I don't know offhand but I did watch the Time Team programme on the Grace Dieu - you can probably find a lot more detail on that specific ship (built by Henry V the year after Agincourt, but unlikely to be radically different from any built the year before!).
Sites like this are plentiful - rather than "Agincourt", try searches using the monarch's name. "Henry V navy" is a good start. :)
The most common shipbuilding wood was oak and the forests of England were STRIPPED over the centuries to provide it. That's one of the reasons the various kings created "forests" (tracts of land owned by the king) by passing royal decrees stealing them off the nobles.
As to medicines - occasional (very rare and expensive) opium, more likely strong alcohol. The remedies would have been
minor wound? Sew it, bind it, pray it doesn't fester.
Major cut and bleeding on a limb? Sprinkle of soot, sew as well as you can, bind it, pray it doesn't fester. If it doesn't stop bleeding, cauterise it.
Wound to the guts? Call the priest, or if you're feeling generous, slit their wrist quietly so they bleed to death rather than death by gangrenous guts
Limb seriously hacked? If you think you can do it, amputate and pray it doesn't fester. Otherwise, say a prayer over them and let them quietly bleed to death. Better than death by gangrenous limb.
There's probably some specifics for stopping minor bleeds, or if the abdomen is breached but there's no
( ... )
I would advise you to delete 'physicians' and try 'surgeons' instead. There would have been hardly any physicians with Henry's army (apart from his own; a king would probably take one with him) because they just weren't very useful; Physicians, right up to the late 19th century, were far too genteel and rarefied to do any operations, bandaging or manual treatment of any kind - surgeons did that. There's lots of knowledge out there about medieval surgeons, who were a lot more sophisticated than they're popularly imagined.
*faceplam* Why didn't I think of surgeons? I started out with doctors, then went to physicians, but for some reason completely forgot about surgeons. Thank you very much!
(Whoops, I hIt 'Add a comment' prematurely there!)
I meant to say that at the age of 16 Henry had himself added a chapter to the history of battlefield maxillo-facial surgery, when he took an arrow in the face at the battle of Shrewsbury, and the surgeon had to invent a special device to extract it. You can read an excellent account of the surgeon's strategy and treatment if you Google Saving Prince Hal: maxillo-facial surgery, 1403. (For some reason LJ isn't letting me insert links today: sorry.)
I realise it's a different period, but you could try looking at the list of possessions found on the Mary Rose. iirc they included the surgeon's effects.
From general knowledge, I'm seconding lose the search term "physician". It's not a term used in the UK - we generally prefer "doctor" - and the man in charge of health (aka treating the pox and chopping off shot-up bits) on a ship was always the surgeon.
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Sites like this are plentiful - rather than "Agincourt", try searches using the monarch's name. "Henry V navy" is a good start. :)
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As to medicines - occasional (very rare and expensive) opium, more likely strong alcohol. The remedies would have been
- minor wound? Sew it, bind it, pray it doesn't fester.
- Major cut and bleeding on a limb? Sprinkle of soot, sew as well as you can, bind it, pray it doesn't fester. If it doesn't stop bleeding, cauterise it.
- Wound to the guts? Call the priest, or if you're feeling generous, slit their wrist quietly so they bleed to death rather than death by gangrenous guts
- Limb seriously hacked? If you think you can do it, amputate and pray it doesn't fester. Otherwise, say a prayer over them and let them quietly bleed to death. Better than death by gangrenous limb.
There's probably some specifics for stopping minor bleeds, or if the abdomen is breached but there's no ( ... )Reply
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I meant to say that at the age of 16 Henry had himself added a chapter to the history of battlefield maxillo-facial surgery, when he took an arrow in the face at the battle of Shrewsbury, and the surgeon had to invent a special device to extract it. You can read an excellent account of the surgeon's strategy and treatment if you Google Saving Prince Hal: maxillo-facial surgery, 1403. (For some reason LJ isn't letting me insert links today: sorry.)
Reply
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From general knowledge, I'm seconding lose the search term "physician". It's not a term used in the UK - we generally prefer "doctor" - and the man in charge of health (aka treating the pox and chopping off shot-up bits) on a ship was always the surgeon.
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