Brainscape Medicine Medieval and Renaissance Flashcards
What factor had the biggest influence on Medieval Medicine?
Catholic Church e.g. illness was punishment for sins, church schools educated people, monks copied out all texts, church hospitals and monasteries cared for the sick, church taught people not to question old texts (such as Galen’s books)
What were the Crusades (11th to 13th centuries) and how did they help Medieval Medicine?
Wars fought by European Christians against Muslims to retake Jerusalem. During the Crusades many Arabic books (such as Avicenna’s Canon) were brought back to Europe and translated into Latin spreading Islamic ideas as well as Greek and Roman.
What was the Hotel Dieu?
One of the first Catholic hospitals. Founded in Paris in 651. Monks and nuns provided medical care (prayer, food, rest and herbal treatments).
What was first built at Solerno, Italy in the Middle Ages?
A medical school which taught men and women about medicine, including the ideas of the Arabists.
Which Greek/Roman idea was further developed and used to treat disease through the Middle Ages?
The Four Humours, although it was now more complex taking in the seasons, the stars, food and clothing.
What was a Medieval urine chart?
Used by medieval doctors to diagnose illness. Colour and taste (yuk) were observed.
Medieval doctors were expensive, so who provided healthcare for ordinary people?
priests, monks, pilgrimages to Holy Shrines, apothecaries, wise-women, quacks (sold dodgy medical treatment)
Why weren’t medieval surgeons allowed to use the title ‘Dr.’?
Surgeons were not well respected. Many were barbers (barber surgeons) who used their equipment to pull teeth or remove growths.
What was ‘Wound Man’?
A diagram of a man with a series of common injuries/war wounds for surgeons to treat.
What types of pain relief (anaesthetic) were used in the 14th century?
Opium (from trade with India and China) and henbane (deadly nightshade). Often killed patients.
Give 4 public health problems in Medieval cities.
Cesspits for dumping human waste, open sewers, overcrowding, rats.
Why was it healthy to drink beer in the middle ages?
Boiling the brew sterilised the liquid. Healthier than the water.
Were there any medieval public health laws?
Some towns attempted to ‘clean up’ but there was little central organisation, tax revenue or understanding of the risks.
When did the Black Death arrive in Britain?
In 1348
What ACTUALLY caused the Black Death?
Fleas on Black rats spread the pasteurella pastis germ to humans
What is the difference between bubonic and pneumonic plague?
Bubonic was spread by fleas (through blood), pneumonic (like pneumonia) was spread by coughs and sneezes.
Name 3 symptoms of the bubonic plague.
headaches, fever, swellings (buboes) in the groin, armpits or neck, spasms, pain, smell
Give 3 different medieval treatments for the plague.
prayer, flagellants (whipped themselves), herbal remedies (e.g. mustard poultice), burst the buboes
Why was the death rate 50% amongst the church, but 33% for ordinary people?
people went to the churchmen for treatment and prayer
King Henry VIII founded an important medical training college in 1518. What was it?
The College of Physicians (now known as the Royal College of Physicians) which licensed doctors and set an oral exam.
What does Renaissance mean?
It literally means ‘Rebirth’ and is the name given to the 14th to 16th century.
How did the Renaissance develop medicine?
People studied the ancient ideas of the Greeks and Romans and then began to challenge them, coming up with new ideas about medicine and the anatomy.
When was the printing press invented by Guttenberg?
1454 (William Caxton set up the first British press in 1476)
In 1660 King Charles II created a scientific body, funded by the government and dedicated to new discoveries. What was it called?
The Royal Society
