[Analgesic remedies in the Middle Ages]

The knowledge of analgesic remedies, sleeping drugs, and narcotics is well attested by numerous prescriptions in the medical literature since the early Middle Ages. The variety of analgesic remedies and the preferred use of particular plants (such as mandrake, henbane, and poppy) is just as remarkable as the many different forms of application: drug-soaked sponges, compresses and plasters, oils, ointments, smoke and smelling salts, drinks and waters, pills and troches, powders, electuaries, and confections. Various examples from different sources illustrate clearly that medieval physicians not only knew about analgesic remedies but really put their knowledge into practice.