What was diarrhea called in medieval times?

What Was Diarrhea Called in Medieval Times?

If you traveled back to the Middle Ages and suffered from severe stomach issues, people wouldn't have called it a simple case of diarrhea. Instead, historical records and medieval physicians most commonly referred to this debilitating condition as dysentery.

During that era, it was also widely known by a much more vivid and frightening descriptive name: the bloody flux. This terrifying moniker came straight from the most prominent and dangerous symptom of the illness—severe inflammation of the intestines that led to painful cramps and bloody diarrhea.

Back then, without modern medicine, clean water, or sanitation, dysentery was a massive killer. It swept rapidly through crowded medieval towns, siege camps, and armies on the march, often changing the course of history by decimating troops faster than any sword ever could.