Medicine from the Old Polish calendar

Abstract

The article is devoted to the subject of health and disease present in Old Polish calendars until the end of the 18th century. The calendars are a peculiar source for research on the period, as those popular texts accurately reflect the preferences and interests of their common readers. The calendars included astrological advice and also influenced the medical subjects they presented. Advice, comments and other information on the subject were present both in the calendar and in the prognostic part in many different forms, even poetry. The connection between calendars and medicine was so strong that the health advice was given even by the authors who did not specialise in astrology. The medico-astrological advice was usually of low quality, which was often pointed out by satirists.