In old plays and stories, such as Romeo and Juliet, poisons are depicted as being fairly fast acting.
Would they really have had access to such poison, or was it simply creative license? What would a realistic depiction of a poison of that era be?
In old plays and stories, such as Romeo and Juliet, poisons are depicted as being fairly fast acting.
Would they really have had access to such poison, or was it simply creative license? What would a realistic depiction of a poison of that era be?
yes, herbalists and healers would have access to and knowledge of fast-acting poisons.
there are plenty of plants like nightshade that can rapidly kill a human, and those familiar with plant life would be well aware of that.
hemlock isn’t as fast acting, maybe a few hours before death if you ate it, but that’s how Socrates was executed 2400 years ago, and according to sources it took about half an hour for him to die, so knowledge of fast-acting poisons is very old.