I bet he was well -boozed-up. They would not have known about the problems of alcohol in the blood back then, or perhaps the wound was healed enough by the time of the procedure to limit bleeding to a controllable level even with a patient hopefully out cold in a drunken stupor.
@@AirDOGGe Not necessarily, the adverse effect of alcohol on blood coagulation is relatively easy to see. As mentioned in the documentary, there were other methods of analgesia
ER doctor here. The wound management principles used here are all spot on, which is amazing given that the physicians and surgeons of the time did not even know how healing or infections worked. I can only imagine the social pressure involved in attempting something like this. To anyone watching, it would look like you were torturing the prince and worsening the wound every day. If he had died, people would be looking at you as the potential cause of the death. Brilliant medical work.
With reapect to your modern day knowledge, it sounds like he did understand infection and healing. Let's not forget how profound was their understanding, including about herbal properties, pre modern drug-based medicine!!
I think they didn't know WHY the stuff they did worked but they knew HOW it worked. Granted, not on a deeper level and they achieved their knowledge through trial and error, but I'm convinced the people who came before us knew a great deal more than we give them credit for. Transfer of knowledge (teaching) was of course just as crucial as experience but you don't have to know about bacteria to know how to prevent infection.
@@tunetownmusic-l2f They knew nothing of the mechanisms of healing, little about how the "mechanics" of the body worked, nothing of the germ theory of infection. What they had was a rough idea of how the body worked and empirical evidence of what worked. "Willow bark reduces pain" was known because people had tried eating all the tree barks and remembered the one that reduced pain with no idea of salicylic acid, no idea of dosing and little knowledge of side effects. Scientific drug manufacture allows consistent strength of the effective compound, it allows consistent dosing, and ensures purity. And herbs aren't necessarily free -- only if you can pick and prepare them yourself and don't count your time as a cost. Try getting willow bark in an arid country or opium somewhere poppies don't grow.
@@XelaMaThey knew the body healed from wounds and that infectiosn happened. They didn't understand the mechanisms behind either. Germ Theory wasn't proposed until the 1800s and doctors mocked the man who proposed it.
@@rationallyrubyone of the most common examples is that the ancient Egyptians were incapable of building the pyramids. That ancient peoples were just not sufficiently advanced
When I was 16 years old I got a javelin in the face. It penetrated in the exact same spot as shown on the dummy's head. Since the javelin came from above it went through my skull and the point entered my mouth, through two pieces of solid bone. Any other spot in my face or head and I would probably have died. This was of course the 1980's and the wound was treated properly, my face put back in place since part of it had shifted, and I fully recovered leaving no more than a small scar under the eye. As to pain: I never felt any. Maybe from shock, I don't know. Seeing him stick the arrow in the dummy's head in the place where my scar is was unsettling, even after 40 years.
That sounds terrible, I guess something went horribly wrong during PE? Healing that wound must also have taken months... but I am glad to hear that you pulled through.
I have a friend who does reconstructive plastic surgery, it really is remarkable what can be done these days for people who have had facial tumors or terrible injuries like yours. What could be done when you were injured, it's even more sophisticated now. 40 years on, I'm glad you're still around to tell the tale!👍
As a former orthopædic nurse I found this to be very interesting. Considering that there was little known about surgery on the head at that time, let alone wound aftercare and treatment, this is an amazing example of a very intelligent doctor, who was probably learning as he went along, drawing on what experience he had with battlefield injuries and doing something quite unique,, even designing and making a special instrument to remove the arrowhead. Wow!
Well, after all, it is Henry V England’s greatest warrior king the man who really had miracles if he hadn’t died of dysentery during a French siege, he would’ve been king of France and changed history
Adrenaline, rage, and determination. Plus being so young helped. The young can bounce back much quicker than the old. He was a warrior fighting for his country. With shock and a adrenaline adding fuel to his fire, he was almost unstoppable
What really blows me away with this legend of a surgeon is that not only does he figure out how to do all this, but rather than keep it a secret and building up some kind of mystery around himself like a druid or medicine man, he documents and publishes. This man didn't want to save just the prince, he wanted to save everyone.
He was a "barber surgeon" a low class guy who worked with his hands, not one of the elite physicians who decided what worked based on their intellect, not their observations, and wrote things for the surgeons to follow.
@@foo219 One thing the low class surgeons did was publish in their usual language, not Latin like scholars and philosophers. Ambroise Pare was ridiculed because he didn't know much Latin, and he published in French ... and that's why he was so influential, because the barber surgeons could read his work.
the way they allowed the wound to heal is called healing by secondary intention and was/is still used today for certain types of wounds. This was a great story. thank you.
@@annettefournier9655Don’t I know. I had to pack my c-section incision wet to dry four times a day all with a newborn and working 12 hr nights in an ICU. This was 30 yrs ago before we had paid maternity leave and I had to return to work after 5 weeks.
I suffered sepsis and had my left foot and right hand amputated completely as well as the forefoot on the right and all the fingers on my left hand and half the thumb. The would on the stump on the left took over a month to heal from the bottom up with daily wound care. Seeing this medieval surgeon’s work is absolutely amazing.
Tried to google it but it seems they are saying they didn’t want to let the skin heal before the lower portions of the wound healed, why is that? I would have thought letting the skin heal would provide a barrier to help reduce the chance of bacterial infection
Absolutely Amazing. The fact that this Doctor knew about infection and how to treat it, really impresses me. His surgical skills and talent as a Doctor must have been in big demand back then.
Infection was well known. The ancient Egyptians knew about it, so did the Greeks and the Romans. They knew it existed, but did not understand the mechanics. The treatment of infection was simply trial and error.
2.30 ‘he was phenomenally lucky’. Eric Blair ( George Orwell) was told much the same when shot through the throat during the Spanish Civil War and he reportedly replied ‘no I’m not, I got shot through my throat’.
No one I met at this time - doctors, nurses, practicantes, or fellow-patients - failed to assure me that a man who is hit through the neck and survives it is the luckiest creature alive. I could not help thinking that it would be even luckier not to be hit at all. - Orwell, Homage to Catalonia.
In 2015,The mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, was stabbed through the neck by a right wing extremist with a bowie knife and she survived. Some folks are incredebly lucky@@GalootWrangler
I survived esophageal cancer and had a feeding tube for almost a year. I told the doctor that I felt I could eat enough to get rid of the feeding tube and he said to take it out whenever I was ready. He also said it’s easy to remove, but will require surgery to put it back in so be sure. I asked “what about the hole” and I’ll never forget he told me my body wanted that foreign object out of my body and that the hole would immediately close. I’ll never forget sitting in warm tub of bath water and slowly removing the feeding tube and I was shocked at how long it was. Sure enough the hole instantly closed and 24 years later it looks like a bullet wound. The human body is amazing and I can’t even imagine what this surgery was like and all other surgeries before effective anesthesia.
I'm glad to hear you're doing better now! You can also see the same effect on miniature if you watch a professional piercer work (the kind that uses a needle, not a piercing gun). They always push the needle through until the back end is getting close to the skin, and then they thread the jewelry onto the needle before pulling it the rest of the way through. If they don't get the jewelry into the back of the needle before it goes into the flesh, the hole closes up, which is called losing the transfer. It's also why they tell you not to change your piercings until they heal. I take longer to heal than most, so I had my earring holes close up twice as a teenager before I just gave up on bothering to get them pierced again (I did wait the recommended time, but I heal slow)
My mother also survived that and had j tube in her intestine for enteral feeding. Remarkable you survived that has 5% survival rate so glad you are in remission and were able to eat normally again. It's a terrible cancer.
@@ChrisW228 That’s what happened you read it correctly and it was done as I said with my doctor’s direction. Believe me I was surprised that that’s what he told me.
I’m in awe. How absolutely remarkable. We often talk about the “horrors” of medicine from the past but it is truly incredible how much they got right without knowing why it was right.
Well, very effective anaesthesia. They had alcohol , opium and probably a few other things that helped to deaden the pain somewhat. As the video says, there were problems with these, especially alcohol and its blood- thinning side effect. But of course, nothing that completely knocked the patient out so by God, you needed to be tough in those days. There is an account of, if I remember right, aound the 1800s of a woman getting surgery for breast cancer with zero anaesthetic. It's a tough read. But it was successful and she lived for no less than 27 years after the operation.
@@paulohagan3309 Who said it wasn't such an attempt? The point is that before modern anesthesia all those attempts were semi-futile. For example, even today, and even with the "good drugs", more than half of sedated patients in the intensive care unit actively recall pain. Meanwhile, general anesthesia does more than put you to sleep. You don't feel pain at all when you're under general anesthesia. Not even going to mention alcohol, which is actually utterly useless in preventing pain.
There's also the story of a toolsmith who got brought a rough sketch of a tool nobody had ever build before and was told he needs to make it right now or the prince might die. It doesn't look terribly complicated, but it might have taken several prototypes to get it right, and that probably would have taken some time as well.
Bradmore is thought to have been a metalworker as well as surgeon, so he might have made it himself, or at least would have been able to give very clear directions.
@@rickcimino5483 Physicians at the time were little more than glorified astrologers. They subscribed to the theory of "the Four Humours" and how "the stars' and planets' alignments" affected them. Barbers were the ones who had access to precision steel implements, so many barbers were also surgeons. Their status was generally little more than that of a butcher. Bradmore might have been a metalworker and was recorded elsewhere as a "gemster" -- he might have fashioned jewelry. He also dabbled in counterfeiting ( a capital crime), so the pardon he was given for saving the prince's life literally saved his own life as well.
@@LauraBurchardconsidering all the metal tools a surgeon of that time needed, they wood have to be knowledgeable about or a practicing metalworker. On the video they show the variety ot types plus there were probably different sizes of each tool needed.
One thing that is not mentioned is that the course of the arrow must have been through the maxillary sinus which is air filled and basically a hollow cavity. As an ENT surgeon we can enter this area just above the teeth. The cavity only has nerve cells on the periphery so the pain and bleeding is not as bad as if it were solid flesh. However, at the back of the sinus is a critical area containing blood vessels and nerves that can be fatal if cut. He was indeed lucky none of these critical structures was damaged. As far as infection the sinus has a normal drainage channel into the nose which certainly helped with the healing process. The method of extraction of the arrow point was extremely clever and he was fortunate to know the approximate size of the cavity in the tip.
Adding my thanks as well. You are adding the “reason why” to augment a comment by a guy who had a similar injury to the face via javelin in the ‘70s. He mentioned not feeling much pain at all. I appreciate those sharing their experiences and knowledge. Now I’m left wondering if it requires less anesthesia to do ear nose throat surgeries, but then the entry area above the teeth you described must be incredibly sensitive. I dunno, but it’s fun to learn and I am curious about EVERYTHING!
History Hit is consistently one of my teaching go-to resources because of the specificity of the mini-documentaries like this. I am a science educator in the United States and I absolutely love building a multi subject curriculum based on true events that demonstrate how science has shaped the history of our world. Whether it’s the physics of the arrow striking the Prince or the chemistry behind the plants used to anesthetize him for the arrow removal, this story is an educational gem! Thank you to the brilliant team at History Hit!
Hi Brooklyn N Chick. “Hello”. Just read your comment, and thought of this re your educating process. In 1990’s British production Connections with James Burke was a great series. I thought then, and still think, it would so suitable for young (any age)minds in school to get them interested in different histories, societies, inventiveness of humans, etc. I’ve started rewatching them right here on YT. I highly recommend you watch one and maybe it could be another Smart show to make your students smarter, too. “Cheers” from Bev. in Canada
@@bevgordon7619 Thank you very much, I will look into this. I appreciate your investment in getting high quality education to students; I am sure they’ll love it! Have a joy-full week!
@@tunetownmusic-l2fI'm asking because I'm an English language teacher and I know from experience that sometimes shortened forms in English can cause confusion for learners of English as a second language.
@barnzYT it all has do do with the teacher, the correct one can do a good job at keeping it interesting. Same as two comedians repeating the same joke, one will always get more people to laugh than the other.
@@coreyrutherford7231 I completely agree. I blame schools a lot nowadays for the way they teach it (in the uk anyway) I’m only 24 so only 8 years out of school however I remember in history all you got shoved down your throat was history politics. When my parents were in school every year group took trips over to Belgium and France to see war graves etc to give them a first hand look at the scale of war and how important history was. Now all you get is taught how our country are evil and we should bend the knee to everyone rather than some of the incredible things we have achieved in history and how we have moved on from them
I can’t imagine the pain Henry went through, or how much this wound disfigured his cheek bone area. No wonder his portraits are only painted from the side profile rather than front facing as portraits usually are painted.
No mention of major cheek bone damage by the surgeon, I think it would have healed with just a scar. Bullet entry holes are often just pink scars when healed.
@@dfjtobinKing Henry the 8th suffered from a jousting wound in the leg that never completely healed, suppurating pus 2 decade later. If he had not had the medical care he received he would have died. Samuel Pepys 120 years later had his bladder operated on to remove stones, the operation must have been excruciating but he survived for another 3 decades until the inner wound reopened and he died of sepsis. The main issue was before non dissolving stitches surgeons only stitched on the outer skin.
@@bibphil5078 This video discusses exactly that, the surgeon worked on the wound over time to allow it to heal from the inside up. Watch the video, it is interesting.
Many of the things they used were accidentally aseptic. Surgical drains for deep wounds were frequently made of wing bones of large birds, BOILED in vinegar to remove calcium and make them flexible. Sutures were "catgut" (really the silk glands from silkworms, stretched into a filament) that had to be BOILED to make them flexible for use. Wound washes were herbs simmered in cheap wine (plenty of antimicrobial polyphenols in it), and linens were preferable dried in the sun (UV light). Rosewater and turpentine ... polyphenols! It was true "oil of turpentine", not the stuff sold today as paint thinner.
And turpentine, the real stuff, is excellent for many things today Ppl r scared to death of it But it’s great for parasites (which Americans don’t have, yes I know 🙄)
Herbs don’t need simmering to be very effectual U can chew jewelweed and plaster it on poison ivy, as a poultice while out in the wild. U can make other poultices at home too. No simmering nor wine needed. Very very effective.
I wouldn’t say accidental - the knowledge of herbalism, for example, comes from millennia of trial and error and documentation. They may not have had modern science, but they could hypothesise, observe, test and document results. Traditional Chinese Medicine shows a remarkable attention to detail, cause and effect, and overlaps modern western medicine in a remarkable way.
@@AdeleishaHow is "modern science" any different than "hypothesize, observe, test, and document the results"? The only difference between today and then, is that today more people can read - and have more access to more information. Most of our "modernity" is based around our ability to mass manufacture - at a high rate with high specific tolerances. The tools themselves really haven't changed all that much, just the consistency and materials.
My word, what an injury. I am surprised he survived at all. Infections were no joke in the past. What an amazing man he was. Henry Hotspur was no snowflake either.
Mediaeval surgeons often washed their instruments and the skin they are about to cut with wine. They had no idea why it worked but they could see it helped. All of the techniques being discussed in this video were taught at the University of Paris and at Bologna’s. There is some evidence that some European physicians actually went to Ibn Sina’s hospital in the Middle East to learn his techniques.
It is very sad that by the 19th century those practices were discontinued as being something done by ignorant individuals. Scientists like Louise Pasteur & Dr. Lister had to reintroduce sanitary hygiene to doctors, obstetricians & surgeons to lower the death rates in surgeries & births. Yes, Prince Hal was operated on in his bed chamber. But you can bet everything used during the surgery & after was very clean. "The Dark Ages" weren't really dark. There is a book about it & this age jump started The Renaissance. Al Andaluz, the Moorish empire in Spain & Portugal, provided the foundation with its libraries. The translators, & later the printing press, spread the knowledge. Europe owes alot to international trade & the universal thirst for knowledge.
If you look a Henry's tomb effigy at 12:54 you can see a mark on the left side exactly where the arrow would have been. So I think left side as Bradmore said.
The quality of the image at that point in the video is okay, but not exactly high-resolution. It’s hard to tell if the metalwork is supposed to show a scar to the left - Henry’s left - of his nose, or if that’s just an anomalous effect of the reflection of the lights at that angle.
@@ColumbiaB No it is not hard to tell, that is a mark on the metalwork, not a trick of light, whether is was done by design or by accident is the real question, I just found it interesting that it is in the place where the arrow hit.
@@dfjtobin l have to agree, and if the effigy wasn't embellished or altered, he also looks far more handsome than he does in his portrait. ETA, l was wondering why there was a discrepancy between the two, and discovered that portraits were often painted showing the subject's left side, which was supposed to look more expressive or emotive, so the person who painted him may have been using artistic licence and eliminated the wound from his painting. I thought that was interesting.
Yes. We almost always describe things from our left right perspective, it was only post anatomy-> standard anatomical position that wounds etc were described from the body
“It’s just a flesh wound”. Seriously, people were a lot tougher in the past than today. To think that this surgery was performed over six hundred years ago is amazing.
Well, British humor and the creation of relevant cultural trends haven't been seen for 3-4 decades now. Since then(and before), it's been all American. Although, I enjoyed Mr Bean, Keeping up Appearances, Are you being served?, Ab Fab, Monty etc as a child in the 80s and 90s.
Shakespeare was a poet, not a historian. Likewise he was not there for the actual event as it was a couple centuries before. The point of downplaying the wound was to further elevate the toughness of Henry V.
People today have endured terrible agonies, too. It's just that most of us don't need to suffer such horrible pain anymore. You think women with awful pregnancy experiences don't know real pain? Certain types of cancer or organ failures? It's easy to say we are wimps when you yourself have never had to go through it.
Shakespeare has the Dauphin refer to Henry as “ a vain, giddy, shallow, humorous youth”. In reality, I suspect the French knew of Henry’s wound, his recovery, and his subsequent military record and knew they were facing an experienced foe with an unusual sense of determination.
@voraciousreader3341 : First things first. I have reread the Post and the comments in reply and have no indication that anyone has said that Shakespeare's writings were meant as histories! Secondly, do you know that after the word "history" you left four punctuation marks, when it should have only been three! Also you seemed to have forget that before the word Didn't, you should have started a new paragraph, due to the change in subject! Last but not least, you finished off your sentence with two question marks, surely a faux pas? Didn't you learn that in school?
This is one of the most impressive pieces of medieval medical history. It’s unimaginable how Prince Hal went through this. And Bradmore clearly was a bloody master of his craft. Thanks for this incredibly interesting video!!!!
The head is actually one of the least painful places on your body to be operated on. It’s the fact that you’re being operated on in full view that freaks you out and when that happens you think it should hurt and then you start trashing, hence the amazing amount of pain killers. They not only dull the pain but probably helped keep him calm.
This is exactly why I hate the idea of LASIK, you do it conscious 😭 if I ever get LASIK they better give me so much laughing gas bc ain’t no way, ain’t no way
I had heart surgery and after a bit the nurse came in to remove the drain tube and the temp pacemaker wires, the drain tube was about 1/2" diameter plastic going in thru an incision a few inches above the belly button as did the 2 braided wires. The nurse said it will feel very strange coming out, like a zipper. I got ready for the 1,2, THREE PULL!! and it didnt hurt at all but it really felt strange because we have nerve sensors in those areas but they are almost never actually used, so the two pulling out procedures was really and odd feeling. I think the inside of the wound goes mostly numb, I had basically a 1/2" hole the drain tube was in, granted it was very smooth and nothing was being pushed back in like the Prince had, but that and the two smaller holes for the braided wires apparently went mostly numb as all I felt was a kind of zipper being undone effect. I was not on pain meds, I didn't even need the tylenol they were pushing.
I have been involved in the care of several trauma cases where slim foreign objects have been impalled in the face of patients in relatively the same area. In 3 cases the patients never lost consciousness and other then the fact that they could see the protruding end of what impalled them they had no idea how deep it was or how serious it was as they swore they felt no pain. 2 of the cases were from archery accidents and one was scrapnel from an explosion caused by a fire in an industrial warehouse. Seen many others similiar to those where the patients had to quickly given strong sedation as the pain was so great they could not hold still. Of course there was a great deal of dus cussion around what the mechanism was that made such a difference in the cases where the patients said they felt no pain, and it was both the opinion of the trauma surgeon, neurosurgeon and anethesiologist that there was damage to the major nerve that supplied pain receptors to that area of the face so the pain was their but not getting back to registering with the brain. Basically, they were luck compared to those with similar wounds where the nerve ir nerves were nit damaged. While in the 3 cases that escaped the pain of the trauma they all had limited feeling or no pain or hot or cold sensation depending on just how badly the nerve damage was. That very well may have been the case with Hal and it was just never recorded as to whether he had loss of sensation on the injured side as feelings, nerves and pain were even less understood then anything else in medicine at that time, plus not having feeling on your face or anywhere actually would have been construed as a disability a Prince or King would not wish to admit to especially as something like that back then was often thought to be so ething that could be passed on to children (again lack of medical understanding) and especially a Prince who would want to marry would not admit to having a problem like this.
@@myriamickx7969 Overdose is what killed you with that form (people still die today from anesthesia). I remember reading about a similar anesthetic that surgeons used in Chaucer's time in a book Chaucer's World. The physician said that care had to be taken or the patient never woke up. He also said that it is so effective that the patient is in so deep a sleep that he feels no cutting done by the surgeon. Kind of ironic that medicine was better during the Middle Ages than the "Enlightenment". They stopped using the effective herbs because that was "superstition". Only now is medicine looking into herbal medicine. Less recently: Aspirin=willow bark. Digitalis=foxglove plant, and so on.
@@Neddoestor any conflict zone really or being a great distance from established modern medicine. Our access to modern medicine in 1st world countries is a luxury many do not have.
My ancestral grandfather was the armor bearer to King Henry IV and fought at Shrewsbury. He was nearly seven feet tall and loved to fight. After his death, he was interred in York Minster. History is awesome.
@@Losantivillethe op didn't mention generations he said ancestral grandfather which could be any amount of generations but yeah probably is cappin' but ya never know...
@@jacquescousteau6810 erm, maybe you should look it up? Here I looked it up, Google says "Ancestral Grandfather - An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). Ancestor is "any person from whom one is descended. In law, the person from whom an estate has been inherited"
I had a staph infection in 2020. I spent a month in the hospital, had 3 surgeries, lost parts of 3 bones in my upper chest, was on antibiotics for 6 weeks after discharge. I’m lucky to be alive. Henry’s physician must have been a fucking genius for his time.
Been there, done that. 2 surgeries on R knee, 14 weeks on meds, then a bleed into the knee cavity.. Knee is awful but alive. Short doctor then, good doctores now.
The things they could do already back then... it's inspiring. I'd like to think people in the year 2600 look back at us and think it's amazing what we could do despite not having something that will be discovered 300 years from now and which people in 600 years can't imagine doing without.
I am so grateful I found History Hit. I subscribe and follow every podcast. Some of my favorites are betwixt the sheets , and The Ancients is definitely my favorite of all the channels. Every subject is like a deep dive but done with an expert or professor in the field. Thanks History Hit for taking me to college for free!
This was incredibly fascinating. And this was the first time I ever heard that the arrows were held on with beeswax. An incredibly devious thing to do but war is war.
@@VanityDivinedListen smartarse, I paid attention - I'm fully aware of the fact that the method of joining the arrow shaft to the arrowhead caused horrendous problems for the injured and the medics who were treating the injured, but there's nothing to suggest that's the sole reason beeswax was used. Again, if the beeswax held the arrowhead in position as it struck home, why would the arrowsmiths go to the bother of using a more durable method? Arrows had to be manufactured in huge numbers, and sometimes at a pace - why would they take more manufacturing steps?
@@ianmacfarlane1241 Please preface this with my ignorance of medieval anything. I always thought that they were you know stuck in there somewhat permanently. But learning that they held it with beeswax is a devious tactic in my opinion And please read devious as smart or cunning. And the other reason I never would have thought of beeswax is you're in a march and it's kind of hot out I would think that the V6 would melt but history definitely says otherwise. As I said war is war. You do what you have to do to win.
I went to University of Warwick and used to go past Kenilworth Castle everyday on the commute. Kenilworth was apparently the dogging capital of the Midlands at the time...
This video is basically perfect, this is something you can't get a sense of when you just read it as a layman. Seeing an expert recreate it makes it so much more real. RIP Henry V, you were one of our best
Wonderful story. It must very hard to judge the angle by feel alone. Interestingly, when Lincoln was shot, the bullet was lodged behind his eye, and the surgeon present, using a metal probe, couldn't locate the bullet, creating two new wounds in the process. In that documentary a physician said that feeling the path of the bullet with the pinkie finger was the only way before x-rays.
read about James Garfield US president and how they used metal probes to try to locate the bullet in his wounds and probably contributed to infecting his wound further and to his demise.
I already knew this basic story, but I had no idea the Prince was only 16! Also, if you don't already have Michael Livingston's new book, "Agincourt", you should remedy that situation at your earliest convenience. (He's the guy in this video.)
Modern medicine calls it 'healing by secondary intention'. Years ago I had an abscess opened up on my thigh, that was then packed with gauze and recurrently removed as the flesh healed underneath.
I think people, especially those trained in war like the knights and soldiers, had a much higher pain threshold than we do. Anesthetics were practically inexistant (I was even surprised to learn in that video that the physician had something that could dull the pain), medical science was not very developed, and whatever happened to you, you just had to live with it. They weren't pampered like we are.
Mediaeval soldiers may not have had knowledge of bacteria and no diagnostic equipment, but they had known about wounds and infections for millennia. There is even ancient evidence of trepanning the skull.
@@frankiethefrog1752Certainly. Mold packing wounds to stave off infection goes all the way back to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. We, with modern medical technology, just managed to understand and perfect what was already understood as workable in the past. Definitely a lineage of betterment.
Of course they knew about wounds yet infection? I think that would have been an entirely different matter until the 18th or 19th century methinks. This fellow must have been thinking outside the box. Amazing.
My father was hit in the face with an arrow while serving for his country during World War II. I was not born yet, but I do remember the scar on his cheek and used to question it from time to time as a child. He told me the story of how he was met up with a soldier face-to-face. The enemy was caring, a poison type arrow and it was a donor die situation. I guess my father shot him at the same time as he was stabbed by the poison arrow leaving a large scar on his face. My father never believed in killing, and even though he had no choice, he was also drafted at a very young age, I’m glad that he ended the enemy’s life for the purpose of saving his own. It was important that he continued on, and saved countless women, children from the Nazis.
Henry V has always been my favorite King. Now, more than ever, I admire the sheer grit it took to survive a wound like this, heal, and carry on as King. So very few Kings had what Henry had.
Adrenaline rush, mad determination...and he was rather distracted w the horrible war and fighting to survive...one tough young man ..they don't make em like that anymore
what an amazing story. i've had several surgeries (nothing as bad as this lol) when gaping wounds had to be 'laid open' and not sewn up so that they would heal as described here, and one had to be cleaned daily by a nurse for 40+ days till it got somewhere near, and that's with all modern knowledge and practices, so for it's time, and the fact the prince survived is a testiment to the surgeon and the bravery of the prince.
The arrow extraction tool uses the same principle on a much smaller scale of a lewis that builders use to lift blocks of stone. The Romans are known to have used it but its origins are unknown.
Had that procedure of healing from the inside out done on myself with the wound after surgery being packed in then changed daily. It was incredibly painful and took 3 to four weeks to heal.
People always talk bad about medieval doctors some times with good reasons. This shows that at times they were pretty good especially considering what tools they had and lack of modern medicine.
Not such great care for those who weren't heirs to the kingdom, I suspect... Especially if you were one of the 90%+ of the population who were peasants.
What a fascinating story! Great video and great part of medical history. They didn't know about germs, but they'd been carefully observing the human body for a long, long time.
Dr Bradmore's achievement was massive, and today he would have been Knighted or something. But not to diminish his success, but to mention that Bows and Arrows have been around for a very, very, long time. There were frequent wars and rogue Barons trying their luck. The medical profession such as it was at the time would have built up a lot of knowledge about arrows, arrowheads, 13:06 and attempts to remove them. The rank and file soldiers were probably the means of experimentation. All kudos to those brave patients, Doctors, and toolmakers
Sadly for young Hal he wouldn't die from a glorious battle wound or battle would infection but from bacterial dysentery - which even the greatest medics of the time were unable to cure. Other than opium and bramble roots they'd often recommend reciting psalm 56 three times and "our father " nine times! Fantastic ,insightful film. Thank you .
Why double guess the Royal Surgeon, John Bradmore's notes that the Prince of Wales was struck on the left side of his face? (12:55) We can clearly see the scar on his funerary monument; on the left side as the surgeon described it.
Yes, if you look closely (12:55-57) on the kings left side, directly below his eye, you will see the "round/jagged" scar from the puncture wound caused by that arrow. Doc. Whitehead
The original head on the funerary monument was stolen in 1546. The current head was added the to monument in 1971. It almost certainly is based on the artist's interpretation of portraits and textual descriptions of Henry. So it is not a direct copy of his face and may have the scar on the wrong side of the face.
There’s uncertainty about which side of Henry’s face he sustained the would in, because Bradmore’s manuscript, Philomena, is ambiguous as to whether he’s describing the wound as being on Henry’s left, or on the physician’s left, as the physician faced Henry. As for the representation of Henry’s face in the bronze (?) figure above his grave (shown in the video as the op references) - and setting aside what wr2382 notes, that the •original• head of the monument was stolen almost 500 years ago - we should bear in mind that the quality of the image at that point in the video is okay, but not exactly high-resolution. It’s hard to tell if the modern metalwork is supposed to show a scar to the left (Henry’s left) of his nose, or if that’s just an anomalous effect of the reflection of the lights at that angle.
As a historian, Michael Livingston leaves a lot to be desired. I would love to discuss his assertions in his books concerning the Battle of Brunnanburh with him.
This boy king was an absolute unit. Fighting for half an hour with an arrow in his face and surviving that surgery in that time damn!
Actually it sounds like per CHANCE it was not pushed in further during the battle. All he had to do was trip and fall.
I bet he was well -boozed-up. They would not have known about the problems of alcohol in the blood back then, or perhaps the wound was healed enough by the time of the procedure to limit bleeding to a controllable level even with a patient hopefully out cold in a drunken stupor.
@@HollyMoore-wo2mh Luck was a big factor in surviving medieval battle and medicine
@@zeehero7280 oh yeah. That and fighting off any kind of infection that might set in.
@@AirDOGGe Not necessarily, the adverse effect of alcohol on blood coagulation is relatively easy to see. As mentioned in the documentary, there were other methods of analgesia
ER doctor here. The wound management principles used here are all spot on, which is amazing given that the physicians and surgeons of the time did not even know how healing or infections worked. I can only imagine the social pressure involved in attempting something like this. To anyone watching, it would look like you were torturing the prince and worsening the wound every day. If he had died, people would be looking at you as the potential cause of the death. Brilliant medical work.
With reapect to your modern day knowledge, it sounds like he did understand infection and healing. Let's not forget how profound was their understanding, including about herbal properties, pre modern drug-based medicine!!
Quite amazing.
Wonderful to have the surgeons description.
I think they didn't know WHY the stuff they did worked but they knew HOW it worked. Granted, not on a deeper level and they achieved their knowledge through trial and error, but I'm convinced the people who came before us knew a great deal more than we give them credit for. Transfer of knowledge (teaching) was of course just as crucial as experience but you don't have to know about bacteria to know how to prevent infection.
@@tunetownmusic-l2f
They knew nothing of the mechanisms of healing, little about how the "mechanics" of the body worked, nothing of the germ theory of infection. What they had was a rough idea of how the body worked and empirical evidence of what worked. "Willow bark reduces pain" was known because people had tried eating all the tree barks and remembered the one that reduced pain with no idea of salicylic acid, no idea of dosing and little knowledge of side effects.
Scientific drug manufacture allows consistent strength of the effective compound, it allows consistent dosing, and ensures purity.
And herbs aren't necessarily free -- only if you can pick and prepare them yourself and don't count your time as a cost. Try getting willow bark in an arid country or opium somewhere poppies don't grow.
@@XelaMaThey knew the body healed from wounds and that infectiosn happened. They didn't understand the mechanisms behind either. Germ Theory wasn't proposed until the 1800s and doctors mocked the man who proposed it.
Never underestimate the intelligence or ingenuity of those that came before us - after all, we stand upon their shoulders.
It's such a misleading inclination to associate intelligence with degree of advancement, yet we are so prone to it for some reason.
@@drworm5007can you example what you mean?
@@rationallyrubyone of the most common examples is that the ancient Egyptians were incapable of building the pyramids. That ancient peoples were just not sufficiently advanced
@drworm5007 every humans think they are smarter than the ones that came before us while wiser than the ones who came after.
@@rationallyrubyneeding aliens as an answer for the invention of mechanical computer 2,000 years ago.
When I was 16 years old I got a javelin in the face. It penetrated in the exact same spot as shown on the dummy's head. Since the javelin came from above it went through my skull and the point entered my mouth, through two pieces of solid bone. Any other spot in my face or head and I would probably have died. This was of course the 1980's and the wound was treated properly, my face put back in place since part of it had shifted, and I fully recovered leaving no more than a small scar under the eye.
As to pain: I never felt any. Maybe from shock, I don't know.
Seeing him stick the arrow in the dummy's head in the place where my scar is was unsettling, even after 40 years.
That sounds terrible, I guess something went horribly wrong during PE?
Healing that wound must also have taken months... but I am glad to hear that you pulled through.
@@h.a.9880 I did athletics, was a javelin thrower myself. It took weeks. I was young, that helps a lot.
I have a friend who does reconstructive plastic surgery, it really is remarkable what can be done these days for people who have had facial tumors or terrible injuries like yours. What could be done when you were injured, it's even more sophisticated now. 40 years on, I'm glad you're still around to tell the tale!👍
Wow, you are one of the few here that can appreciate the pain. Remarkable. @@mbrackeva
Its amazing what the human body can endure. When a trauma happens the brain goes into survival mode.
As a former orthopædic nurse I found this to be very interesting. Considering that there was little known about surgery on the head at that time, let alone wound aftercare and treatment, this is an amazing example of a very intelligent doctor, who was probably learning as he went along, drawing on what experience he had with battlefield injuries and doing something quite unique,, even designing and making a special instrument to remove the arrowhead. Wow!
What's incredible is that he didn't get an infection at some point..
@@robertafierro5592Honey is an excellent disinfectant.
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I believe their society could have had more practice on wound treatment than we do...
The fact that the prince kept fighting for half an hour shows how powerful adrenaline is.
He discussed this actually and explained that it is an oversimplification
Well, after all, it is Henry V England’s greatest warrior king the man who really had miracles if he hadn’t died of dysentery during a French siege, he would’ve been king of France and changed history
Adrenaline, rage, and determination. Plus being so young helped. The young can bounce back much quicker than the old. He was a warrior fighting for his country. With shock and a adrenaline adding fuel to his fire, he was almost unstoppable
Or how powerful exaggeration is!
@@sidp5381 Non merci.
What really blows me away with this legend of a surgeon is that not only does he figure out how to do all this, but rather than keep it a secret and building up some kind of mystery around himself like a druid or medicine man, he documents and publishes.
This man didn't want to save just the prince, he wanted to save everyone.
He was a "barber surgeon" a low class guy who worked with his hands, not one of the elite physicians who decided what worked based on their intellect, not their observations, and wrote things for the surgeons to follow.
@@lazygardensYeah. Science has really changed since then. This man was ahead of his time.
@@foo219 One thing the low class surgeons did was publish in their usual language, not Latin like scholars and philosophers.
Ambroise Pare was ridiculed because he didn't know much Latin, and he published in French ... and that's why he was so influential, because the barber surgeons could read his work.
@@lazygardensLike I said, ahead of his time.
You’re thinking like a capitalist thinks who hoards everything for themselves. Very evil thinking people
the way they allowed the wound to heal is called healing by secondary intention and was/is still used today for certain types of wounds. This was a great story. thank you.
And thank goodness the wound gets pretty numb from the packing material. It's pretty intense. Especially taking care of the wound yourself.
@@annettefournier9655Don’t I know. I had to pack my c-section incision wet to dry four times a day all with a newborn and working 12 hr nights in an ICU. This was 30 yrs ago before we had paid maternity leave and I had to return to work after 5 weeks.
I suffered sepsis and had my left foot and right hand amputated completely as well as the forefoot on the right and all the fingers on my left hand and half the thumb. The would on the stump on the left took over a month to heal from the bottom up with daily wound care. Seeing this medieval surgeon’s work is absolutely amazing.
This type of wound healing is what they did with my mom when she lost her leg.
Tried to google it but it seems they are saying they didn’t want to let the skin heal before the lower portions of the wound healed, why is that? I would have thought letting the skin heal would provide a barrier to help reduce the chance of bacterial infection
Absolutely Amazing. The fact that this Doctor knew about infection and how to treat it, really impresses me. His surgical skills and talent as a Doctor must have been in big demand back then.
Infection was well known. The ancient Egyptians knew about it, so did the Greeks and the Romans. They knew it existed, but did not understand the mechanics. The treatment of infection was simply trial and error.
2.30 ‘he was phenomenally lucky’. Eric Blair ( George Orwell) was told much the same when shot through the throat during the Spanish Civil War and he reportedly replied ‘no I’m not, I got shot through my throat’.
If he got shot through his throat how could you say that?!?!? 😮
This made me laugh so hard 😂
No one I met at this time - doctors, nurses, practicantes, or fellow-patients - failed to assure me that a man who is hit through the neck and survives it is the luckiest creature alive. I could not help thinking that it would be even luckier not to be hit at all.
- Orwell, Homage to Catalonia.
In 2015,The mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, was stabbed through the neck by a right wing extremist with a bowie knife and she survived. Some folks are incredebly lucky@@GalootWrangler
@@samholdsworth420 The arrow could've been below or above the larynx.
I survived esophageal cancer and had a feeding tube for almost a year. I told the doctor that I felt I could eat enough to get rid of the feeding tube and he said to take it out whenever I was ready. He also said it’s easy to remove, but will require surgery to put it back in so be sure. I asked “what about the hole” and I’ll never forget he told me my body wanted that foreign object out of my body and that the hole would immediately close. I’ll never forget sitting in warm tub of bath water and slowly removing the feeding tube and I was shocked at how long it was. Sure enough the hole instantly closed and 24 years later it looks like a bullet wound. The human body is amazing and I can’t even imagine what this surgery was like and all other surgeries before effective anesthesia.
I'm glad to hear you're doing better now!
You can also see the same effect on miniature if you watch a professional piercer work (the kind that uses a needle, not a piercing gun). They always push the needle through until the back end is getting close to the skin, and then they thread the jewelry onto the needle before pulling it the rest of the way through. If they don't get the jewelry into the back of the needle before it goes into the flesh, the hole closes up, which is called losing the transfer. It's also why they tell you not to change your piercings until they heal. I take longer to heal than most, so I had my earring holes close up twice as a teenager before I just gave up on bothering to get them pierced again (I did wait the recommended time, but I heal slow)
My mother also survived that and had j tube in her intestine for enteral feeding. Remarkable you survived that has 5% survival rate so glad you are in remission and were able to eat normally again. It's a terrible cancer.
The way it’s written… you removed the tube yourself? I have to be misunderstanding.
@@ChrisW228 That’s what happened you read it correctly and it was done as I said with my doctor’s direction. Believe me I was surprised that that’s what he told me.
Glad you're doing better! :D
I’m in awe. How absolutely remarkable. We often talk about the “horrors” of medicine from the past but it is truly incredible how much they got right without knowing why it was right.
They learned from experience although they didn't know why treatments worked. They had the same brains we have, after all! 😊
The honey . The herbs 🌿all antibiotic properties. Pain med laudlam . Vinegar. Absolutely for cleaning
If you're ever feeling down, just remember you belong to the 1% of all humanity who's had access to anesthesia.
Especially at the dentist's...
Well, very effective anaesthesia. They had alcohol , opium and probably a few other things that helped to deaden the pain somewhat. As the video says, there were problems with these, especially alcohol and its blood- thinning side effect. But of course, nothing that completely knocked the patient out so by God, you needed to be tough in those days.
There is an account of, if I remember right, aound the 1800s of a woman getting surgery for breast cancer with zero anaesthetic. It's a tough read. But it was successful and she lived for no less than 27 years after the operation.
@@paulohagan3309 Knocked out, put under, anesthetized and sedated... Different endeavors entirely. A little medical knowledge wouldn't hurt you.
@@chickenlover657 The common denominator of all are the attempt to lessen pain. I don't need specialized medical knowledge to put forward the point.
@@paulohagan3309 Who said it wasn't such an attempt? The point is that before modern anesthesia all those attempts were semi-futile. For example, even today, and even with the "good drugs", more than half of sedated patients in the intensive care unit actively recall pain. Meanwhile, general anesthesia does more than put you to sleep. You don't feel pain at all when you're under general anesthesia. Not even going to mention alcohol, which is actually utterly useless in preventing pain.
There's also the story of a toolsmith who got brought a rough sketch of a tool nobody had ever build before and was told he needs to make it right now or the prince might die.
It doesn't look terribly complicated, but it might have taken several prototypes to get it right, and that probably would have taken some time as well.
Bradmore is thought to have been a metalworker as well as surgeon, so he might have made it himself, or at least would have been able to give very clear directions.
that was my first thought.....yes, the doctor conceived the tool but the tool maker had to actually make it.....
@@rickcimino5483 Physicians at the time were little more than glorified astrologers. They subscribed to the theory of "the Four Humours" and how "the stars' and planets' alignments" affected them. Barbers were the ones who had access to precision steel implements, so many barbers were also surgeons. Their status was generally little more than that of a butcher. Bradmore might have been a metalworker and was recorded elsewhere as a "gemster" -- he might have fashioned jewelry. He also dabbled in counterfeiting ( a capital crime), so the pardon he was given for saving the prince's life literally saved his own life as well.
It was the wrong future.
@@LauraBurchardconsidering all the metal tools a surgeon of that time needed, they wood have to be knowledgeable about or a practicing metalworker. On the video they show the variety ot types plus there were probably different sizes of each tool needed.
One thing that is not mentioned is that the course of the arrow must have been through the maxillary sinus which is air filled and basically a hollow cavity. As an ENT surgeon we can enter this area just above the teeth. The cavity only has nerve cells on the periphery so the pain and bleeding is not as bad as if it were solid flesh. However, at the back of the sinus is a critical area containing blood vessels and nerves that can be fatal if cut. He was indeed lucky none of these critical structures was damaged. As far as infection the sinus has a normal drainage channel into the nose which certainly helped with the healing process. The method of extraction of the arrow point was extremely clever and he was fortunate to know the approximate size of the cavity in the tip.
Thank you for adding this info!
Adding my thanks as well. You are adding the “reason why” to augment a comment by a guy who had a similar injury to the face via javelin in the ‘70s. He mentioned not feeling much pain at all. I appreciate those sharing their experiences and knowledge. Now I’m left wondering if it requires less anesthesia to do ear nose throat surgeries, but then the entry area above the teeth you described must be incredibly sensitive. I dunno, but it’s fun to learn and I am curious about EVERYTHING!
History Hit is consistently one of my teaching go-to resources because of the specificity of the mini-documentaries like this. I am a science educator in the United States and I absolutely love building a multi subject curriculum based on true events that demonstrate how science has shaped the history of our world. Whether it’s the physics of the arrow striking the Prince or the chemistry behind the plants used to anesthetize him for the arrow removal, this story is an educational gem! Thank you to the brilliant team at History Hit!
It's like going to college or University every episode!
Hi Brooklyn N Chick. “Hello”. Just read your comment, and thought of this re your educating process. In 1990’s British production Connections with James Burke was a great series. I thought then, and still think, it would so suitable for young (any age)minds in school to get them interested in different histories, societies, inventiveness of humans, etc. I’ve started rewatching them right here on YT. I highly recommend you watch one and maybe it could be another Smart show to make your students smarter, too. “Cheers” from Bev. in Canada
@@bevgordon7619 Thank you very much, I will look into this. I appreciate your investment in getting high quality education to students; I am sure they’ll love it! Have a joy-full week!
What a fantastic teaching method. 👏👏👏
Yes it is very good , one of the very best thing to go out on British TV@@bevgordon7619
Dr. John Bradmore, what a genius!
He probably wouldn't have accepted that compliment until a bit of time after the success
@@wirelessone2986 Well, it's ok now, wouldn't you say?
I'm a trauma provider. A 16yo is a phenomenon. They sustain and survive what older people cannot.
This surgeon was sweating.
i provide trauma and trauma accessories
@@tunetownmusic-l2f Suspect 'trauma' in the profession is short for 'trauma treatment'.
@@tunetownmusic-l2f Not being funny either but respectfully are you a native English speaker?
@@tunetownmusic-l2fI'm asking because I'm an English language teacher and I know from experience that sometimes shortened forms in English can cause confusion for learners of English as a second language.
@@tunetownmusic-l2fI came to say the same...jokingly of course. I am a native English speaker, albeit of Black Country dialect 😂
How can people not find history fascinating
@barnzYT it all has do do with the teacher, the correct one can do a good job at keeping it interesting. Same as two comedians repeating the same joke, one will always get more people to laugh than the other.
@@sudeshramdhanie6216 true
It blows my mind that people just don't care about history. It's so important and fascinating.
@@coreyrutherford7231 I completely agree. I blame schools a lot nowadays for the way they teach it (in the uk anyway) I’m only 24 so only 8 years out of school however I remember in history all you got shoved down your throat was history politics.
When my parents were in school every year group took trips over to Belgium and France to see war graves etc to give them a first hand look at the scale of war and how important history was.
Now all you get is taught how our country are evil and we should bend the knee to everyone rather than some of the incredible things we have achieved in history and how we have moved on from them
@@barnzYT Might be your own ideas kept you from appreciating what you were taught when it wasn't what you wanted to hear.
I can’t imagine the pain Henry went through, or how much this wound disfigured his cheek bone area. No wonder his portraits are only painted from the side profile rather than front facing as portraits usually are painted.
Yeah, but women really love a guy with a battle scar. Think of all the ladies throwing themselves at him afterwards! 😅
No mention of major cheek bone damage by the surgeon, I think it would have healed with just a scar. Bullet entry holes are often just pink scars when healed.
then you got people like Erin Moriarty who disfigure themselves in name of trying to improve their beauty!
@@dfjtobinKing Henry the 8th suffered from a jousting wound in the leg that never completely healed, suppurating pus 2 decade later. If he had not had the medical care he received he would have died. Samuel Pepys 120 years later had his bladder operated on to remove stones, the operation must have been excruciating but he survived for another 3 decades until the inner wound reopened and he died of sepsis. The main issue was before non dissolving stitches surgeons only stitched on the outer skin.
@@bibphil5078 This video discusses exactly that, the surgeon worked on the wound over time to allow it to heal from the inside up. Watch the video, it is interesting.
Many of the things they used were accidentally aseptic. Surgical drains for deep wounds were frequently made of wing bones of large birds, BOILED in vinegar to remove calcium and make them flexible. Sutures were "catgut" (really the silk glands from silkworms, stretched into a filament) that had to be BOILED to make them flexible for use. Wound washes were herbs simmered in cheap wine (plenty of antimicrobial polyphenols in it), and linens were preferable dried in the sun (UV light). Rosewater and turpentine ... polyphenols! It was true "oil of turpentine", not the stuff sold today as paint thinner.
Act of accident or act of God. But truly amazing either way!
And turpentine, the real stuff, is excellent for many things today
Ppl r scared to death of it
But it’s great for parasites
(which Americans don’t have, yes I know 🙄)
Herbs don’t need simmering to be very effectual
U can chew jewelweed and plaster it on poison ivy, as a poultice while out in the wild.
U can make other poultices at home too. No simmering nor wine needed. Very very effective.
I wouldn’t say accidental - the knowledge of herbalism, for example, comes from millennia of trial and error and documentation. They may not have had modern science, but they could hypothesise, observe, test and document results. Traditional Chinese Medicine shows a remarkable attention to detail, cause and effect, and overlaps modern western medicine in a remarkable way.
@@AdeleishaHow is "modern science" any different than "hypothesize, observe, test, and document the results"?
The only difference between today and then, is that today more people can read - and have more access to more information. Most of our "modernity" is based around our ability to mass manufacture - at a high rate with high specific tolerances. The tools themselves really haven't changed all that much, just the consistency and materials.
A glimpse into the cutting edge of surgery and medicine back then. Thank you. Amazing.
Not having seen anything about this before, I found it absolutely fascinating. What a feat! Thank you, both of you!
Glad to see Dr. Michael Livingston. Have had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times. Wonderful human and a fantastic author.
My word, what an injury. I am surprised he survived at all. Infections were no joke in the past. What an amazing man he was. Henry Hotspur was no snowflake either.
Mediaeval surgeons often washed their instruments and the skin they are about to cut with wine. They had no idea why it worked but they could see it helped. All of the techniques being discussed in this video were taught at the University of Paris and at Bologna’s. There is some evidence that some European physicians actually went to Ibn Sina’s hospital in the Middle East to learn his techniques.
It is very sad that by the 19th century those practices were discontinued as being something done by ignorant individuals. Scientists like Louise Pasteur & Dr. Lister had to reintroduce sanitary hygiene to doctors, obstetricians & surgeons to lower the death rates in surgeries & births. Yes, Prince Hal was operated on in his bed chamber. But you can bet everything used during the surgery & after was very clean. "The Dark Ages" weren't really dark. There is a book about it & this age jump started The Renaissance. Al Andaluz, the Moorish empire in Spain & Portugal, provided the foundation with its libraries. The translators, & later the printing press, spread the knowledge. Europe owes alot to international trade & the universal thirst for knowledge.
The immune system of species 8472.😯
If you look a Henry's tomb effigy at 12:54 you can see a mark on the left side exactly where the arrow would have been. So I think left side as Bradmore said.
The quality of the image at that point in the video is okay, but not exactly high-resolution. It’s hard to tell if the metalwork is supposed to show a scar to the left - Henry’s left - of his nose, or if that’s just an anomalous effect of the reflection of the lights at that angle.
@@ColumbiaB No it is not hard to tell, that is a mark on the metalwork, not a trick of light, whether is was done by design or by accident is the real question, I just found it interesting that it is in the place where the arrow hit.
@@dfjtobin l have to agree, and if the effigy wasn't embellished or altered, he also looks far more handsome than he does in his portrait.
ETA, l was wondering why there was a discrepancy between the two, and discovered that portraits were often painted showing the subject's left side, which was supposed to look more expressive or emotive, so the person who painted him may have been using artistic licence and eliminated the wound from his painting. I thought that was interesting.
Yes. We almost always describe things from our left right perspective, it was only post anatomy-> standard anatomical position that wounds etc were described from the body
Looking at other images of the tomb effigy, it looks exactly like the scar you would expect. It could have been hidden in profile by high cheekbones.
“It’s just a flesh wound”. Seriously, people were a lot tougher in the past than today. To think that this surgery was performed over six hundred years ago is amazing.
Actually, I’m a Brit by birth and long time US resident. I know the MP quote.@@tunetownmusic-l2f
Well, British humor and the creation of relevant cultural trends haven't been seen for 3-4 decades now. Since then(and before), it's been all American.
Although, I enjoyed Mr Bean, Keeping up Appearances, Are you being served?, Ab Fab, Monty etc as a child in the 80s and 90s.
Shakespeare was a poet, not a historian. Likewise he was not there for the actual event as it was a couple centuries before. The point of downplaying the wound was to further elevate the toughness of Henry V.
They were tougher but died easier and younger.
People today have endured terrible agonies, too. It's just that most of us don't need to suffer such horrible pain anymore. You think women with awful pregnancy experiences don't know real pain? Certain types of cancer or organ failures? It's easy to say we are wimps when you yourself have never had to go through it.
Shakespeare has the Dauphin refer to Henry as “ a vain, giddy, shallow, humorous youth”. In reality, I suspect the French knew of Henry’s wound, his recovery, and his subsequent military record and knew they were facing an experienced foe with an unusual sense of determination.
"And we understand him well,
How he comes o'er us with our wilder days,
Not measuring what use we made of them."
Yeah, I don’t usually take Shakespeare as literal. Dude was making entertainment for illiterate peasants.
Shakespeare’s histories aren’t “history”….they are entertainment. Didn’t you learn that in school??
@voraciousreader3341 : First things first. I have reread the Post and the comments in reply and have no indication that anyone has said that Shakespeare's writings were meant as histories!
Secondly, do you know that after the word "history" you left four punctuation marks, when it should have only been three! Also you seemed to have forget that before the word Didn't, you should have started a new paragraph, due to the change in subject! Last but not least, you finished off your sentence with two question marks, surely a faux pas?
Didn't you learn that in school?
Absolutely fascinating, far more sophisticated surgery than I thought would have been available at the time. Terrific video!
This is one of the most impressive pieces of medieval medical history. It’s unimaginable how Prince Hal went through this. And Bradmore clearly was a bloody master of his craft. Thanks for this incredibly interesting video!!!!
The head is actually one of the least painful places on your body to be operated on. It’s the fact that you’re being operated on in full view that freaks you out and when that happens you think it should hurt and then you start trashing, hence the amazing amount of pain killers. They not only dull the pain but probably helped keep him calm.
This is exactly why I hate the idea of LASIK, you do it conscious 😭 if I ever get LASIK they better give me so much laughing gas bc ain’t no way, ain’t no way
I had heart surgery and after a bit the nurse came in to remove the drain tube and the temp pacemaker wires, the drain tube was about 1/2" diameter plastic going in thru an incision a few inches above the belly button as did the 2 braided wires. The nurse said it will feel very strange coming out, like a zipper. I got ready for the 1,2, THREE PULL!! and it didnt hurt at all but it really felt strange because we have nerve sensors in those areas but they are almost never actually used, so the two pulling out procedures was really and odd feeling.
I think the inside of the wound goes mostly numb, I had basically a 1/2" hole the drain tube was in, granted it was very smooth and nothing was being pushed back in like the Prince had, but that and the two smaller holes for the braided wires apparently went mostly numb as all I felt was a kind of zipper being undone effect. I was not on pain meds, I didn't even need the tylenol they were pushing.
this was fascinating. thank you for sharing
Just fascinating - thank you!
I have been involved in the care of several trauma cases where slim foreign objects have been impalled in the face of patients in relatively the same area. In 3 cases the patients never lost consciousness and other then the fact that they could see the protruding end of what impalled them they had no idea how deep it was or how serious it was as they swore they felt no pain. 2 of the
cases were from archery accidents and one was scrapnel from an explosion caused by a fire in an industrial warehouse. Seen many others similiar to those where the patients had to quickly given strong sedation as the pain was so great they could not hold still.
Of course there was a great deal of dus cussion around what the mechanism was that made such a difference in the cases where the patients said they felt no pain, and it was both the opinion of the trauma surgeon, neurosurgeon and anethesiologist that there was damage to the major nerve that supplied pain receptors to that area of the face so the pain was their but not getting back to registering with the brain. Basically, they were luck compared to those with similar wounds where the nerve ir nerves were nit damaged.
While in the 3 cases that escaped the pain of the trauma they all had limited feeling or no pain or hot or cold sensation depending on just how badly the nerve damage was.
That very well may have been the case with Hal and it was just never recorded as to whether he had loss of sensation on the injured side as feelings, nerves and pain were even less understood then anything else in medicine at that time, plus not having feeling on your face or anywhere actually would have been construed as a disability a Prince or King would not wish to admit to especially as something like that back then was often thought to be so ething that could be passed on to children (again lack of medical understanding) and especially a Prince who would want to marry would not admit to having a problem like this.
Wow, the surgeon was good. And, I'm just glad I'm born in present day...with anesthesia
At 8:13 the host describes a 'really effective anesthetic'.
As long as you’re not in Gaza 😮
@@stevetaylor8298
Yes. One that was just as likely to kill you, he said!
@@myriamickx7969 Overdose is what killed you with that form (people still die today from anesthesia). I remember reading about a similar anesthetic that surgeons used in Chaucer's time in a book Chaucer's World. The physician said that care had to be taken or the patient never woke up. He also said that it is so effective that the patient is in so deep a sleep that he feels no cutting done by the surgeon.
Kind of ironic that medicine was better during the Middle Ages than the "Enlightenment". They stopped using the effective herbs because that was "superstition". Only now is medicine looking into herbal medicine. Less recently: Aspirin=willow bark. Digitalis=foxglove plant, and so on.
@@Neddoestor any conflict zone really or being a great distance from established modern medicine. Our access to modern medicine in 1st world countries is a luxury many do not have.
Thank you, Mr. Wright for a fascinating demonstration.
Imagine leaving your medieval surgeons office with instructions like "just avoid any miasma and call me if you start seeing goblins."
They were much more sophisticated than that. Don't believe everything you see on the internet.
@@chickenlover657well it’s hit and miss, you hear about things like this and then go and read about what they did before George Washington died
@@asneakychicken322 You can also read about microbes being a thing in 36 BC. Lots depends on how much you're willing to read and investigate.
@@chickenlover657 nah they didn't have microscopes in BC era. They could have GUESSED there's microorganisms but there was no proof until recently.
@@KasumiRINA Of course they guessed. That was a feat in itself.
My ancestral grandfather was the armor bearer to King Henry IV and fought at Shrewsbury. He was nearly seven feet tall and loved to fight. After his death, he was interred in York Minster. History is awesome.
@@tunetownmusic-l2f 3 generations in 620 years is a bit odd , new account and first comment is a bit Botish.
@@Losantivillethe op didn't mention generations he said ancestral grandfather which could be any amount of generations but yeah probably is cappin' but ya never know...
Bull shit
Ancestral grandfather means your father's father,look it up. So yes the math is off by about 500 years!!
@@jacquescousteau6810 erm, maybe you should look it up? Here I looked it up, Google says "Ancestral Grandfather - An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). Ancestor is "any person from whom one is descended. In law, the person from whom an estate has been inherited"
I had a staph infection in 2020. I spent a month in the hospital, had 3 surgeries, lost parts of 3 bones in my upper chest, was on antibiotics for 6 weeks after discharge. I’m lucky to be alive. Henry’s physician must have been a fucking genius for his time.
Been there, done that. 2 surgeries on R knee, 14 weeks on meds, then a bleed into the knee cavity.. Knee is awful but alive. Short doctor then, good doctores now.
The things they could do already back then... it's inspiring. I'd like to think people in the year 2600 look back at us and think it's amazing what we could do despite not having something that will be discovered 300 years from now and which people in 600 years can't imagine doing without.
What a brave warrior he was, already at such a young age. And what a phenomenal surgeon! Both true heroes of their time...
🐚🌸
I am so grateful I found History Hit. I subscribe and follow every podcast. Some of my favorites are betwixt the sheets , and The Ancients is definitely my favorite of all the channels. Every subject is like a deep dive but done with an expert or professor in the field. Thanks History Hit for taking me to college for free!
This was incredibly fascinating. And this was the first time I ever heard that the arrows were held on with beeswax. An incredibly devious thing to do but war is war.
Devious?
Why would medieval arrowsmiths or fletchers go to the bother of a more permanent method of affixing the arrowheads?
@@ianmacfarlane1241you don’t pay attention, do you?
@@VanityDivinedListen smartarse, I paid attention - I'm fully aware of the fact that the method of joining the arrow shaft to the arrowhead caused horrendous problems for the injured and the medics who were treating the injured, but there's nothing to suggest that's the sole reason beeswax was used.
Again, if the beeswax held the arrowhead in position as it struck home, why would the arrowsmiths go to the bother of using a more durable method?
Arrows had to be manufactured in huge numbers, and sometimes at a pace - why would they take more manufacturing steps?
@@ianmacfarlane1241
Please preface this with my ignorance of medieval anything.
I always thought that they were you know stuck in there somewhat permanently.
But learning that they held it with beeswax is a devious tactic in my opinion And please read devious as smart or cunning.
And the other reason I never would have thought of beeswax is you're in a march and it's kind of hot out I would think that the V6 would melt but history definitely says otherwise.
As I said war is war. You do what you have to do to win.
@@ianmacfarlane1241 such an annoying little shit. no one will tell you in person, so there you go
Kevin Hicks from the History Squad covered this in detail many times ♥️
Great shout out, love watching Mr Hicks.
@@cleverusername9369 He is an Awesome Historian and very passionate.
Might have been where they got the idea for this story
Seen him do it live once or twice at Sherwood in the shade of the Major Oak.
I went to University of Warwick and used to go past Kenilworth Castle everyday on the commute. Kenilworth was apparently the dogging capital of the Midlands at the time...
Both patient and surgeon must have been running on pure adrenaline.
Sounds like Dr John Bradmore was ahead of his time
Ive heard this story multiple times but its amazing to hear everytime. Human ingenuity at its best
Terrific! This is just the type of video that I come to TH-cam for.
I love learning of the brilliance of our ancestors. Humans can sometimes be so ingenious.
He was a great physician. Surely knowledge was gained from treating battlefield wounds and taught to new trainees.
Please upload more of these 2 men they are amazing together and make it such a great watch
Thanks, I winced the entire time. Thoroughly unenjoyable, would watch again. I think?
lol. Agreed.
Highly educational and extremely unpleasant 😂
Ive heard it explained before but could never understand how it actually worked. Both were extraordinary men
This video is basically perfect, this is something you can't get a sense of when you just read it as a layman. Seeing an expert recreate it makes it so much more real. RIP Henry V, you were one of our best
Wow - I'm a big fan of "Prince Hal" but I had no idea that wound was so deep!!!! 😮
Wonderful story. It must very hard to judge the angle by feel alone. Interestingly, when Lincoln was shot, the bullet was lodged behind his eye, and the surgeon present, using a metal probe, couldn't locate the bullet, creating two new wounds in the process. In that documentary a physician said that feeling the path of the bullet with the pinkie finger was the only way before x-rays.
read about James Garfield US president and how they used metal probes to try to locate the bullet in his wounds and probably contributed to infecting his wound further and to his demise.
Garfield’s injury as well.
I already knew this basic story, but I had no idea the Prince was only 16! Also, if you don't already have Michael Livingston's new book, "Agincourt", you should remedy that situation at your earliest convenience. (He's the guy in this video.)
It’s on my ( very long ) reading list.
Harrowing. I can't imagine the pain that the healing process would incur over those weeks.
Modern medicine calls it 'healing by secondary intention'. Years ago I had an abscess opened up on my thigh, that was then packed with gauze and recurrently removed as the flesh healed underneath.
Maybe he was one of that small group of people who dont feel pain?
I think people, especially those trained in war like the knights and soldiers, had a much higher pain threshold than we do. Anesthetics were practically inexistant (I was even surprised to learn in that video that the physician had something that could dull the pain), medical science was not very developed, and whatever happened to you, you just had to live with it. They weren't pampered like we are.
They famously used opium for his care and during agincourt on injured men at arms
Dude, people were far more trained to endure pain in those days.
Mediaeval soldiers may not have had knowledge of bacteria and no diagnostic equipment, but they had known about wounds and infections for millennia. There is even ancient evidence of trepanning the skull.
If they were using things to prevent infection they obviously knew a little something about bacteria.
@@frankiethefrog1752Certainly. Mold packing wounds to stave off infection goes all the way back to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans.
We, with modern medical technology, just managed to understand and perfect what was already understood as workable in the past. Definitely a lineage of betterment.
Of course they knew about wounds yet infection? I think that would have been an entirely different matter until the 18th or 19th century methinks. This fellow must have been thinking outside the box. Amazing.
My father was hit in the face with an arrow while serving for his country during World War II. I was not born yet, but I do remember the scar on his cheek and used to question it from time to time as a child. He told me the story of how he was met up with a soldier face-to-face. The enemy was caring, a poison type arrow and it was a donor die situation. I guess my father shot him at the same time as he was stabbed by the poison arrow leaving a large scar on his face. My father never believed in killing, and even though he had no choice, he was also drafted at a very young age, I’m glad that he ended the enemy’s life for the purpose of saving his own. It was important that he continued on, and saved countless women, children from the Nazis.
Henry V got better treatment than most soldiers. Most would not have lived.
Henry V has always been my favorite King. Now, more than ever, I admire the sheer grit it took to survive a wound like this, heal, and carry on as King. So very few Kings had what Henry had.
❤ my favourite king too❤
Adrenaline rush, mad determination...and he was rather distracted w the horrible war and fighting to survive...one tough young man ..they don't make em like that anymore
Excellent mini documentary! You know they’re good when you want to immediately watch more and check out your bookcases.😊
Watching this makes me so grateful for modern medicine
Modern medicine comes with modern warfare.
Modern medicine comes with modern warfare.
Henry V was grateful for modern medicine as well.
Today's medical technology will seem barbaric to people living 400 years in the future.
Modern medicine comes with modern bills.... They have to keep you alive to pay the bill for the rest of your life.
@@mh53j Not in every country
what an amazing story. i've had several surgeries (nothing as bad as this lol) when gaping wounds had to be 'laid open' and not sewn up so that they would heal as described here, and one had to be cleaned daily by a nurse for 40+ days till it got somewhere near, and that's with all modern knowledge and practices, so for it's time, and the fact the prince survived is a testiment to the surgeon and the bravery of the prince.
The literal version of Monty Python "Tis but a flesh wound!" with the arrow.
I really hope all medical schools honor this DR . Should be statues of him for the doctorate field. Truly amazing.
fascinating and brilliantly demonstrated and well presented. Thank you
Ok. I'm loving Wright. He's a great teacher here.
The arrow extraction tool uses the same principle on a much smaller scale of a lewis that builders use to lift blocks of stone. The Romans are known to have used it but its origins are unknown.
Had that procedure of healing from the inside out done on myself with the wound after surgery being packed in then changed daily. It was incredibly painful and took 3 to four weeks to heal.
People always talk bad about medieval doctors some times with good reasons. This shows that at times they were pretty good especially considering what tools they had and lack of modern medicine.
Not such great care for those who weren't heirs to the kingdom, I suspect... Especially if you were one of the 90%+ of the population who were peasants.
Amazing to develop surgical techniques still used hundreds of years later.
Being 16 years old helped a lot. - former trauma nurse
What a fascinating story! Great video and great part of medical history. They didn't know about germs, but they'd been carefully observing the human body for a long, long time.
Great story!! ... I was on the Edge of my seat !!
I simply cannot imagine the pain this young man was suffering. Horrific. Brilliant surgery for the time.
Phenomenal tecnich considering the period. I had no idea! Thank you.
Amazing story. Without anesthesia. Great video!
One of history's most gifted surgeons.
Dr Bradmore's achievement was massive, and today he would have been Knighted or something.
But not to diminish his success, but to mention that Bows and Arrows have been around for a very, very, long time.
There were frequent wars and rogue Barons trying their luck.
The medical profession such as it was at the time would have built up a lot of knowledge about arrows, arrowheads, 13:06 and attempts to remove them. The rank and file soldiers were probably the means of experimentation.
All kudos to those brave patients, Doctors, and toolmakers
Watching him wiggle the tool back and forth after he's gripped the arrow head had me cringing so hard!
Such great presenters and production. Cheers.
That is exactly the technique to use while healing a deep foot wound I had a few years ago, healing from the bottom up.
Kevin Hicks does an amazing in-depth analysis on this very subject!
DUDE! What!?! i was wincing the entire video! LOL
What a genius. Can you imagine what he could do now. I am in awe.
That was one heck of a surgeon!
Sadly for young Hal he wouldn't die from a glorious battle wound or battle would infection but from bacterial dysentery - which even the greatest medics of the time were unable to cure. Other than opium and bramble roots they'd often recommend reciting psalm 56 three times and "our father " nine times!
Fantastic ,insightful film. Thank you .
What an amazing and innovative doctor of the day.
I didn't learn about him in school but his men must really respect him and been very loyal 16 and kickin' butt
Limited technology of the time aside; that is a genuinely skilled surgeon.
This video was well done and to the point.
Amazing. It's crazy that he successfully removed that arrowhead back then
Incredible surgery done on the future, Henry V. Lessons learned even after centuries. Wow.
Very interesting. I can't imagine how painful it wouldve been. 😮
Why double guess the Royal Surgeon, John Bradmore's notes that the Prince of Wales was struck on the left side of his face?
(12:55) We can clearly see the scar on his funerary monument; on the left side as the surgeon described it.
Yes, if you look closely (12:55-57) on the kings left side, directly below his eye, you will see the "round/jagged" scar from the puncture wound caused by that arrow. Doc. Whitehead
The original head on the funerary monument was stolen in 1546. The current head was added the to monument in 1971. It almost certainly is based on the artist's interpretation of portraits and textual descriptions of Henry. So it is not a direct copy of his face and may have the scar on the wrong side of the face.
I can confirm it was the Prince's left side. I still have the scar today.
@@oriraykai3610thanks Hal.
There’s uncertainty about which side of Henry’s face he sustained the would in, because Bradmore’s manuscript, Philomena, is ambiguous as to whether he’s describing the wound as being on Henry’s left, or on the physician’s left, as the physician faced Henry. As for the representation of Henry’s face in the bronze (?) figure above his grave (shown in the video as the op references) - and setting aside what wr2382 notes, that the •original• head of the monument was stolen almost 500 years ago - we should bear in mind that the quality of the image at that point in the video is okay, but not exactly high-resolution. It’s hard to tell if the modern metalwork is supposed to show a scar to the left (Henry’s left) of his nose, or if that’s just an anomalous effect of the reflection of the lights at that angle.
I never ceased to be amazed by man’s ingenuity. Such a shame that in many cases it is used to kill and maim rather than soothe and heal 😢
Short and exciting to watch.
As a historian, Michael Livingston leaves a lot to be desired. I would love to discuss his assertions in his books concerning the Battle of Brunnanburh with him.