Medieval Medicine (1250-1500)

• In the medieval period, it was heavily believed that the main cause of illness was that it was a punishment from God for sinning
• People in the Medieval period were encouraged to focus on the Bible and the teachings of the church, and were discouraged from asking questions or looking for scientific answers. As well as this, many of the lower classes were unable to read or write, and so they had to rely on what they were being told by the clergy or upper classes.
• The Printing Press did not make its way to England until 1476 [but was invented in 1440], and so there was little information available to the public.
• The monarch and government offered little to no financing for keeping cities and towns clean, meaning a buildup of dirt was keeping diease spreading.
• People only learnt things approved by the Church due to the immense power of Christian teachings.
• Miasma - the belief of 'bad air' and 'harmful fumes' meant to have caused the spread of disease.
• The Theory of the Four humours - A belief about the causes of disease created by Galen (added onto the theory of opposites) which stated that the body was made up of four fluids: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile
• Clinical observation - A method of diagnosing patients that involves observing their symptoms and behaviour. Created by Hippocrates
• Hippocratic Oath - An oath still used by doctors today meant to give patients faith that their doctors will try their hardest to aid their patients.
• Galen - A physician in Ancient Rome that wrote over 350 books, many of his teachings were approved by the medieval church as his ideas aligned with theirs. Many of Galens ideas were later disproven.