The mysterious Russian soul - what is it? Mysterious Russian soul (national character of Russians and peculiarities of communication).

For many centuries, foreign guests and merchants who visit first Russia and then the Russian Empire have tried to comprehend the secret of the mysterious Russian soul. Worldwide famous classics Russian literature they also did not stay away from solving the riddle of the Russian mentality - in their works they tried to describe Russian men and women and to reveal as fully as possible the facets of their character and peculiarities of their worldview. But still, even now, to most foreigners, Russians seem mysterious and largely incomprehensible, and Russians themselves can accurately distinguish their compatriots among the crowd of foreigners in another country. But what is the peculiarity of the mentality and psychology of Russians that makes them so unlike representatives of other peoples?

National characteristics of Russians

The national characteristics of the character of Russians have been formed over the centuries, and the basis of the unique mentality of the nation began to be laid back in the Middle Ages, when most of the Russians lived in villages and conducted a collective economy. It was from those centuries that the opinion of society and their own position in the team began to mean a lot for Russians. Also, at that time, such national trait Russians like and adherence to patriarchal traditions - the survival and well-being of the entire village, volost, etc. largely depended on the cohesion of the team and on the presence of a strong leader.

These features are inherent in the psychology of Russians even now - the majority of representatives of the nation are convinced that the country needs a strong leader, do not consider themselves entitled to openly criticize and challenge the decisions of their superiors, and are ready to support the government in any case. In relation to the role of each individual in society, the Russian mentality, as well as geographical position Russia, is located between the "west" and "east": it is difficult for the representatives of this nation to accept the Western European model of society, in which the individuality of each individual is considered an unconditional value, but Russians do not have such a privileged role of the collective over the individual, as is typical of the Chinese. ... We can say that the Russians were able to find " the golden mean"between collectivism and individualism - they give great importance public opinion and their role in the team, but at the same time they know how to value the individuality and uniqueness of the personality of each person.

One more national identity the character of Russians, which distinguishes it from the mentality of other nations, is considered to be the "breadth" of the soul of a Russian person. Of course, the soul cannot be wide in the literal sense of the word, and this expression means that Russian people have the following character traits:

Psychology of Russians in personal life and in everyday life

The majority of Russian people believe that the spiritual is more important than the material, therefore they do not set the goal of their life to earn millions, but choose other priorities - family, self-development, etc. representatives of this people are characterized by a "light" attitude to money - A Russian person will not be too discouraged during the time, and will also often prefer to spend money on something pleasant for himself, and not save up finances for the future.

However, despite such an attitude to finance, Russians love luxury and pretentiousness, therefore they do not spare money for expensive housing repairs, fashionable gadgets and status items. In Russian houses, in addition to furniture and household appliances, there are many interior decorations - a variety of souvenirs, figurines and other cute trinkets. It is also not uncommon for any unnecessary things to lie in the closet of an apartment or house for years - since the existence of the USSR, Russian people have not yet completely got rid of the habit of leaving in reserve everything that could theoretically be useful in the future.

V love relationship Russian men are gallant, romantic, generous and courteous and always strive to surround their lady with maximum care. Russian women are able to completely dissolve in a loved one, are ready to make sacrifices for the sake of love and are sure that "with a sweetheart paradise and in a hut." In most Russian families, the relationship between husband and wife is equal, but nevertheless, taking care of children and household chores is considered primarily a woman's business, and making money for the whole family is a man's.

N. Kostomarov

Russians generally went to the bathhouse very often: it was the first need in home life, both for cleanliness and for some kind of pleasure. Almost every well-to-do house had its own soap shop [...]; moreover, for the common people and for visitors everywhere in the cities there were public or royal soap houses, where entrance was paid by money, which constituted a branch of the royal income throughout the state. According to Koshikhin's information, up to two thousand rubles were collected every year from all the soap that was in the department of the stable yard. Soaphouses were generally heated once, and sometimes twice every week. In the summer heat, it was forbidden to drown them to prevent fires, with some exceptions for the sick and women in childbirth, at the behest of the governor. It was then that the royal soap-houses were especially filled; however, the prohibition to drown their own ones concerned more townspeople and peasants; people of the highest importance have always enjoyed an exception. The bathhouse for the Russian was such a necessity that because of the prohibition to heat them, the residents threatened the government to disperse from their homes.

As a rule, we went to the soap-shop after dinner, not fearing the harmful consequences of this. The heat was unbearable. Hay was spread on benches and shelves, which was covered with linen. The Russian lay down on him and ordered himself to beat him until he was tired, then he ran out into the air and threw himself into a lake or river in the summer, near which soap-houses were usually built, and in the winter he rolled in the snow or doused himself cold water in the cold. Whoever went to the soap shop always took a steam bath: it was a general custom. The public soap houses had two sections: a male and a female; they were separated from one another by partitions, but the entrance to both was the same; both men and women, going in and out of the same door, met each other naked, covered themselves with brooms and talked to each other without much hesitation, and sometimes they ran out of the soap-shop at once and rolled together in the snow. В более отдаленную старину было в обычае и мужчинам и женщинам мыться в одной мыльне, и даже чернецы и чер­ницы мылись и парились вместе.

[...] The bathhouse was the most important cure for all diseases: as soon as a Russian feels unwell, he immediately drinks vodka with garlic or pepper, has a bite of onions and goes to the bathhouse to steam.

For the common people, the bathhouse was a school of that amazing insensitivity to all extremes of temperature, which the Russians differed, surprising foreigners with this. But as for the upper classes of society, then, with a sedentary life, baths gave rise to inaction and effeminacy; especially women of the highest state were distinguished by this and seemed frail and obese.

[…] With the ability and willingness to endure labors and hardships, the Russian people, although not distinguished by their durability, enjoyed generally good health. Of the diseases, only epidemic ones sometimes caused significant devastation, because measures against them were weak and were limited to an unskilful effort to prevent infection from spreading from place to place. Pestilences often left terrible traces all over Russia. Of the common diseases to which the Russians were most often exposed were hemariordal diseases, so characteristic of our climate, referred to in the old days under various names of headache attacks, blood flow, constipation (mortality), back pain, and the like. Nervous diseases, if they were not too frequent, paid attention to their phenomena: epileptic, cataleptic, hysterical seizures were attributed to damage and the influence of mysterious forces, through the mediation of evil spirits; these diseases had different popular names, such as: kamchyug, frenchug, madness, relaxation, shaking, hiccups, etc .; some cases came from actual illnesses, other from imagination. In the 16th century, the syphilitic disease (secret cognition) was brought to Russia, and in the next century it spread quite well and caused devastation among the black people. Colds rarely struck a Russian accustomed to changes in air and temperature. As special cases, they mention in the old days: stone disease, edema, tabes, hernia, toothache, deafness, dumbness, blindness, sholudi, arising from untidiness, which often gave rise to other diseases, for example, had bad influence on sight. In general, they looked for remedies for diseases most of all in church rituals and also resorted to herbalists, who constituted the class of self-taught healers, often surrendered to them with extreme gullibility. Medical scientists were foreigners and were only at the royal court, and then in small numbers. Under Ivan Vasilievich, a foreign doctor was a necessary person for the tsar, but private persons could receive treatment from him only by submitting a petition about it. The same was observed for a long time and later, when the number of doctors at court increased. Under Mikhail Fedorovich, there was one pharmacy in Moscow, from which medicines were dispensed on petitions and, moreover, so that those that were not very significant were dispensed on petitions not what was needed, but what was cheaper, without paying attention, could whether it will be of real benefit. Sometimes doctors went to war with medicine and there, in general, were of little use. Under Alexei Mikhailovich, there were two pharmacies in Moscow, but only one of them sold medicines to residents, and then at high prices, and therefore this pharmacy brought much less income to the treasury than the tavern that stood next to it. Of course, the doctors called from abroad were not always good, and at the call of the Russian tsar charlatans bravely hurried to Russia. Therefore, it was determined that a doctor who comes to Russia first showed the degree of his art in a border town and cured someone. The physicians who lived at the court were extremely constrained by customs and prejudices. In their studies, they did not respect science, did not put their art above the medicine man. Often the kings themselves turned to herbalists and healers, as if in reproach to the doctors who were at their court. When a physician used a female person belonging to the royal family, the strict oriental ceremonies that always surrounded this person were not violated for him. The physician had to use the patient and guess the disease, not seeing her personally, but only following the stories of the servant. If he made a mistake with this method of treatment, he was blamed for the mistake. He was not allowed to learn the effect of the medicine on the patient's body: if with one dose the disease did not ease - according to the Russians, this meant that the medicine would not help, the physician was ordered to give another one and was not allowed to repeat the same thing several times. As for the people, then, in general, he did not trust foreign doctors. The clergy recognized it as a sin to be treated by a person of non-Orthodox faith and, in particular, armed themselves against Jewish doctors, so that in the 16th century, a Russian, for having resorted to Jewish assistance, was subjected to excommunication. Time, however, took its toll in this respect: under Alexei Mikhailovich, under a so pious tsar, one of the court doctors was a Jew.

Essay on the domestic life and customs of the Great Russian people in the XVI and XVII centuries... SPb., I860. S. 98-103.

Miniature: Ryabushkin Andrey Petrovich. The family of a merchant in the 17th century.

Quite a lot is known about the life of our ancestors. The information collected by historians and archaeologists, chronicles and legends, to a sufficient extent recreate the pictures of the past. There are many historical monuments which are letters describing the heroic past or everyday life. Among them there is evidence traditional medicine containing long-forgotten, little-known and little-studied recipes and tips reflecting the originality of the Russian people. All this represents the findings of folk intuition, which have been passed down from generation to generation, passing the test of time. Many of these advice from ancient Russian healers have not lost their medical value and if you pay close attention to them, they can bring their "special benefit", as Peter the Great liked to say sometimes, according to eyewitnesses.

What were the patients of the then doctors? According to legend, in the fifteenth century, the Russian was a hardy, strong, surprisingly patient and unpretentious person in food. However, in his behavior he was distinguished by passivity, phlegmatism and even some lethargy. The people acted tough, where there was no place for the weak and the weak. They died in infancy, and no one really tried to save them. But the survivors were particularly resistant to adverse circumstances. environment... Children were weaned very early on. In the third month, he was already fed with goat or cow's milk, and he was given a chewed crumb ("doll") of black bread wrapped in a slobbering cloth. After a while, the child was completely transferred to food with those products that were consumed by adults. In addition to a rough shirt, such a child did not have any clothes. Half-naked and barefoot children ran through the streets of the villages until the very first snow. At a very early age, children began to work, doing hard peasant work.

Peasant lunch during the harvest. Artist Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky

The life of a Russian person had little inclination for excesses. The main diet included cereals, black Rye bread, various roots, onions, fish and kvass. Often in numerous families, there was not enough food. Consistently observed religious fasts contributed to malnutrition. Looking for land and best places living Russian people embarked on travel, mastering the eastern lands, enduring the cold and heat, robbed by the then rulers.
Despite the excellent and solidity of the body, the average Russian was a peace-loving person, he did not like to fight. Unlike the Germans, who very often were hired in different troops and took part in almost all European wars, the Russians were known as bad fighters.

The average life expectancy was not great. Frequent diseases caused by unfavorable living conditions did not allow the river of life to spill fully and carried away a different mass of the population to the world.
The illness caused by the common cold was often overlooked. She was called "snotty" and it was believed that everything will pass by itself. Diseases associated with the nervous system were explained as spoilage, evil eye, or slander. Among the diseases that common people often prevailed, they distinguished laryngeal, internal pain, edema, tabes, stone disease, dumbness, deafness, gnawing (hernia), toothache, and so on.

A sick person first of all turned to healing with prayers. It was believed that God gave the disease as a test, which means that he will heal if he is convinced of the firm faith of his child. Prayers strict fasting, touching miraculous icons and relics of saints is the main weapon against the diseases of the then Russian people. But along with such methods, there were also practical methods. They were the first evidence of the birth of medicine in Russia. Some of the methods were based on early medical advances and were practiced by monastery healers. Others are folk healers who have inherited them since the days of paganism. Many of these healers were recognized as having considerable strength. There is evidence that in order to cure a patient in his own way, the healer had to remove pectoral cross... And only then his efforts could bring results. Most often, such healers were women. It was believed that the gift of sorcery, witchcraft is transmitted mainly through the female line, as the woman was the first to succumb to the devil's influence.

The Church had a negative attitude towards quackery, and she also took responsibility for not only the mental, but also the physical health of people. The very first hospitals appeared just at the church institutions. Especially famous in those days Kiev-Pechersky Monastery... The Monk Anthony was considered a splendid physician. Another healer Alimpiy distinguished himself by the fact that he was able to raise a half-dead man to his feet with leprosy.
But among the healers there were also skillful healers. Some specialized in pulling teeth, others repaired a hernia or bones, others “took away” damage, and someone knew about medicinal herbs. There were some kind of unique people who relied only on their imagination in treatment. So one Moscow sage relieved people of headaches with strong cuffs. He argued that, having settled in the head, she would be frightened and go over to the enemies of the patient.
Herbal connoisseurs were called greensmen. Even the princes and resorted to their services. Ancient sources say that once Boris Godunov himself turned to the services of such a "specialist". A certain boyar wife boasted that her husband understands herbs and then the king ordered to urgently deliver this man to him. He himself suffered greatly then from attacks of gout. But the boyar became obstinate and began to assert that he did not know how to heal with herbs, his wife deliberately set him up in this way. For the stubbornness of the healer, it was ordered to whip and, if not to reason, after a while, chop off. The frightened herbalist agreed to treat the king. Various herbs were brought from his estate near Serpukhov, from which a bath and decoctions were prepared. Having accepted all the procedures, the king suddenly felt healthy. Then he ordered to whip the unfortunate healer again, for hiding his abilities and awarded him various gifts, among which were serfs.

Fedor Alekseev - Red Square

There were also foreign doctors in Russia. They came mainly from Bohemia and England. They enjoyed great confidence among the royal people, but they also had many problems. They experienced particular difficulties in the treatment of females, who could not be "contemplated without their complete attire." The diagnosis could only be made from the patient's words such as “it hurts in the heart itself,” “pulls from the back,” “brains in the right side,” and the like. In addition, an immediate effect was expected upon adoption. And if this was not the case, then the drug was recognized as unsuitable for treatment and a requirement was put forward that the doctor should make something else. All failures were blamed on the healer, who had to walk on a blade. So the Bohemian physician Anton Ehrenstein, who appeared in Moscow under Ivan III, could not save the Tatar prince Karakucha who was in the capital. For which he was extradited to his son, who in revenge cut off his head "like a sheep" right on the banks of the Moscow River. Lost his head on the chopping block, erected on Bolvanovka, a certain "Mistra Leon", who failed in the treatment of the son of Ivan III. The execution took place amid the cheers of Muscovites: "Serves a thief and torture!"
Unaware of the steep Moscow order and in the hope of earning extra money from foreign doctors, they found themselves in a difficult situation. If you wanted to return home to your homeland, only the permission of the king himself was needed.
but ordinary people it was of little concern and the "correct" medicine was not available to them. Under Mikhail Romanov, there was only one pharmacy in Moscow. To receive the medicine in it, the permission of the sovereign himself was needed. And foreign healers were not very popular, and it was considered a sin to be treated by them. In Moscow, they especially disliked Jewish healers, who put themselves in danger much more than other foreigners. It took a long time until people began to trust the professional qualities of a healer, not paying attention to his origin and religion.

His own Russian educated person appeared at the beginning of the eighteenth century. His name was Pyotr Vasilievich Posnikov. He successfully graduated from the University of Padua, and then became significantly famous in his homeland.
However, the development modern medicine did not completely overshadow the values old recipes... Over time, they began to collect and record. Various "Herbalists" and "Healers" began to walk among the people. There were also translations of foreign books. One of these books appeared in 1580 by order of the governor of Serpukhov and was a translation from Polish. It contained information about herbs, alcoholic tinctures, stone treatment, and the like. Unfortunately, the book burned down in 1812, and evidence of its existence can be found in Karamzin's works.
For some time, the official church opposed herbal treatment sharply, but at the end of the seventeenth century the storm subsided, and the church doctors themselves did not hesitate to use folk recipes.

On this day, we decided to remember the outstanding Russian doctors.

Fyodor Petrovich Gaaz (1780 - 1853)

Russian doctor German origin known as the "holy doctor". From 1806 he served as a doctor in the Russian service. In 1809 and 1810 he traveled across the Caucasus, where he studied mineral springs (now the Caucasian Mineral Waters), investigated springs in Kislovodsk, discovered the springs of Zheleznovodsk, and was the first to report on springs in Essentuki. During the war of 1812 with Napoleon, he worked as a surgeon in the Russian Army.

Gaaz was a member of the Moscow Prison Committee and the chief physician of Moscow prisons. He devoted his life to alleviating the fate of prisoners and exiles. He made sure that the old and sick were freed from the shackles, he abolished the iron bar in Moscow, to which 12 exiles were chained to Siberia. He also achieved the abolition of shaving half of the head in women. On his initiative, a prison hospital and a school for the children of prisoners were opened.

In addition, Haaz fought for the abolition of the right of landlords to exile serfs, and received and supplied medicines to the poor patients.

Dr. Haas' motto: "Hurry to do good." In honor of the famous physician, the Federal State Medical and Prophylactic Institution "Regional Hospital named after Dr. F. P. Gaaz" was named.

Grigory Antonovich Zakharyin (1829 - 1897)

Russian physician-therapist, founder of the Moscow clinical school. Graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of Moscow University, was a professor at the Department of Diagnostics at Moscow University, later - director of the faculty therapeutic clinic. In 1894, Zakharyin treated the Emperor Alexander III.

Zakharyin became one of the most prominent clinical practitioners of his time and made an enormous contribution to the creation of the anamnestic method for the study of patients. He outlined his methods of diagnosis and views on treatment in "Clinical Lectures".

The research methodology according to Zakharyin consisted of a multi-stage questioning of the patient by the doctor, which made it possible to get an idea of ​​the course of the disease and risk factors. At the same time, Zakharyin paid little attention to objective research and did not recognize laboratory data.

Dr. Zakharyin was famous for his difficult character and incontinence in the treatment of patients.

Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov (1810 - 1881)

Surgeon and anatomist, naturalist and teacher, creator of the first atlas of topographic anatomy, founder of military field surgery, founder of anesthesia. One of the founders of surgery as a scientific medical discipline. He developed a number of important operations and surgical techniques, was the first to suggest rectal anesthesia and began to use ether anesthesia. For the first time in the world he used anesthesia in military field surgery.

Pirogov was the first to widely use a plaster cast. Before that, gypsum was almost never used in medicine. The starch bandage, which dries slowly, gets soaked from pus and blood, and is uncomfortable in the field, was of limited use.

During the defense of Sevastopol, he attracted women to take care of the wounded at the front. It was also he who first introduced the mandatory primary sorting of the wounded into four groups. The mortally wounded were assisted by priests and nurses, the seriously wounded requiring immediate assistance, the doctor dealt with first. Those who did not need an urgent operation were sent to the rear. Lightly wounded, who could be quickly returned to service, were handled by paramedics.

Even before the appearance of antiseptics, Pirogov separated the wounded with purulent and gangrenous complications from those whose wounds were clean, which helped to avoid the spread of infection.

As a teacher Pirogov strove to achieve the universal primary education, was the organizer of Sunday public schools... He also fought for the abolition of corporal punishment in the gymnasium.

Nikolai Vasilievich Sklifosovsky (1836 - 1904)

Honored Russian professor, surgeon, one of the founders of abdominal surgery (operative treatment of female diseases, diseases of the stomach, liver and bile ducts, bladder), contributed to the introduction of the principles of antiseptics and asepsis, developed an original operation of joining bones with false joints ("Russian lock") ... He made a significant contribution to the development of military field surgery, defended the approach of medical care to the battlefield, the principle of "savings treatment" of gunshot wounds, the use of plaster casts as a means of immobilization in case of wounds of the extremities.

Sklifosovsky owns more than seventy scientific works on surgery, the development of asepsis and surgery in general.

The name Sklifosovsky was given to the Moscow Research Institute of Emergency Medicine.

The fate of his family became a black spot in the biography of Sklifosovsky. The only son of the legendary doctor committed suicide. Vladimir shot himself shortly before the October Revolution. He was a member of a terrorist organization and was supposed to kill the Poltava governor, however, he could not shoot a man with whom his family was friends.

In 1919, the Cossacks of the pro-Bolshevik detachment brutally killed the wife of Nikolai Vasilyevich and his eldest daughter... Moreover, a document signed by Lenin, which said that repression did not extend to the family of a famous surgeon, could not save them from reprisals.

Sergey Petrovich Botkin

(1832 — 1889)

Russian physician-therapist, founder of the doctrine of the integrity of the human body, public figure... Graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of Moscow University, was a participant Crimean War, worked at the Simferopol hospital. He also worked in clinics in Konigsberg, Berlin, Vienna, England, Paris.

In 1860, Sergei Botkin moved to St. Petersburg, where he defended his doctoral dissertation and received the title of professor of medicine.

Botkin became one of the founders of the women's medical education, organized a school for female paramedics, as well as female medical courses. For the first time in Russia he created an experimental laboratory, where he studied the physiological and pharmacological effects of medicinal substances. He created a new direction in medicine called nervousism. It was he who established the infectious nature of such a disease as viral hepatitis, developed the diagnosis and clinic of the vagus kidney.

In 1861 he opened the first free outpatient clinic in the history of clinical treatment of patients, achieved the construction of a free hospital, opened in 1880 (Aleksandrovskaya barrack hospital, now S.P. Botkin hospital). Among Botkin's students there are 85 doctors of sciences, including A.A. Nechaev, M.V. Yanovsky, N. Ya. Chistovich, I.P. Pavlov, A.G. Simanovsky.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

(1849 — 1936)

Pavlov Ivan Petrovich - one of the most authoritative scientists in Russia, a physiologist, the creator of the science of higher nervous activity and ideas about the processes of regulation of digestion. He is the founder of the largest Russian physiological school and laureate Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology in 1904 "for his work on the physiology of digestion."

Main directions scientific activities Pavlova - a study of the physiology of blood circulation, digestion and higher nervous activity. The scientist developed methods of surgical operations to create an "isolated ventricle", applied a "chronic experiment" that was new for its time, allowing observations on healthy animals under conditions as close as possible to natural ones.

As a result of his work, a new scientific discipline- the science of higher nervous activity, which was based on the idea of ​​dividing reflexes into conditioned and unconditioned. Pavlov and his collaborators discovered the laws of the formation and extinction of conditioned reflexes, various types and types of inhibition were investigated, the laws of the main nervous processes were discovered, the problems of sleep were studied and its phases were established, and much more.

Pavlov was widely known for his doctrine of the types of the nervous system, which is based on the concept of the relationship between the processes of excitation and inhibition, and the doctrine of signaling systems.

Pavlov's scientific work influenced the development of related fields of medicine and biology, including psychiatry. Under the influence of his ideas, large scientific schools were formed in therapy, surgery, psychiatry, and neuropathology.

Sergei Sergeevich Yudin (1891 - 1954)

A prominent Soviet surgeon and scientist, chief surgeon of the N.N. N.V. Sklifosovsky, director of the Research Institute of Surgery named after N.V. A. V. Vishnevsky.

Yudin developed methods of gastric resection for peptic ulcer disease, perforated gastric ulcer and gastric bleeding, an operation to create an artificial esophagus.

Sergei Sergeevich Yuin wrote 15 monographs, published 181 scientific works.

In 1948, the NKVD was arrested on false charges as "an enemy of the Soviet state, who supplied British intelligence with spy information about our country." During his time in prison, he wrote the book "Reflections of a Surgeon." From 1952 until his release in September 1953 he was in exile, during which he worked as a surgeon in Berdsk. The doctor was released only after Stalin's death, in 1953.

Professional healers appeared mainly from among the magi, sorcerers, wizards, healers, sorcerers - this was facilitated by natural observation, the desire to find a solution to the phenomena of nature, the secrets of the human body. Many early chronicles are imbued with respect for the natural sciences of the Magi.

The Magi were experts in "potions", that is, medicinal plants. The Magi successfully acted as children's doctors, assisted women with infertility, they were invited to the homes of patients suffering from infectious diseases, to the wounded and "ulcerative" patients.

In the early monuments of writing dominated by the complete indivisibility of the concepts of "sorcerer", "doctor", "medicine", "greenery", "sorcerer". According to the ancient Russian idea, magic is a high art, skill ("magic trick"), and a sorcerer is a "wise", a person with great experience and knowledge.

To show the special depth of medical knowledge among doctors, Old Russian literature assigned them the epithets "wise", "cunning", "philosophers."

Medicine in Novgorod as an example of medicine in Russia

Novgorod for its sanitary culture and improvement was in first place among the largest cities in Northern Europe.
Here, earlier than in Paris and London, wooden pavements appeared on squares and streets, and an extensive underground drainage network of wooden pipes operated.
Novgorodians before the Kievites (at the end of the 9th - the beginning of the 10th centuries) began the construction of wooden huts.
Bath in Ancient Rus was much more widespread than in any European country... Novgorod healers well understood the healing power of the baths.
Soap at that time was imported from abroad and was available Beautiful and comfortable clothes - not only a manifestation of tastes and fashion different eras, but also a kind of indicator of the sanitary culture of the population. Novgorodians in the XI - XIII centuries. dressed in clothes that retain heat well and reliably protect the skin from mechanical damage, dust, dirt, insect bites, and do not hinder movement.

For washing clothes and washing the body, the Novgorodians used light-soiling soils, minerals that contained fat and ash. The linen was boiled in barrels of ash water.

Novgorodians were strong people... Physical labor, simple, healthy food, prolonged stay at fresh air increased their resistance to the destructive action of microorganisms.

But the cruel scourge of hunger, epidemics claimed many lives. From the middle of the XII to the beginning of the XVIII century. plague, smallpox, anthrax, typhus - 17 times became the cause of devastating epidemics for Novgorod. All who were capable fled from the city, leaving it in the care of secular and monastic doctors.
With constant risk to their lives, they bypassed courtyards and streets. The sick were fed by passing them food through the flame of the fire. They took the dead to distant cemeteries.

The first hospitals were based mainly in monasteries. Wooden hospital buildings were usually located within the quadrangular space formed by the monastery walls. In large monasteries, along with hospitals, baths and "svitoshnye" (laundries) were built.

Since the XV century. hearths with a hole in the ceiling instead of a chimney replaced the stoves, which were eventually replaced by a system of in-wall pipes with hot air circulating through them. The windows were covered with plates of mica. The patients slept on wooden planks. Dry moss, straw, reeds were used instead of mattresses.

The widespread use of herbal and animal medicines was complemented by techniques from the arsenal of the surgical art.
The "rezalniks" (surgeons) were surrounded by honor in ancient Novgorod. Using belladonna extract and opium tincture, they performed rather complex operations on limb amputation, craniotomy, and gluttony.

In some chronicles, you can find a description of medical actions. So, judging by the "Izborniks of Svyatoslav" (1073, 1076), the doctor had to, first of all, be a cutter (surgeon - MM), who knew how to cut tissue, amputate limbs, perform therapeutic cauterization with a red-hot iron, that is using metal: "Iron does not know what it does, but the doctor knows what it is doing." In other chronicles, unique illustrations on medical topics attract attention. Thus, the "Facial Chronicle Code", covering the period from the "creation of the world" to 1567, contains drawings of ancient Russian prostheses called "drevyanitsa" or "toyagi". They were intended for amputees. Crutches, also made of wood, sometimes with complicated devices, were used to support the shoulder and knee. In the "Vault" there was even a miniature illustrating the process of making iron fastenings on a crutch in a smithy.

Medical information in the ancient Russian annals was most often associated with diseases the mighty of the world this. So, in the "Tale of Bygone Years" (1044), it is said about a permanent bandage on the crown of the head about a congenital cerebral hernia, made to Prince Vseslav. The Ipatiev Chronicle (1289) contains a documentary and colorful description of the illness of Prince Vladimir Vasilyevich Volynsky, thanks to which a modern physician can recognize a disease about which in question: Most likely it was cancer of the lower lip. Unfortunately, the Ipatiev Chronicle does not report how the prince was treated - perhaps also because the outcome of the treatment was fatal.

The chronicler illuminates the disease in much more detail and in a more qualified manner. Basil III(father of Ivan the Terrible), gives an almost clinical description of the course of the disease, which was, in all likelihood, purulent inflammation of the hip joint (purulent arthritis).

The peculiar "case histories" of the Russian princes captured in the annals testify to the use of various surgical methods of treatment. Thus, the Nikon Chronicle describes how in the "summer of 6949" (i.e. in 1441) Prince Dmitry Yuryevich Krasny, who had been ill for a long time, for a long time during communion provided qualified medical assistance his confessor, a monk doctor, Father Hosea: in case of severe bleeding, he successfully used the tamponade method.
Old Russian historians reported on the use of the moxibustion method (with the help of burning tinder). According to the Nikon Chronicle, in the "summer of 6970" (in 1462), while treating the Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich, who suffered from "dryness", the then generally accepted method of treatment, moxibustion, was applied. Unfortunately, the applied method did not help.

One of the few famous names is the legendary Eupraxia (1108-1180), granddaughter of Vladimir Monomakh, daughter of Prince Mstislav. In 1122, she was married to the son of the Byzantine emperor Alexei Komnenos and was named Zoe at the coronation. In Byzantium, she studied the Greek language and “did a lot in her favorite area of ​​medicine, perhaps she reread the medical works available to her (Hippocrates, Galen, etc.) and as a result wrote a manual on medicine herself.

This guide is one of the most ancient Russian healers "Mazi" ("Alimma"): the only surviving copy of this guide was kept in Florence, in the library of Lorenzo Medici. V late XIX century Russian historian Kh.M. Loparev discovered this work in Florence and acquired a copy of the Greek manuscript "Alimma". In the manuscript, which consisted of five parts, various scattered medical information were brought into a certain system, in particular, “external diseases” were described and recipes for various medicines recommended for diseases of the skin and teeth were given, and heart and stomach diseases were described. As the most common medicines in the manuscript, all kinds of ointments were given, which is why, probably, the whole work was called "Alimma". This work, summarizing a number of medical observations of that time and attributed to Zoya, was obviously familiar and used by the healers of Ancient Russia. What was the “medical class” of Ancient Russia?

Educated doctors-monks, professionals in their field worked in the monastery and church hospitals that existed at that time. Of course, the main occupation of the monastic scholars, who then represented a very thin layer of bearers of intellectual culture, was most likely not the healing of the sick or the study and correspondence antique literature, but a theology that absorbed the main intellectual aspirations of the clergy. But still, as evidenced historical sources, there were many so-called monastic doctors among them.

In addition to educated (to one degree or another) doctors-monks who used their patients in monasteries, in medieval Russia there were numerous secular doctors, professional healers, who learned the basics of their profession in the order of craft apprenticeship, often in families of hereditary healers. Among them, specialists of the "therapeutic" profile prevailed - Kamchuzh (for the treatment of aches, in the modern sense - rheumatism), intramural (they were engaged in the treatment of eye diseases), stuffed (specialists in syphilis), those who treated for "spoilage" (the ancestors of modern psychoneurologists ) and etc.

The fact that in medieval Russia treatment with a surgeon was commonplace can be said quite definitely. these methods have been used in practice. Medical, incl. surgical, help common people, in particular, the treatment of wounds, to some extent was provided by law
Among the worldly doctors and healers of the "surgical" profile - rezalniki: among them were bone setters ("traumatologists"), Kamnesechians (specialists in the treatment of bladder diseases), keel masters (they were engaged in the treatment of keels, that is, hernias), Chechuyes ( treated hemorrhoids). Later, in the ХУ-ХУ1 centuries, the testimonies of contemporaries also mention alchemists, "healers of the Polish breed", disciples of the general Karelians, etc.

True, the ancient Russian chronicles say extremely little about their deeds, about their practice, about their methods of treatment. Probably, there were several reasons for this, for example, the lack of knowledge of the chroniclers in medicine; but the main reason, perhaps, was the initially skeptical attitude of the church towards these healers, who, along with the methods of ancient and folk medicine, also used methods of sorcery that were severely persecuted by Orthodoxy, which came from pagan times. However, one cannot exclude an element of a kind of competition with monk doctors, with monastic medicine.

Pharmacology in Russia

So, the disease, which modern doctors call scurvy, our ancient colleagues won with rosehip infusion, garlic, and onions. By the way, the onion was considered a universal remedy, they even added a saying about it: "Onion from seven ailments." Tar rescued from skin diseases, carrots - from anemia, pumpkin seeds expelled worms. It is believed that there was even a complex decoction, which included mercury: it was used for "sticky" (venereal) diseases. The use of some remedies had to be accompanied by conspiracies. WITH late XVII For centuries, there are extremely many "medical" prayers and healers' conspiracies in medical books, borrowed partly from the folk epic antiquity, partly from the apocryphal books: all these prayers and conspiracies were, of course, a kind of psychotherapeutic drugs and sometimes helped the sick.
Teriak - every doctor who has left a mark on history, starting from Galen, ending with Avicenna, and on up to modern times, has a link to this panacea for all ills. Teriak is included in the arsenal of Tibetan medicine and, more broadly, medicine of the entire East.

Historians and doctors are trying to find a recipe for this drug in ancient sources of information, but so far unsuccessfully. But it would be interesting to learn more about him and, perhaps (why not?) Revive him to life. There is a suspicion that theriak is still in the arsenal of reliable traditional medicine.

In Russia, the side effects of the use of mercury - stomatitis, as well as ways to prevent them were known.
Old Russian healers also used minerals to treat diseases.

Lapis lazuli has been used as a laxative and to treat intermittent fever.
The diamond was used to lubricate the edges of purulent wounds and ulcers, as well as to treat gums in case of scurvy.
The use of agate is mentioned in the "Izbornik Svyatoslav". In Ancient Russia, vessels were made from it for the transportation and storage of medicines. Already in those days, agate was considered a medicine. It was used as a powder or ointment for bitten wounds. The book describes a variety of agate - onyx, which was used to make instruments for bloodletting. In Russia, amethyst was valued high. It was used as an antidote for alcohol poisoning.

In Ancient Russia, a method of treating diseases with the help of certain organs, bile, animal juices, bird eggs, and extracts from insect bodies was widespread. The raw materials for such medicines were mined in Russia and brought from other countries. A lot of raw materials were brought from eastern countries.

The most popular remedy for any kind of indigestion was the bezoar stone, which was found in the intestines of many animals.
There is one more remedy of animal origin used in Russia - the secret of the musk deer gland - a source of musk. It was used for heart disease, as well as for diseases of epilepsy, mentally ill with depression, and it was also treated with binges.

Antlers of sika deer were very popular among doctors of the Moscow state. In Russia velvet antlers were prescribed for epilepsy), for stomach and uterine bleeding, for paralysis. Patients drank them with wine and water for heart disease.
Especially appreciated in Russia are substances that have a beneficial effect on the heart, soothe nerves, and give vigor. In ancient Russian medical books, they were called tender pet names: "Lyubka", "sweet potion", "gift from heaven" and so on.

But the main place in ancient Russian medicine was occupied by herbal medicines. Currently, they are more studied, and many of them are successfully used by modern doctors. So, cloves were recommended for visual impairment, for diseases of the stomach, liver, heart. Pepper (black) was considered by Russian doctors to be a real panacea for all diseases. They also treated rheumatic diseases. Ginger was given as a cure. It was taken in vinegar at night.

Also popular were nutmeg, nutmeg, which were brought from India. They were used as a diuretic and to excite chronic patients.

In Ancient Russia, wormwood, wild rosemary, etc. were used as disinfectants. In the "Kiev-Pechersk Patericon" (16th century) senna and rhubarb are mentioned, which were used as laxatives.

However, it was not easy to preserve the doctors and herbalists. It was not safe to keep them at home. On such a person they could write a denunciation, judge, take all the property to the treasury, and send the person to some remote monastery. And there were many such cases in Russia.

Despite this, therapists and herbalists continued to secretly store them in many homes, thanks to which we have an idea of ​​many elements of the traditional medicine of Ancient Russia.

Plants are of great importance in the clinics of Russian medicine. The procurement of medicinal plants comes out on top through the introduction of natural duty, as well as through the expeditions of herbalists of the pharmaceutical order. The whole onion family had a special "authority", especially garlic and onions. Ancient herbalists noted their ability to stimulate skin regeneration in case of burns, bruises, wounds.

Surgery of Russia

In handwritten medical books, wounds were distinguished between "shot", "cut" and "punctured", and special attention was paid not to "fresh" wounds, but to frequent complications - "old" wounds that did not heal for a long time. Conservative methods of treatment prevailed, using various ointments. For dressing, either dried mycelium of the fungus, “sprinkler lips”, or “tree moss,” collected mainly “from aromatic trees,” were used: this moss was also considered a good hemostatic. Wounds and ulcers were irrigated with various medicinal liquids. Used lotions and rinses.

Powders were used, fumigation of wounds with smoke. Deep wounds (“fistulas”) were doused.