ABSTRACT
In the Dark Ages and in the Middle Ages it was very common to find untrained people acting as self-appointed therapists, thriving on the gullibility of their clients. These 'quacks' enjoyed the displeasure of the medical profession as well as a profitable sideline to their more readily recognised roles, which included those of shepherd, conjuror, water-peddler, gypsy or sieve-maker. Despite their indignation, reputable physicians were unable to remove 'the spectacle of such a gallant array of charlatans, recruited from the ranks of illiterate tramps and vagrants, the very scum of society, from thriving by reason of the popular credulity' (Lawrence, 191 0).
