Medieval Medicine

• Life was slow and simple, everything was dirty and disease was common. The country was dominated by religion and there was widespread poverty. There was no printing and most people were farmers and depended upon the farms. Streets were uncleaned due to no waste removal and there was no independent thinking.
• 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.
• The Church controlled education, especially in the universities where physicians were trained. By the fifteenth century up to 50 percent of people in large towns could read. The books most commonly read were prayer books and other religious books.
• Animals were taken to towns to be killed for food. The animals' dung and their butchery created a lot of dirt in the streets. Horses were the main form of transport and also pulled carts so they added considerably to the dirt in the streets that needed cleaning up.
• The Christian Church was an organisation which spread all over Europe and was headed by the Pope. In England the head of the Church was the Archbishop of Canterbury. 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 largest libraries were in monasteries where monks read and copied books by hand.
• The King's main tasks were to defend his people in wartime and keep the country peaceful by punishing lawbreakers. Taxes were only raised to pay for wars. Keeping streets clean and towns healthy was the work of local councils, but they had little money to pay for this.
• Printing came to England in the 1470s but until then books had to be written out by hand. This meant there were not many books and knowledge was slow to spread.
• 90 percent of people worked as farmers to grow the food everyone needed. This was hard, back-breaking work. This constant hard work meant there was little time for education or reading. There years when poor harvest meant that people went hungry.
• Supernatural-things people cannot explain, needs to be believed. Not belonging to the natural world.
• Tithe-a sum of money given to the Church
• Malnutrition-illness caused by lack of food
• Famine-widespread hunger and starvation
• Proof of the divine-evidence of God
• Sin-the breaking of a religious or moral law
• Cleanse your soul-confess your sins to go to heaven
• Leprosy-Infectious disease where parts of the body waste away
• Lazar House-leprosy hospital
• Paralysis-being unable to move parts of your body because of illness
• Physician-someone who practises medicine
• Astrology-the study of the position of stars and planets in the belief that those who committed sin could be punished by God
• People believed that God sent illness because the Church taught that those who committed sin could be punished by God. They also taught that the devil could send disease to test someone's faith.
• The belief of astrology was a supernatural explanation for disease. During the period 1250-1500, the impact of the stars and planets on health was considered important because of the influence of Hippocrates who had been a leading physician from ancient Greece.
• Leprosy is a painful skin disease, followed by paralysis, and eventually death. There was no cure and lepers were banished from their communities.
• Catholicism was the dominant religion
• Monks wrote all books and medieval texts
• Physicians consulted a star chart when diagnosing a patient
• The Church disagreed with astrology as it was like witchcraft and conflicted with Catholicism
• Hippocrates came up wit the theory of four humours-blood, bile, choler and phlegm. A healthy person had all four liquids balanced and a sick person had them unbalanced, so too much or too little of one. This theory was partially correct, however if someone had too much blood, a doctor would cut a patient to treat them. This wasn't highly rational.
• Hippocrates was a Greek physician who is considered the Father of Medicine.
• The Hippocratic oath meant doctors had to keep information confidential and treat every patient. This kept standards of treatment high.
• The Hippocratic collection of books was a collection of symptoms and treatments. However, it was written by many doctors, not just Hippocrates. This store of medical records allowed doctors in the future to access it.
• Galen was a Greek physician who lived in Rome.
• Galen popularised anatomy. He believed physicians should find out about the structure and workings of the body, so he dissected animals like apes and pigs. He got the nervous system correct.
• Galen dissected animals, and proved many things. For example, he proved that the brain controlled speech.
• Galen wrote 350 books of successes, such as his theory of opposites. For example, if you were too hot, you should eat something cold.
• Galen had a long legacy as the Church supported him due to his theories linking with Creationism.
• Galen made over 300 mistakes and was wrong with his theory of opposites.
• The Church disliked change and controlled medical learning. They also chose which books were distributed. They liked the theory of four humours as it fitted with their teachings, so it was promoted. They discouraged criticism.
• Hippocrates and Galen were important individuals in the middle ages as their books were preserved by Arabic Scholars. Galen was very popular with the Church, so his work was promoted.
• There was a strong belief in God, so people didn't want to risk going to hell by criticising the Church. In addition, physicians who didn't follow old works couldn't get work as "good" physicians followed the four humours.