#apothecaries

CRAFTS — 186/262 — Apothecaries

The apothecary prepared medicines according to carefully studied prescriptions that were passed down through generations. It was one of the few professions that were not organized into guilds. Making medicines was a difficult job and carried a lot of responsibility. An apothecary had to be university-educated and knowledgeable not only in Latin but also in Greek, and had to be able to carefully measure exact doses of medicines and ensure that ingredients were always available. If there was no apothecary in town, a monastic hospital would be available. And if neither was available, people would use the services of wise women, folk herbalists, and lay healers or ointment makers, who were called charlatans. Their methods of treatment were controversial because, in addition to making elixirs and ointments, they used not only herbs but also spells, amulets, and sometimes very unusual ingredients such as “frog venom” or “a hanged man’s finger.”

TRIVIA

— The role of the apothecary extended far beyond the preparation of medicines. In many towns, they provided general medical advice and treatments that would later fall under the authority of specialized professions such as surgeons or midwives. They also functioned as shops, selling various herbs and premade remedies.

The craft goes back to antiquity, with records from ancient Babylon (2600 BC) describing the compounding of medicines from prescribed ingredients, while the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus (1500 BC) preserves hundreds of remedies and detailed instructions for their preparation. References to similar practices appear even in biblical texts. Today, the oldest running apothecary in the world is considered to be Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella in Florence, running since 1221. As for the symbol most often associated with pharmacies/apothecaries in modern day Western world, alongside the green cross, we encounter the Bowl of Hygieia. It is linked to Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health, hygiene, and cleanliness, and daughter of Asclepius. While Asclepius was represented by a staff with a serpent coiled around it, Hygieia’s symbol became a cup or chalice with a serpent entwined around it.

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