Castle Quest - Reply to Topic

Forum:	Castles In General & Medieval History
Topic:	levels of consciousness

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T O P I C R E V I E W
deborahknowles How would C13th people have understood e.g. being knocked out? They obviously knew the diference between life and death but would they have known what signs to look for? (I know a bit later they used a mirror to check if someone was still breathing but that was more in Shakespeare's day) I am having difficulty describing these sort of things in my novel. Cheers.
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Peter I would have thought just simple checking for heartbeat etc. Maybe they even knew how to check a pulse. At least a monk or someone from the church, which was the nearest they had to a doctor, would. If it was a deep coma, I would say 'hard luck!'. You'd no doubt end up buried or burnt.
Not a nice thought.
Pete
Steve-O-Gerst I don't think the american red cross is the first organization to ever realize "Hey, I can stick my ear next to this dude's mouth, and look at his chest at the same time." Try it with a friend. It's REALLY easy to tell whether or not someone is breathing.
For literary flare, you might use the victorian phrase "knocked unsensible." It's not exactly Old English, but I don't think you want your readers to need a paid translator.
SwordOfErin I'm assuming they would understand the basics, I mean, they might be knocking themselves out all the time (with those helmets and stuff). They should at least understand being winded or dazed, although if someone becomes delirious they might just consider it an odd sleep. I also assume they understood basic life signs (breathing, heartbeat). They probably got a lot of information from observing, particularily in the medical profession.
Levan Sorry to be pedantic, but I suspect that rather than, "knocked unsensible" (knocked stupid) you mean "knocked insensible" (knocked unconscious).
See: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=insensible
Although if a particularly serious bump on the head then brain damage might cause the former to apply!