C1250-1500 medieval

• the church was very important during this time and had lots of power
• every region had a bishop and every village a priest giving the church great influence over everyone's ideas
• Monasteries copied books by hand and were in charge of libaries and keeping knowledge safe meaning the church had control over knowledge and it was slow to spread
• 99% of people were farmers and the constant hard work meant they didn't have time for education and were illiterate
• horses were the main source of transport so animal dung and butchery created lots of dirt in streets
• there was little scientific knowledge people relied on ancient ideas to explain diseased or blamed it on God as a punishment for sins
• people were taught to respect the bible and ancient books and were encouraged not to question these or think for themselves
• the church controlled educations especially for physicians
• by the 15th century 50% of people in large towns could read
• the king's main tasks were preventing war and punishing law breakers (taxes were raised to pay for wars
• keeping streets clean and towns healthy was the job of the local council but they had little money
• the theory of the four humours was very popular. it was created by the ancient greek hippocrates
• the theory of the four humours (blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile) believed the humours needed to be balanced and if they weren't you got sick
• physicians looked for clues about humours (a fever/red face meant they had too much blood so they needed to remove some by cutting, leeches or cupping)
• the humours were also linked with seasons, elements, organs and qualities ( cold and moist)
• Galen ( a physician in ancient Rome) like Hippocrates ideas and wrote over 350 books promoting his theory and anatomy which was mostly accurate
• The theory of the four humours was popular because it could explain any illness, was based on observations and agreed with the church's teachings
• medieval physicians were taught to examine urine to check the balance of the humours (colour taste smell texture)
• another idea about the cause of disease was miasma (bad air and smells) so incense was burned in churches and unwashed people would be avoided
• Hippocrates and Galen's ideas were put into a textbook called the 'Articella'
• Ancient ideas were popular because there weren't any others as the church didn't allow dissections as the soul needed to get to heaven
• monks and nuns would provide basic medical care for those who couldn't care for themselves
• the church taught illness was a punishment from God and that you had to pray and repent and if you recovered it was a miracle from God
• astrology was also considered an important cause of disease
• hipoccrates had also believed in astrology
• physicians would consult start charts from a persons birthday and when they got sick to identity the cause
• purging was a common treatment as it was believed humours were made from food so being given an enema or laxative would remove the bad food unbalancing the humours
• Galen developed the theory of opposites so if someone had a fever or too much blood (linked with heat) you would give them something cool such as a cucumber
• religious treatments called for prayer, pilgrimages fasting and touching holy relics
• people used charms, spells, amulets and herb gathering, bleeding and purging all had to be done at the right time based on star charts
• remedies were made from herbs, minerals and animal parts and were made by women or from books called 'herbals'
• people tried to live a sin free life to prevent getting sick
• people lived by the regimen sanitatis which was a set of rules to live a healthy life
• the regimen sanitatis had some good points such as take moderate exercise, do not overeat, adjust diet to exercise done, get enough sleep, avoid stress, keep clean, breathe clean air but also some not so accurate parts such as avoid barking dogs and stay on friendly terms with neighbours
• some herbal remedies worked
• to prevent smells people could use public baths for a small fee or the rich had private baths and poor people swan in rivers
• people laid down sweet smelling herbs in rushes to soak up messes from floors
• people carried flowers and herbs on pomanders around their waist to keep them safe from miasma
• local authorities tried to keep towns clean by building latrines (toilets)and fresh water pipes
• rakers were employed to clean streets and remove animal waste