The Middle Ages (1250-1450)

• Hippocrates and Galen

  • Hippocrates created the 4 humours, if one was too much it needed to be balanced
  • Galen used the 4 humours
  • Galen invented the Theory of Opposites, which meant if you were hot you needed something cold and vice versa
• Hippocrates and Galen (Positive & Negatives)

  • 4 humours was used for over 1500 years and was natural
  • 4 humours was wrong
  • Galen though jawbone was 2 bones (it's only 1 bone)
  • Galen improved knowledge of anatomy
  • Church supported Galen's ideas, progress stopped
• The Black Death (1348)

  • Did not know cause due to lack of knowledge and technology
  • Flagellants whipped themselves because they thought it was a punishment from God
• The Black Death (1348) Believed Causes

  • There was an imbalance of the 4 humours
  • God sent it as a punishment
  • Miasma (poisonous air)
• The Black Death (1348) Believed Cures/Treatment

  • Bloodletting, purging to balance the 4 humours
  • Flagellants whipping themselves to avoid punishment from God
  • Sweet-smelling herbs, burning fires
  • King Edward III ordered streets of London to be cleaned
• The Black Death (1348) Believed Prevention

  • Repent and live a sin free life
  • Spread sweet-smelling herbs to get rid of miasma
• Caring for the sick

  • Trained physicians studied at university, they were very expensive, they used astrology and urine charts to diagnose illness
  • Barber-surgeon cut hair, removed teeth and did simple operations such as bloodletting
  • Wise-women were used by poor people, did not go to university, used herbs as a cure, helped women give birth
  • Church ran hospitals, only had monks and nuns, they did not allow human dissection, prioritised comfort rather than treatment
• Why did old ideas continue?

  • Church only used Galen's ideas as he believed in one God
  • Church banned human dissection
  • Church was in charge of universities and hospitals
  • Incorrect ideas of Galen still used
  • Not as many books as they would be made by hand