bloddeler

Bloddeler, or bloodletter, is a historical term for a practitioner who performed bloodletting, a medical procedure in which blood was drawn from a patient for perceived therapeutic purposes. Bloodletting has ancient roots and was common in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East for many centuries. Bloodletters could be physicians, barber-surgeons, or dedicated practitioners operating within guilds or urban trades.

The practice was guided by humoral theory, which posited that disease resulted from an imbalance of bodily fluids. Drawing blood was believed to restore equilibrium and treat a wide range of conditions, including fever, inflammation, headaches, and bronchial or digestive complaints. Procedures varied but often involved venesection (opening a vein with a lancet or fleam), or less invasively by cupping or leeching. Tools included lancets, fleams, tourniquets, and cupping glasses. While sometimes relief followed, many procedures caused pain, infection, anemia, or dehydration, and their efficacy was rarely proven by modern standards.

Social and professional roles differed by region. In many areas, barber-surgeons or general physicians performed bloodletting, while others specialized as bloddeller practitioners. The craft was associated with specific trade networks, training, and routes for apprentices.

Decline and legacy followed advances in physiology, pathology, and clinical trials from the 18th through the 19th centuries, leading to widespread skepticism about therapeutic bloodletting. Today, phlebotomy persists, primarily for diagnostic blood sampling and for certain conditions such as polycythemia vera or hemochromatosis, where controlled removal of blood is used as treatment. The term bloddeler remains chiefly of historical interest, reflecting a once-dominant medical paradigm.