History Medicine

• How WAS the government a major factor in the development of medicine?

  • They enforced Quarantine
  • Prime Minister prioritised medicine
  • Government founded the NHS
  • Government enforced taxes on products eg. Cigarettes
• How was the government NOT a major factor in the development of medicine?

  • There was historically no government
  • Church dominated medicine
  • Some believe the government only interfered for votes
  • The works of individuals had a greater effect
• Lack of medical progress in the Medieval Period

  • Classical Thinking in Universities - work of Hippocrates and Galen were taught to physicians for years with no argument
  • Lack of technology - Before the Printing Press, books had to be written out by hand, which took a long time
  • Role of Monasteries - Monasteries owned libraries and only kept books that agreed with their ideas
  • Value of book learning - Learning had to be done through books than experience, the more you knew, the more people were willing to pay
  • Role of Church - The church promoted certain ideas that agreed with their. They influenced the education system and dictated what was taught in universities
  • Ban on Dissection - Dissection was banned because the church found it unholy (denied heaven)
• Why was England not a good place to live in?

  • Most of the population worked in agriculture for the wealthy
  • Poor nutrition due to famine
  • Crowded towns/cities and lack of drains lead to easy spread of disease
  • Open fires to heat up homes caused lung disease
  • People believed it was God's will that disease was caused
• What were RATIONAL ideas to the cause of disease in the Medieval Period?

  • Theory of Four Humours
  • Theory of Opposites
  • Miasma
• What were IRRATIONAL ideas to the cause of disease in the Medieval period?

  • Punishment from God
  • Sent by the Devil to test religious faith
  • The alignment of planets and stars
• Who made the Theory of Four Humours; how did it work ; how was it used by Physicians?

  Hippocrates made the Theory of Four Humours in Ancient Greece

  It was believed that all four Humours; black bile, yellow bile, blood and

  phlegm ; had to be balanced, or else disease would be caused

  Physicians closely observed their patients to figure out which humour needed treating by checking their urine
• Who made the Theory of Opposites; how did it work?

  Galen made the Theory of Opposites in Ancient Rome

  It was believed that each humour was linked to an element, where each humour can be balanced by prescribing the opposite humour to the patient
• Why did people believe disease was a punishment from God?

  Teachings of the Church to the uneducated [eg. Doom Paintings and stories told by priests]
• What is an example of a disease God sent as a punishment in the Bible?

  Leprosy - a leper was shunned, forced to wear a clock and made to ring a bell to alert nearby people
• How did Physicians utilise the alignment of planets and stars to diagnose patients?

  Physicians would use star charts to determine when a patient was born and fell sick to diagnose them
• What did a Physician do to treat a patient?

  They based their treatment based of an illness due to a symptom rather than the cause [Virus or Bacteria]

  They believed each symptom represented an imbalance of the Humours

  This lead to conflicting remedies
• What methods were used to treat disease in the Medieval Period?

  • Purging
  • Blood Letting
  • Bathing
  • Praying
  • Herbal Remedies
  • Theory of Opposites
  • Pilgrimages
• What methods were used to prevent disease in the Medieval Period?

  • Praying
  • Regimen Sanitatis
  • Purifying the air
  • Pilgrimages
• What was purging and how was it carried out?


  The process of removing leftover food in the digestive system

  This was carried out by giving the patient a laxative or emetic (causes vomiting)

  An emetic was a strong and bigger herb [like Aniseed] or sometimes poisons [like Black Hellebore] (best to vomit those quick)

  If a patient struggled to purge, a Physician would administer a clyster/enema
• What was Blood Letting and how was it carried out?

  The process of removing a patient's blood (by letting them bleed out) to rebalance the humours

  The procedure was common that Physicians didn't carry out the procedure (mostly people with no medical background did) ; monks were forbidden to do so

  It was usually done by Barber Surgeons and Wise Women

  It was carried out through cutting a vein, using leeches or cupping
• What was Bathing and how was it believed to work?

  Bathing was believed to steam out impurities from the body and dissolve blockages in the humours. Due to superstitions, some believed that bathing in the water of a boiled foxed helped with paralysis
• What were aspects of praying and what did it do for people?

  Regular prayers, confessions and offerings to the church meant minor sins were forgiven and that a person wouldn't be effected by illness [from God]
• What was Regimen Sanitatis?

  A set of instructions provided by Physicians to lead a healthy lifestyle:

  • Exercising
  • Maintaining diet and food portions
  • Sleeping
  • Avoiding drunk people
  • Avoiding barking dogs
• What are herbal remedies; what are they used for?

  Treatments of herbal infusions to drink, sniff or bathe in. They were used to treat certain conditions
• What is an example of a herbal remedy?

  Aloe Vera - used to improve digestion
• What common herbal mix was sold in the Medieval Period, and who wrote a book about this?

  Theriaca - a spice based mixture that contained up to 70 ingredients (like ginger and peppers) and unusual ingredients like opium

  Galen had written a book about Theriacas
• How did people purify the air against Miasma?

  People had:

  • Spread sweet herbs (like Lavender)
  • Carried pomanders around their waists
  • Local authorities kept towns clean by cleaning rotting animals and taking down bad smelling toilets
• What was a pomander?

  A piece of jewellery that contained herbs to protect against disease-ridden air
• What is a pilgrimage?

  A long journey to a scared place in an act of religious devotion
• Where would people go to on a pilgrimage?

  They would go to scared areas such as:

  • Tombs of people noted to have healing powers
  • Areas of relics with healing properties
• Why were many people treat at home in the Medieval Period?

  It was the cheapest option, as physicians were too expensive at the time
• Important statistics about hospitals in the Medieval Period:

  • By 1500, there were around 1,100 hospitals ranging in sizes
  • Bury St. Edmunds had 6 hospitals to cater lepers and infirm the old
  • Bury St. Edmunds had a shrine famous for healing people, and was popular to sick people
  • 30% of hospitals were owned by the Church
• What was the role of many Medieval Hospitals?

  Offered hospitality to travellers and pilgrims
• How were many hospitals funded?

  They were funded by:

  • Endowments [Rich person would leave money in their will to build a hospital]
  • Charitable Donations [encouraged by the church as a foundation of religion]
• Who ran church owned hospitals?

  Monks and nuns who lived in nearby monasteries
• What services did hospitals offer?

  hospitals provided:

  • Hospitality - Clean beds; clean clothing for patients and healthy food
  • Prayer to remove the sins of the ill
• What were positives and negatives of hospital care?

  Positive: Offered a clean and healthy place to recover

  Positive: European hospitals employed experts in the medical field [Physicians and surgeons]

  Negative: Selective on who they treated [rejected the infectious or terminally ill, as prayer and penance could do nothing for them]
• What condition did a patient have to fall under to participate in Church?

  They had to have a chance of recovery to participate in Church services from their bed
• What were women expected to do at home?

  Care for relatives and dependant people when they needed it
• What jobs were Wise Women expected to do?

  They were expected to:

  • Provide comfortable conditions for people
  • Prepare food and herbal remedies
  • Grow plants known for their healing properties [like marigolds and clovers]
• What were the positives and negatives of hospital care?

  Positive: Some remedies prevented pain

  Negative: Not all remedies were successful
• What was the role of a Physician?

  Their role was to diagnose illness and recommend a treatment
• How would a Physician recommend treatment?

  They followed three stages:

  1. The physician looks at samples of the patient's urine, poo and blood
  2. Observed astrological charts for when the patient was born and fell ill
  3. Consider the balance of the patient's humours
• Why couldn't physicians bleed patients?

  Most of them worked for the church, so they got cheaper and less trained people to bleed patients