medicine through time

• What was the dominant institution in medieval society?

  The Christian Church
• What were common beliefs about the causes of illness during the Middle Ages?

  Religious and supernatural causes
• Why did people believe God caused illness?

  Because He was displeased or testing faith
• How did the Church's teachings affect medical research?

  They held back medical research and new ideas
• Who taught most of what ordinary people learned in the Middle Ages?

  The Church
• What role did the Church play in formal learning?

  It ran all universities for physician training
• Who could read and write in medieval society?

  Clergy, monks, and priests
• Where were large collections of books found during the Middle Ages?

  In monasteries
• How did the Church influence the understanding of disease?

  It approved traditional explanations fitting Christian beliefs
• What was the Church's view on dissections during this period?

  They were not common and often discouraged
• Whose theories about anatomy were often contradicted?

  Galen's theories
• What was the Church's teaching regarding care for the sick?

  People should follow Jesus' example
• Where were many hospitals located during the Middle Ages?

  In monasteries and nunneries
• What was astrology believed to cause?

  Some diseases
• How was astrology used in medicine?

  To help diagnose patient issues
• What happened to the use of astrology after 1250?

  It increasingly declined, especially after the Black Death
• What were the approaches to prevention and treatment of disease in the Middle Ages?

  • Relied on traditional remedies
  • Treatments in convents
• What were the ways the Christian Church helped and hindered medicine in the Middle Ages?

  Helped:

  • Provided care for the sick
  • Ran universities for physician training

  
  

  Hindered:

  • Held back medical research
  • Promoted traditional explanations for disease
• What were rational explanations for disease in Medieval England based on?

  Ideas from the Ancient world
• Who were the key figures influencing medical ideas in Medieval England?

  Hippocrates and Galen
• What were the main theories of disease in Medieval England?

  • The Four Humours
  • Theory of Opposites
  • Miasma
• What is the time period referred to in the study material?

  €1250-c1500
• What is the significance of the Four Humours in Medieval medicine?

  It was a foundational theory for health and disease
• How did the Theory of Opposites relate to Medieval medical practices?

  It suggested treating ailments with opposing qualities
• What does the term 'Miasma' refer to in the context of Medieval disease explanations?

  It refers to harmful vapors causing illness
• How did the ideas of Hippocrates and Galen influence Medieval medical practices?

  They provided foundational theories for understanding health
• What were the two main approaches to disease prevention and treatment in the Middle Ages?

  Rational and religious methods
• What was bloodletting used for in the Middle Ages?

  To treat an imbalance of humours
• What were the three methods of bloodletting mentioned?

  Cutting a vein, leeches, cupping
• Who typically performed bloodletting in the Middle Ages?

  Barber-surgeons or non-medical persons
• What was purging used for in the Middle Ages?

  To re-balance the humours
• What methods were included in purging?

  Making a patient vomit or use the toilet
• Who prescribed enemas and laxatives?

  Physicians, wise women, or patients themselves
• What were some methods used to prevent illness in the Middle Ages?

  • Using a chamber pot
  • Sleeping in the church
  • Praying and going to sacraments
  • Carrying holy charms or amulets
• What were the most common traditional remedies in the Middle Ages?

  Herbs, foods, and ointments
• What is the term used for the belief that diseases were caused by bad air?

  Miasma
• How were traditional remedies prepared in the Middle Ages?

  Made at home or sold by apothecaries
• What were the main approaches to caring for the sick during the Middle Ages?

  • Use of herbal remedies
  • Religious prayers and rituals
  • Bloodletting and purging
  • Isolation of the sick
• Who were the primary caregivers for the sick in the Middle Ages?

  Physicians and religious figures
• What were some religious and supernatural methods of treatment in the Middle Ages?

  • Chanting incantations
  • Self-punishment and asking for forgiveness
  • Praying, fasting, and going on pilgrimage
  • Paying for a special Mass