Physicians' Gallery

In this talk Dr Jessica Sharkey considers why Henry VIII is buried in relative obscurity, why Edward VI was cast as a sickly Lord Fauntleroy and why Elizabeth I refused to be married to her winding sheet. You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/sad-stories-death-kings-end-tudors Twitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritage Instagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/...

In this talk Professor Jonathan Reinarz explores the history of burn scars over the last two centuries. You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/historical-reflections-burn-scars Twitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritage Instagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/ Facebook: facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@physiciansgallery

In this talk Prof Seamus O'Mahony, a member of the Lancet Commission on The Value of Death, explores the idea of a 'good death' in the 21st century. You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/after-life-history-death-exhibition-launch-0 Twitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritage Instagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/ Facebook: facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery TikT...

This lecture explores Roald Dahl and his interest in medicine through the eyes of his doctor and friend, Professor Tom Solomon. You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/roald-dahls-marvellous-christmas-medicine Twitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritage Instagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/ Facebook: facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery TikTok: https://www.tiktok.c...

In this talk Dr Katie Aske discusses the history of skincare. You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/skin-layered-history-exhibition-launch Twitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritage Instagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/ Facebook: facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@physiciansgallery

In this talk Dr Emily Cock uses some of the immense volume of colonial administrative paperwork to illuminate experiences of individual prisoners with variable health and permanent disabilities. You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/health-and-disability-convict-sydney Twitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritage Instagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/ Faceboo...

How did people in the past decide what to eat and what not to? What factors shaped their decisions? How did they obtain the information necessary to shape these decisions? And how did this information evolve over the course of the ‘early modern’ period (1500-1800)? In this talk Professor David Gentilcore explores the changing nature of the genre of medicinal food advice. as well as some of the key...

In this talk Dr Kate Stephenson explores the strange and fascinating history of condoms. You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/history-condoms Twitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritage Instagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/ Facebook: facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@physiciansgallery

In this talk Dr Matt Lodder presents an overview of his new book ‘Painted People’, and argues that through the history of tattooing, we can glean unique insights into forgotten areas of human history. You can also watch this talk on our website: https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/talks/painted-people-untold-history-tattooing Twitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritage Instagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery...

We're off on a new journey into the muddy marshes of medical history! Website: www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage Twitter: twitter.com/RCPEHeritage Instagram: instagram.com/physiciansgallery/ Facebook: facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@physiciansgallery

This is the last episode in our Head to Toe series finishing, of course, with the feet! We set off on the right foot, put our best feet forward and jump in with both feet. We explore why ancient Egyptians had two left feet, why witches had flat feet, why ancient Greeks had one foot longer than the other and what you’d do with a ‘foot bag’. We also delve into the history of shoes – from pointed toe...

In this episode we explore the history of the throat – including lump in your throat, frog in your throat and, if you’re French, a cat in the throat. We delve into the art of changing your voice and Margaret Thatcher’s baritone. We also explore the longest case of hiccups on record. And, finally, we uncover the tale of the funeral mute – a Victorian mourning ritual that’ll leave you speechless. Su...

In this episode we’re scooping fish liver oil out of a bucket of offal in the name of health. We’re also exploring the myth of Prometheus and some votive offerings and exploring just what they can tell us about the regeneration of the liver. And we’re going to dig into some old country offal in the form of haggis – and what it can tell us about anti-Scottish sentiment in 1700s England. Subscribe t...

In this episode we’ll explore perhaps the most confusing organ – the spleen. It’s a body part, a disease and a state of mind all in one. According to some it purified the blood, others thought it acted as a back-up liver. Romans thought the spleen stopped you from running fast and suggested burning it with a hot iron to speed up. Others argued that the spleen was the source of laughter and joy. Th...

In this episode we explore the history of the brain. Brains in jars, brains in slices, brains under the microscope - more brains than you can shake a wet slice of human brain at. From Einstein’s brain chopped into 240 pieces to Charles Babbage, who at least only had his sliced in two. We also explore the history of emotions – with a bit of good old stiff upper lip we keep calm and carry on. And we...

In this episode we explore the history of the leg. There’s a lot of fashion in this episode, from the use of flannel shirts to cure gout to the erotically charged nature of the pale calfskin trousers of Tudor men. We even delve into how one man’s leg injury caused a black velvet slipper craze. We also explore the history of amputation – from the prejudices of Victorian society against the use of p...

To sweat or not to sweat? Was sweating good or bad? Was it a treatment or a symptom? Was it something to be encouraged or prevented? The answer to all these questions is a resounding ‘Yes’. In this episode we explore the strange history of sweating sickness, what arsenic can do to your armpits and the creation of a market for underarm shaving. We also explore the history of deodorant – and its cyn...

In this episode we explore the history of the heart and heart-based symbolism – including the origins of the association of the heart with love and romance. Would you gift a romantic partner your heart symbolically? How about literally? You could always be buried with the heart of a lover, or arrange to have your husband’s heart sent to you, if he died overseas. And you could prevent lovesickness...

Do wombs have horns? Will the presence of a menstruating woman force bees to forsake their hives? Will your crops wither and die in the presence of menstrual blood? We’ll answer these pressing questions and more in this episode of our podcast. We’re also exploring how pregnant convicted criminals could ‘plead the belly’ to avoid execution, the murky world of Medieval monstrous births and how a wom...

In this episode we explore the history of the guts. Words and their meanings are a big part of this episode – where you can have a ‘gut feeling’ that someone ‘hates your guts’ and maybe after all you were ‘gutted’ to find out. We’re also exploring the changing meaning of the word hypochondria – from a pain in your stomach, to a disorder of the body’s nerves to, finally, an anxiety disorder. And in...

In this episode we explore the history of haemorrhoids, including a popular treatment which involved placing toads in the armpits. We also uncover the history of laxatives and enemas – with some unusual ingredients, including tobacco, and the judicious use of yoghurt and breakfast cereals. And, sticking with the theme, we take a look at some of the earliest scatological comedy – toilet paper may h...

In this episode we explore the history of the bladder. It’s a urine-heavy episode as we take a deep dive into diuresis – including locally sourced diuretics commonly used in Scotland such as leeks, watercress and barley water. We also take a look at the taste-tastic practice of uroscopy, the communal history of chamberpots and the all important question – if both doctors and quacks are tasting uri...

In this episode we explore hands through the ages – from the evil associated with left handed folk, to the soft white hands of the upper class woman. Lead, arsenic and mercury were all applied to give the hands that pearly whiteness and soft hands acted as an indicator of class, status and refinement. We also dig into the curative power of the Royal Touch and the history of hand washing. And we fi...

In this episode we explore the history of the veins. We’ll unpick the history of bloodletting – from leech farms to lancets, and mechanical bloodletters to ‘heroic’ bleeding. We’re looking into how modern day meme culture is influenced by Greek philosophers and how varicose veins have played on the minds, and legs, of sufferers for thousands of years. And we finish up with some ghoulish medical re...

In this episode we explore how central the lungs were to Ancient Greek and Roman ideas about medicine and the body. Renaissance illustrations of the lungs were detailed and beautiful – but understanding of exactly what the lungs did and how they worked was still to be developed. We also discuss the historical treatment of asthma with ‘medicinal’ cigarettes, along with other supposed uses of tobacc...