Medicine 1250-1500

• Who was Galen?


  Roman physician who wrote 60+ books and whos ideas were the basis of medical understanding. He developed the ideas on the theorys of opposites.
• Who was Hippocrates?


  Greek physician who devised idea of four humours based off of Galens work.
• Explain why there was a continuity in ideas about cause of disease during the period 1250-1500

  -Absence of technology

  -Attitudes

  -Individuals
• Explain why there was little change in the care provided by hospitals in the period 1250-1500

  -Ideas in the church

  -Herbal remedies

  -limited scientific knowledge
• What ideas were used as explanation to someone having a disease

  - the person had been sinful and it was sent as a punishment by God

  -your humours were unbalanced

  -astrology-bad alignment of planets causes diseases like the Black Death
• What were the four humours?

  blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile
• Why was theory of four humours popular


  -could explain nearly any illness
• How did the church stop medical knowledge from progressing?

  -monks and nuns hand wrote books out which meant texts like Galen could be written about and changed

  -Galens work talked about the body having been designed by something so the church took the opportunity to say that God was in charge of design of humans

  -Two jaw bone theory-if you didn't have two jawbones you were a criminal or sinful

  -Dissections were illegal as the body had to be whole to go to heaven-meant no new progressions were made
• What was the miasma theory?

  The idea that bad or dirty air infected people with disease. Both Galen and Hippocrates wrote about this idea. This idea was also associated with God and bad smelling air suggested sinfulness and corruption.
• What did Johannes Gutenberg invent in 1440 ?

  The printing press
• What treatments did the church suggest to treat illness ?

  Illness was thought to be a punishment sent by God and so should be treated using religious ways e.g. prayers, incantations, fasting and pilgrimages. Sometimes the sick were discoloured from seeking medical treatment as the disease was meant to purge their body and cause them pain as part of the punishment.
• What was the Kings healing power ?


  It was thought the king could cure illnesses like scrofula by touching the infected individual as he had supernatural healing powers. They took it seriously as it showed their divine right.
• What were some examples of humoural treatments ?

  Blood letting, purging, herbal remedies and bathing
• What were some recommended ways of preventing disease

  Not being sinful and living a pure life, following the regimen sanitatis, have a good diet (do not overeat), purify the air(get rid of miasma)
• What was a physician?

  The name of a medieval doctor, there were only 300 in Englnad in 1300 and they were expensive. They diagnosed illness and recommended a course of treatment but did not get involved with treating the patients
• What was an apothecary?


  A medieval pharmacist who mainly sold herbal remedies. They were cheaper than physicians so were often seen as an alternative but the went against physicians as they also sold poison.
• What was a barber surgeon?


  Barber surgeons performed small surgeries, pulled teeth and bled patients. Their main job was hairdressing. They advertised themselves by putting a bowl of blood in the window.
• What were the key features of hospitals?

  -Run by nuns and monks at convents or monasteries

  -offered more hospitality than treatment

  -most were quite small and run by the church

  -if you were too ill you wouldn't be admitted

  -herbal remedies and prayer made up most of the treatment
• Where was most treatment carried out ?

  Most treatment was taken care of in the persons home by the women in the household
• When did the Black Death occur?

  1348
• What were the symptoms of the Black Death?

  It was caused by fleas

  Bubonic plague led buboes in the groin, neck and armpits. Many died after around 6 days. Pneumonic plague infected the lungs.
• What did people believe caused the Black Death ?

  Result of god deserting mankind-a punishment, unusual positioning of the planets, miasma
• Treatments used against the Black Death


  Confess your sins and ask god for forgiveness, bleeding, purging, smelling strong herbs
• What did they do to prevent Black Death


  Pray to god, fast, go on a pilgrimage, self flagellation, some quarantine regulations put in place by government but they had little power and the church and rich people didn't listen
• Hospital treatment in England was rare in the period 1250-1500. How far do you agree?

  -charity hospitals

  -care in the home

  -medieval medical professionals
• The role of the church was the main reason why there was so little change in the Middle Ages. How far do you agree?

  -church

  -individuals (Hippocrates + Galen)

  -lack of technology (no printing press or dissections)
• There was little progress in medicine in the Middle Ages. How far do you agree?

  -herbal remedies

  -church

  -four humours
• Explain one way in which treatments for illness were similar in the 14th and 17th centuries?

  -there was a lack of scientific and medical understanding

  -similarly in both centuries they used humoural treatments e.g. bleeding, purging