Anglo-Saxon medicine relied primarily on plant-based remedies, from artichokes simmered in wine to cure smelly armpits to licorice root for soothing pains of the chest, liver, or bladder. Such natural treatments filled the pages of books known as “herbals.” The British Library owns the only extant illustrated Old English herbal, which is about 1,000 years old, and it recently digitized the entire manuscript and uploaded it online for public perusal.
Stanford University Libraries. (n.d.). [Manuscript: London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius C. III]. Stanford University Libraries. Available here.