THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

• • Christian church heavily influenced all aspects of life
  • Most people believed that illness was sent as a punishment from God
• Resolving Sin


  Treatment based on superstition

  Church encouraged people to pray for forgiveness and repent their sins
• Church deprived medical progress in direct ways:


  Church banned dissection on human bodies as they believed that society is not allowed to interfere with things that have been created by God - making doctors unable to learn about human anatomy or challenge past work
• • Bible highlighted importance of caring for the sick
  • Monasteries provided basic care
  • Medieval hospitals mostly just provided shelter and warmth for vulnerable (eg elderly, poor, homeless)
• • Those admitted to the monasteries were treated by nuns and monks with no formal training or qualifications and treated patients with prayer and rest
• Galen - promoted and approved by the Church


  A Roman doctor who believed human body was so detailedly designed that it must have been made by God

  Church support in Galen prevented any real progress in medicine at the time

  Anyone who dared to question Galen were seen as challenging the Church and were punished (prisoned or execution)
• Monasteries


  Monasteries had good public health measures

  They had own water supply and was well designed to keep waste away from patients

  However only a small percentage of the population had access to benefits