The Middle Ages (1250-1500)

• The church was very dominant in medieval society. It taught that God made people ill because he was unhappy with them or testing their faith.
• The belief in the church and in ancient medical practices limited medical research and new ideas about causes of disease in medieval times
• The alignment of planets and stars was believed to cause some diseases. Astrology was used to diagnose patients. Use of astrology in medicine increased in the Middle Ages
• The Church was extremely influential. It was the centre of education, and monasteries held most large collections of books, meaning the monasteries had control over what was read.
• The Church approved of traditional explanations for disease, and especially promoted the ideas of Galen as his theories suited Christian beliefs. Any theories contradicting Galen's ideas may have been ignored, so knowledge of anatomy did not develop loads.
• Knowledge of anatomy did not develop a lot as anything contradicting Galen was possibly ignored.
• The Church taught that people should care for the sick, like Jesus did. Many hospitals were in monasteries.
• Galen developed the idea of the four humours using his Theory of Opposites. Galen wrote many books and developed Hippocrates' ideas
• Hippocrates had ideas and books that were very influential even beyond medieval times. He dismissed the idea that gods caused disease and insisted on a physical cause. His treatments were mainly based on diet, exercise and rest. His method of observation, diagnosis and treatment is the basis of todays approach.
• Miasma - The theory that disease was caused by bad smells. Related to God as bad smells indicated sin. Used beyond the Middle Ages.
• There were two main rational treatments related to the four humours. The most common treatment for imbalance of humours was bloodletting: cutting a vein, using leeches etc. Purging was another treatment - removing food from the body (forced to vomit or go to the toilet)
• Traditional remedies included herbs, foods and ointments to apply to the skin. They were homemade or sold by an apothecary.
• Religious treatments were: praying, fasting, pilgrimages....
• Supernatural treatments existed such as hanging a magpies beak around your neck to cure toothache
• Religious preventions of illness included living a good Christian lifestyle(praying, going to Church......), carrying lucky charms, chanting incantations, self-punishment (so that God doesn't punish you)
• Rational preventions of illness included keeping streets clean, washing, excercising, bleeding, purging, purifying the air, not overeating
• People who treated the sick were family members, the village "wise woman", Barber-surgeons (who have no training), Apothecaries(paid, trained but not qualified) or Physicians (Medically trained at University, more expensive than Apothecaries, very few of them, used by wealthy)
• What physicians did:

  • Observed symptoms, checked pulse, skin colour and urine
  • Consulted urine charts in their handbook
  • Consulted zodiac charts to diagnose the patient and work out the best time to treat them
  • Usually sent the patient to a barber-surgeon or apothecary, rarely treated them themselves.
• Hospitals:

  • Became more of them during the Middle Ages
  • Many were run by the church, so put emphasis on God and healing souls.
  • Patients and their surroundings were kept clean.
  • Patients given fresh food and lots of rest
  • Usually, people with infectious diseases or incurable conditions weren't admitted
  • Places of recovery rather than treatment
  • Travellers and pilgrims stayed in hospitals on their journeys.
  • Some were built for specific infectious diseases
• The Black Death killed a third of the population of England in 1348
• Believed causes of the Black Death:

  • Religion - punishment from God for sins
  • Astrology - the position of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn was unusual
  • Miasma
  • Volcanoes - poisonous gases carried in air from European volcanoes and earthquakes
  • Four Humours - most physicians blamed imbalance in the Four Humours
  • Outsiders - strangers / witches caused it
• Attempted preventions to the Black Death:

  • Praying / Fasting - To say sorry to God
  • Clearing rubbish from the streets
  • Smelling bad smells or toilets
  • Lighting fires, ringing bells, or having flying birds inside to keep air moving in the room
  • Carrying herbs / spices to avoid breathing 'bad air'
  • Not letting outsiders enter the town / village
• Symptoms of the Black Death:

  • Swelling into lumps of pus
  • fever and chills
  • headache
  • vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain
• Treatments for the Black Death:

  • Praying, holding lucky charms
  • Cutting lumps(called buboes) to release pus
  • Holding bread against the buboes (lumps of pus) and burying it in the ground
  • eating cool things, taking cold baths