Treating the Plague
Many people lived in fear of the plague and tried many different methods to prevent catching the disease. For those who had already fallen victim to the plague, doctors offered a variety of treatments, though often these were ineffective. Numerous books and pamphlets were published by doctors who competed over what they believed were the best treatments. Some of those who published books on the plague had fought in the English Civil Wars.
Click on the images to read about two doctors who had fought in the Civil Wars and later published books on the plague
Answer these Questions:
- How effective do you think the treatments offered by George Thomson and Thomas Willis were? Explain your answer.
- How do you think seventeenth-century explanations for the cause of the plague would have stopped people from being able to treat it effectively?
- In what ways do you think that Thomson and Willis's experience fighting in the English Civil Wars may have influenced their later work on the plague?