Medieval Medicine

• Who had the biggest influence in Medieval Period?


  The Church
• Where did people believe diseases came from?


  God - for the sins you committed
• Why did the church discourage dissection and autopsies?


  They believed the body needed to be buried whole in order to go heaven.
• What were hospitals used for?

  Hospitality
• What did apothecaries do?

  Apothecaries made herbal remedies with poison to heal the sick (no medical qualifications, cost money - less than physicians)
• Who were barber surgeons?


  Surgeons who were barbers - only people permitted to do surgery as they use scalpels (no experience or training)
• What was the Galen's theory that body was made up of?


  • yellow bile
  • black bile
  • blood
  • phlegm
• What was miasma?


  Bad air or smells caused by decaying that was believed to be the cause of disease.