▲Blood transplants is akin to what we were doing in the past, except, we're doing it properly—not exactly doing shots of fresh blood.

▲It was believed that a candle made of human fat could leave people dazed and paralyzed.

▲Yet another way we use another human's body for medical purposes.

▲Mixing skulls with treacle (molasses) was believed to help cure epilepsy.

▲Protestants accused Catholics of cannibalistic beliefs. During Holy Communion, the bread and wine are supposed to represent the body and blood of Christ.

▲While drinking fresh blood was recommended, not everyone could afford it. Poor people would attend executions and then buy cups of blood from the executioner.

▲But way before these medicinal practices boomed in Europe, the Romans were known to drink gladiators' blood and eat their livers as a cure for epilepsy.

▲There's a recipe from 1679 on how to make marmalade using human blood.

▲The king used to sip on "The King’s Drops," which consisted of a tincture containing human skulls and alcohol.

▲The demand for human bones saw gravediggers jump on the bandwagon. They started stealing and selling body parts.

▲Usnea, a type of moss that grows over buried skulls, was used to cure nosebleeds and epilepsy.

▲It all started with mummies. These were actually stolen from Egyptian tombs and brought to Europe. In fact, these could even be found in a German medical catalog.

▲In Germany, patients were prescribed bandages soaked in human fat to treat wounds.

▲Particularly during the 16th and 17th centuries, Europeans started to use human blood, bones, and fat as key ingredients to cure a number of conditions.

▲German pharmacologist Johann Schröder published instructions on how to process a human body. This included sprinkling it with myrrh and aloe.

▲Some women eat their own placenta after giving birth. This is a common practice in many parts of the world.

▲While on his deathbed, the pope was given the blood of three boys. Reportedly, both the boys and the pope died.

▲Stem cells are also a promising solution in modern medicine to treat a number of conditions.

▲Human fat was also rubbed into the skin to treat gout.

▲While we're no longer drinking people's blood or eating their corpses, we're still using humans to cure humans.

▲English physician Robert James' 'Pharmacopoeia Universalis' mentions that the flesh of a mummy can be used to cure a number of things, from a cough to menstrual problems.

▲British preacher John Keogh claimed it was great for treating dizziness and improving strength.

▲In the 17th century, English doctor Thomas Willis invented a drink that mixed powdered human skull and chocolate.

▲This led some people to take advantage of the fresh executions. They would collect the blood and sell it.

▲Italian priest Marsilio Ficino, advised the elderly to drink the blood of young people as a way of fighting against the effects of ageing.

▲How dark were the Middle Ages, really?

▲But Europe's affair with cannibalism is an old one. Famines in Europe have led to it in the Middle Ages. Starving Crusaders were also known to eat their dead enemies. And in Egypt for instance, human flesh was even pickled and jarred.

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News of cannibalism in the New World arrived in Europe as explorers encountered tribes that would engage in these practices. Things however, were not much different in Europe at the time. Mostly during the 16th and 17th centuries, Europeans also had a taste for humans, particularly in the form of bones, fat, and blood.

The history of medicine is tainted with bizarre practices, so while this might not come as a surprise, cannibalism was actually much more widespread in Europe than you might think. This begs the question: were Europeans cannibals? In the strict sense of the word—yes, or so it seems.

Browse through the gallery to learn more about medicinal cannibalism in Europe.

▲The use of the human body as medicine in Europe gained popularity during the Renaissance period.