicinal and had purifying properties.
New Sciences
In Germany the art of distillation was developed further by physicians such as Jerome of Brunswick. His work, Vollkomen Distillierbuck (1597), referenced 25 different essential oils and his books on distillation were translated and distributed across Europe.1
As knowledge of medicinal plants grew the Church lost its hold over their use. Herbalism and aromatherapy passed into the hands of men of science and philosophy. Alchemists equated the distillation and purification of plant essences into volatile oils with the refinement of the human soul and emotions.2 Pioneers of the medical community, such as Paracelsus (1493-1541) encouraged physicians to carry out experiments with herbs and oils, rather than blindly follow the ancient texts of Greece and Rome.
The Quack’s Charter
During the 16th century, the use of plant material in healing was regulated under a series of acts at the request of the wider medical community: ‘The Medical Act of 1511 saw the formalisation of training for physicians. The Royal College of Physicians were given the power to fine unauthorised practitioners’.1 King Henry VIII also gave authority to his ‘barber-surgeons’ to prosecute untrained practitioners, or ‘quacks’. ‘Quacks’ were often traditional herbalists who treated the poor, and these new laws reduced the number of healers allowed to practice. Therefore, this, in turn, led to the ‘Quack’s Charter’,1 which allowed untrained physicians to work underneath the 1511 Act.
However, in an attempt to supreme control of their field, the authorised medical community shifted their gaze from quacks to women, and pressed the king to pass penal laws against witches.1 The wise woman of the village became an easy scapegoat if she practised herbalism and healing, and dared to trespass onto the domain of men of science and learning.
References
- Salvatore Battaglia. The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy. Australia. Perfect Potion, 2003.
- Julia Lawless. The Encyclopedia of Essential Oils. Thorsons, 2002, London.
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