medicine medieval england 1250-1500

• Doctors followed the ideas of Hippocrates who had lived over 1500 years earlier in Greece
• Galen wrote over 300 medical books that were still trusted by doctors in the Middle Ages.
• They believed that people became sick when the four Humours in their bodies were out of balance
• They treated illnesses by bleeding patients or making them vomit. This restored the balance of the Humours.
• They tried to prevent illness by recommending exercise and a good diet. This would keep the Humours in the body well-balanced.
• the four humours were : black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm
• Every region had a bishop and every village had a priest. This network of priests gave the Church great influence over everyone’s ideas
• The king’s main tasks were to defend his people in wartime and to keep the country peaceful by punishing lawbreakers.
• 90 per cent of people worked as farmers to grow the food everyone needed - little time for educating or reading
• The Church controlled education, especially in the universities where physicians were trained. By the fifteenth century up to 50 per cent of people in large towns could read. The books most commonly read were prayer books and other religious books.
• People were taught to respect what was written in the Bible and other ancient books. They were not encouraged by the Church to think for themselves or challenge traditional ideas.
• Historians estimate that at least 40 per cent of the population died due to the black death, with an even higher death rate in towns and ports
• Every few years the plague broke out again and carried on killing large numbers of people, especially in towns, for 300 years
• The most widely believed explanation was that God had sent the pestilence to punish people for their sins
• The king and bishops ordered services and processions in every church at least once a day, in which people prayed for forgiveness and asked God to stop the disease
• People lit huge numbers of candles in churches as offerings to God or fasted (stopped eating) to show they were sorry for their sins.
• Many went on pilgrimages to pray for God’s forgiveness at the tombs of saints
• Activities that might be insulting God were ended. In Suffolk they stopped using churchyards for wrestling matches
• Some people punished themselves in public and begged God for forgiveness - flagellants
• People prayed to God to let their family and friends who had plague recover
• Cleaning was not the only way of purifying the air, People: carried sweet-smelling herbs or lit fires to overpower the bad air and kept the air moving by ringing bells or keeping birds to fly around the house.
• Physicians believed the stars and planets affected people’s bodies, so it was logical that planets could cause disease.
• The wealthy could also consult a university-trained physician.
• Women treated most illnesses and knew a wide range of remedies. Sometimes the local wise woman or lady of the manor was called to use her skills and knowledge
• . Women could qualify as surgeons by working as apprentices, but were not allowed to become physicians.
• The first wave of hospitals appeared in towns in the eleventh century - mostly cared for older people, run by monks and nuns
• One of the most famous early hospitals was St Bartholomew’s in London, founded in 1123
• From the thirteenth century a second group of much smaller hospitals were founded
• Physicians trained at universities for seven years, reading books by Hippocrates and Galen. However there were fewer than 100 physicians in England in 1300 and only the rich could afford their fees
• Surgeons did not go to university but trained as apprentices through observing others
• Physicians advised wealthy clients how to stay healthy, suggesting regular washing, cleaning teeth, combing hair, exercise in fresh air and bathing in hot water
• People dropped waste and litter of all kinds and sometimes used streets as latrines. Butchers threw bloody waste and animal parts in the street.
• Newcastle was one town where streets were paved to make them drier and easier to clean.
• Public latrines were built in Norwich and many other towns, including over a dozen in London.
• Water supplies were dirty because of industrial and human waste.
• . In Exeter aqueducts were built to bring fresh water to the town.
• Latrines and cesspits were sometimes built by house-owners near water supplies and their contents emptied into streams and rivers used for washing and drinking water.
• In Hull, Southampton and other towns, night carts went round collecting human waste from cesspits.
• If anyone did dare to challenge the Bible and the Church they were told they would go to Hell when they died.
• the Church supported Galen’s work and this meant that no Christian dared to question Galen’s ideas. If you questioned Galen you would be accused of challenging the Church and God