c1250-c1500 medieval england

• People thought that if they were ill it meant God had punished them
• In the Middle Ages, people believed that illness was caused by evil spirits or bad air
• The Black Death killed about one third of the population
• ideas about the cause of disease and illness

  • supernatural
  • rational explanation: theory of the four humours, miasma, influence of Galen and Hippocrates
• Cause of disease and illness

  • Supernatural and religious explanations
  • Rational explanations: the Theory of the Four Humours and the miasma theory; the continuing influence in England of Hippocrates and Galen
• Approaches to prevention and treatment

  • Religious actions, bloodletting and purging, purifying the air, and the use of remedies
• New and traditional approaches to hospital care in the thirteenth century


  • The role of the physician, apothecary and barber surgeon in treatment
• The belief that illness was punishment from God
• The use of astrology in the diagnosis and treatment of illness, representing a development in this time period
• Theory of the Four Humours

  Created by Hippocrates, developed by Galen in Ancient Rome; promoted by the Church and used widely by doctors
• Miasma theory

  The idea of disease being caused by bad air and foul smells
• Religious actions

  • Prayer and flagellation
• Treatment based on the Theory of Opposites, blends and purging

  • To treat illness based on the ideas of the four humours
• Herbal remedies


  • From the apothecary or brewed at home - most common form of treatment
• Hospitals


  • Provided by the Church as centres for recuperation rather than for the sick
• The role of individuals and the Church's influence and continuity in beliefs about the cause of disease, as the Church promoted the Theory of the Four Humours
• The role of the Church's provision of some hospital care became the Church's function
• The role of individuals and institutions, such as the Church, in providing medical training for physicians
• The role of attitudes in society towards preventative actions and treatments based on supernatural beliefs
• Care provided within the community and in hospitals, c1250-1500

  • Treatment and care for most sick people at home by the women of the household
  • Availability of physicians for the Church
  • Apothecaries and barber surgeons provided herbal remedies and carried out small surgeries, such as the treatment of bloodletting
• Dealing with the Black Death, 1348-49

  1. Approaches to treatment

  2. Attempts to prevent its spread
• Religious methods of prevention

  • Fasting, prayers, financial donations to the Church and flagellation
• Religious ideas about treatment

  • Prayers and offerings to the Church
• Broad spread of treatments

  • Charms, potions and letting blood in veins to drive away the disease
• Attempts at quarantine

  • Rudimentary, not often successful
• The role of individuals and institutions, such as the Church, in promoting negative methods to tackle the Black Death
• The role of local governments in the introduction of some helpful measures