Editing Ergot (section)

===Saint Anthony's fire and the Antonites===
[[Anthony the Great|Saint Anthony]] was a 3rd Century Egyptian ascetic who lived by the [[Red Sea]] and was known for long fasting in which he confronted terrible visions and temptations sent from the [[Devil]].<ref name="De Costa"/> He was credited by two noblemen for assisting them in recovery from the disease; they subsequently founded the [[Hospital Brothers of St. Anthony|Order of St. Anthony]] in his honor.<ref name="Wellcome"/> Anthony was a popular subject for art in the Middle Ages, and his symbol is a large blue "[[Tau|T]]" sewn onto the shoulder of the order's monks, symbolizing the crutch used by the ill and injured.<ref name="Nemes"/>

The Order of St. Anthony, whose members were known as Antonites, grew quickly, and hospitals spread through France, Germany and Scandinavia and gained wealth and power as grateful patrons bestowed money and charitable goods on the hospitals.<ref name="Wellcome"/> By the end of the Middle Ages, there were 396 settlements and 372 hospitals owned by the order,<ref name="Nemes"/> and pilgrimages to such hospitals became popular, as well as the donation of limbs lost to ergotism, which were displayed near shrines to the saint.<ref name="Wellcome"/> These [[Hagiotherapy|hagiotherapeutic]] centers were the first specialized European medical welfare systems, and the friars of the order were knowledgeable about treatment of ergotism and the horrifying effects of the poison.<ref name="Nemes">{{cite journal |last=Nemes |first=C.N. |title=The medical and surgical treatment of the pilgrims of the Jacobean Roads in medieval times Part.1 |journal=International Congress Series |date=1 December 2018 |volume=1242 |pages=31–42 |doi=10.1016/S0531-5131(02)01096-8}}</ref> The sufferers would receive ergot-free meals, wines containing [[Vasodilation|vasodilating]] and analgesic herbs, and applications of Antonites-balsam, which was the first [[transdermal therapeutic system]] (TTS) in medical history.<ref name="Ergot:from witchcraft to biotechnology"/> These medical recipes have been lost to time, though some recorded treatments still remain.<ref name="Nemes"/> After 1130, the monks were no longer permitted to perform operations, and so barber surgeons were employed to remove gangrenous limbs and treat open sores.<ref name="Nemes"/> Three barbers founded a hospital in [[Memmingen]] in 1214 and accepted those who were afflicted with the gangrenous form of ergotism. Patients were fed and housed, with the more able-bodied individuals acting as orderlies and assistants. Patients with the convulsive form of ergotism, or ''ergotismus convulsivus'', were welcomed for only nine days before they were asked to leave, as convulsive ergotism was seen as less detrimental. Though the sufferers often experienced irreversible effects, they most often returned to their families and resumed their livelihoods.<ref name="Nemes"/>

An important aspect to the Order of St. Anthony's treatment practices was the exclusion of rye bread and other ergot-containing edibles, which halted the progression of ergotism.<ref name="Wellcome"/> There was no known cure for ergotism itself; however, there was treatment of the symptoms, which often included blood constriction, nervous disorders and/or hallucinations; if the sufferer survived the initial poisoning, his limbs would often fall off, and he or she would continue to improve in health if he or she halted consumption of ergot.<ref name="De Costa"/> The trunk of the body remained relatively untouched by the disease until its final stages, and the victims, not understanding the cause of their ailment, would continue to imbibe ergot-laden food for weeks until the condition reached their digestive system.<ref name="Nemes"/> It is believed that the peasantry and children were most susceptible to ergotism, though the wealthy were afflicted as well, as, at times, entire villages relied on tainted crops for sustenance, and during times of famine, ergotism reached into every house.<ref name="Ergot:from witchcraft to biotechnology"/> Ergot fungus is impervious to heat and water, and thus it was most often baked into bread through rye flour; though other grasses can be infected, it was uncommon in [[Medieval Europe]] to consume grasses other than rye.<ref name="Wellcome"/> The physiological effects of ergot depended on the concentration and combinations of the ingested ergot metabolites, as well as the age and nutritional status of the afflicted individual.<ref name="Bennett Bentley 1999 Story Ergot"/> The Antonites began to decline after physicians discovered the genesis of ergotism and recommended methods for removing the [[sclerotium]] from the rye crops. In 1776, the cloisters of the Antonites were incorporated into the Maltese [[Knights Hospitaller]], losing much of their medical histories in the process and losing the ergotism cures and recipes due to lack of use and lack of preservation.<ref name="Nemes"/>