MEDICINE

• Medicine in Medieval England

  c.1250-c.1500
• Disease and the Supernatural


  • Disease was thought to have Supernatural Causes
  • Many people believed disease was a punishment from God for people's sins
  • Disease was also thought to be caused by evil supernatural beings, like demons or witches
  • People believed some diseases could be caused by evil spirits living inside someone
• Exorcism


  Members of the Church performed exorcisms, using chants to remove the spirit from the person's body
• The Church's influence on medieval medicine

  • The Roman Catholic Church was an extremely powerful organisation in medieval Europe
  • The Church encouraged people to believe disease was a punishment from God
  • The Church made sure scholars learned Galen's work, which fit Christian beliefs
  • The Church outlawed dissection, preventing discovery of human anatomy
• The Church's influence over medieval medicine

  There was very little change in ideas about the cause of disease until the Renaissance
• Astrology


  • The idea that the movements of the planets and stars have an effect on the Earth and on people
  • A new way of diagnosing disease, developed in Arabic medicine and brought to Europe between 1100 and 1300
  • Medieval doctors owned almanacs with information about planets, stars, and how this related to patients' illnesses
  • Different star signs were thought to affect different parts of the body
• The medieval period was a dark age for medicine
• Rational Explanations (medieval)


  Theories based on reason and observation of the physical world, rather than religious faith
• Some treatments in medieval England were based less on religious faith and more on rational theories and observation of the physical world
• A reason-based theory can still be wrong
• Four Humours Theory


  The dominant medical theory in medieval times
• Theory of the Four Humours

  1. Created by Hippocrates

  2. Body made up of four fluids (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile)

  3. Fluids needed to be in balance for good health

  4. Diseases treated by using opposites to correct imbalance
• Theory of the Four Humours

  • Linked the four humours to the four seasons and four elements
  • Hippocrates failed to see that symptoms were not the cause of disease
• Theory of the Four Humours

  1. Developed further by Galen

  2. Galen believed diseases could be treated using opposites

  3. Galen thought different foods, drinks, herbs and spices had a humour to balance the excessive humour causing disease
• Miasma Theory


  The idea that bad air (miasma) causes disease when breathed in
• Miasma Theory


  1. Originated in Ancient Greece and Rome

  2. Incorporated by Galen into the Theory of the Four Humours

  3. Became extremely popular in medieval England
• The miasma theory lasted until the 1860s, when it was replaced by the Germ Theory
• Miasma often prompted people to do hygienic things, which sometimes helped stop the spread of disease (but for the wrong reasons)
• Hippocrates and Galen


  • They assumed disease had a natural cause, rather than a supernatural one
  • This was important as it suggested people could investigate and take action against disease
• Hippocrates' and Galen's ideas were considered the absolute truth and taught for centuries, including their incorrect ideas
• Galen only ever dissected animals, so some of his ideas about anatomy were wrong
• Medieval doctors were not allowed to perform their own dissections, so they continued to learn Galen's incorrect ideas
• Some of Hippocrates' and Galen's ideas continue to be used today, such as the Hippocratic Oath
• Prayer and Repentance (medieval)


  Major treatments for disease in the Middle Ages
• Prayer (medieval)


  1. Sick people were encouraged to pray

  2. Pray to saints in hope they would intervene and stop the illness

  3. Pilgrimages to holy shrines (e.g. sites containing the remains of saints) could cure illnesses
• Repentance (medieval)


  1. Flagellants whipped themselves in public to show God they were sorry for their past actions

  2. Particularly common at times of epidemics, such as the Black Death
• Doctors' beliefs (medieval)


  • Some used astrology to diagnose and treat illness
  • Believed saying certain words when administering treatment could make it more effective
• Bloodletting (medieval)


  1. Make a small cut to remove blood

  2. Use blood-sucking leeches

  3. Some people accidentally killed due to too much blood being taken
• Purging (medieval)


  Doctors gave patients laxatives to help get rid of other fluids from the body by excreting
• Bloodletting and purging (medieval)


  Aimed to make the Humours balanced
• Miasma theory


  Belief that purifying or cleaning the air could prevent sickness and improve health
• Purifying the air (medieval)


  1. Physicians carried posies or oranges when visiting patients to protect themselves

  2. During Black Death, juniper, myrrh and incense were burned to fill the room and prevent bad air from bringing disease
• Remedies (medieva)


  • Bought from apothecary, local wise woman or made at home
  • Contained herbs, spices, animal parts and minerals
  • Some based on superstition, like lucky charms containing 'powdered unicorn's horn'
• Remedies were either passed down or written in books explaining how to mix them together, called 'Herbals' (medieval)
• Bloodletting caused more deaths than it prevented, yet remained a popular treatment, showing the strength of medieval people's beliefs in the face of observation (medieval)
• Purifying the air was seen as important, even though it was ineffective, and was combined with other health practices (medieval)
• In the case of fainting people, burned feathers were used and the patient made to breathe in the smoke (medieval)
• Physicians (medieval)


  Male doctors who had trained at university for at least seven years, read ancient texts and writings from the Islamic world, but had little practical experience
• Physicians' methods (medieva)


  Used handbooks (vademecums) and clinical observation to check patients' conditions
• In 1300, there were less than 100 physicians in England, and seeing a physician was very expensive - only the rich could afford it (medieval)