Britain: Health and the People, Medicine stands still + Renaissance impact in Britain Flashcards
When was the Medieval period (Middle Ages)?
AD 500 - 1500
What sections can the Middle Ages be divided into?
Early Middle Ages, High Middle Ages, Late Middle Ages
What people could you go to in Medieval England for treatment?
Local wise woman, barber-surgeon, university-trained doctor (expensive), markets and fair individuals, local monastery or parish priest
How did Medieval doctors produce a diagnosis of disease for a patient?
Took pulse, noted colour, smell and taste of urine
What were natural treatments a Medieval doctor might give?
Bloodletting by opening vein or using leeches, giving something to make you vomit or go to the toilet
What were supernatural treatments a Medieval doctor might give?
Prayers, charms and astrology
What was the theory of the four humours?
Medical theory stating there were 4 humours in person’s body, became sick when humours were out of balance, doctor needed to restore balance
What were the four elements and which humour did they show themselves in according to the theory of the four humours?
Fire - Yellow bile; Earth - Black bile; Water - Phlegm; Air - Blood
How long could it take to qualify as a Medieval doctor, and where might you study?
At least 7 years of study at university like Oxford or Cambridge
Where did Medieval doctors get their medical knowledge from?
Treatments of Hippocrates and Galen, medical knowledge from Muslim, Indian and Chinese worlds, studied British medical textbooks
When was Comendium Medicine written and by who?
Gilbert Eagle in c1230
What treatments did the wise people of villages offer?
Mixture of natural herbal remedies, first aid and supernatural cures
What was Leech book of Bald and when was it written?
Anglo-Saxon manuscript written in 950
What treatments would people in markets and fairs offer?
Herbal potions, pull teeth, mend dislocated limbs, set a fracture in splints
Who did people often pray to to help cure illness and how?
Prayers often made to Christian saints said to cure specific ailments
What responses did the Christian Church give to the sick?
Important to care for patient, not cure them; prayers; pilgrimages to shrines with body parts of holy people; traditional medical knowledge of Ancient World, Hippocrates and Galen
How many hospitals were started in England between 1000 and 1500?
More than 700
How were hospitals financed?
Depended on charity for money, mainly financed by Christian Church or by wealthy patron
What were different types of Medieval hospitals?
Hospitals or asylums for mentally ill, monasteries had infirmaries (small dormitory wards), few large hospitals, Lazar houses dealt with leprosy
By 1370, how many people could St Leonard’s look after?
over 200
When did the training of doctors begin in Europe?
After 1200
Who was Roger Bacon?
A 13th-century English monk
Who was Faritius?
11th-century doctor and abbot of Abingdon
When was the height of Islam’s culture and learning?
c750 - 1050
When was the reign of Caliph Harun al-Rashid?
786 - 809
What was the capital of the Islamic Empire?
Baghdad
When was the reign of Caliph al-Mamun?
813 - 833
What happened to Baghdad under the reign of Caliph Harun al-Rashid?
Baghdad became centre for translation of Greek manuscripts into Arabic
What did the Caliph’s library in the Islamic Empire do?
Caliph’s library preserved hundreds of ancient Greek medical books by Hippocrates and Galen
What was “The House of Wisdom” and who developed it?
Developed from Caliph’s library under Caliph al-Mamun, world’s largest library at the time, study centre for scholars
What did Caliph al-Rashid do in 805?
Established a major new hospital in Baghdad with medical school and library
What were bimaristans?
Hospitals build in many Islamic cities to provide medical treatment for everyone, doctors permanently presents, students trained alongside them
Who was Constantine the African?
Latin translator, through whom discoveries of Rhazes, Avicenna and ancient medical knowledge came to Europe
When did Constantine the African arrive in Italy?
Around 1065
Who developed the first Latin translation of Avicenna’s book, Canon of Medicine?
Gerard of Cremona, Italian translator
What were the best places to study medicine in Medieval Europe?
Universities in Padua and Bologna
When was Rhazes (Al-Razi) born and when did he die?
Born c865 and died c925
How many books did Rhazes (Al-Razi) write?
Over 150
Who wrote the book Doubts about Galen?
Rhazes (Al-Razi)
When was Avicenna (Ibn Sina) born and when did he die?
Born 980 and died 1037
What was Canon of Medicine and who wrote it?
Encyclopaedia of medicine, written by Avicenna (Ibn Sina)
What did Canon of Medicine contain?
Comprised over a million words, covered whole of ancient Greek and Islamic medical knowledge at time, listed medical properties of 760 different drugs, chapters on medical problems like anorexia and obesity
Until when was Canon of Medicine the standard European medical textbook used to teach doctors in the West?
Until 17th century
When was Ibn al-Nafis born and when did he die?
Born 1213 and died 1288
Where was Ibn al-Nafis born?
Damascus
What did Ibn al-Nafis do?
First to describe how blood circulated around body through lungs, concluded Galen was wrong about blood movement, wrote about many medical topics including eye diseases and diet
Until when did Europe accept Galen’s mistake about blood movement?
Until the 17th century
What were the risks and problems of Medieval surgery?
No idea dirt carried disease, some surgeons believed pus in wounds was good, operations done without effective painkillers, couldn’t help patients with deep wounds
How did surgeons learn their skill?
Apprenticed to another surgeon, watched and learned from them; learned on battlefield in war
What were some Medieval surgical operations?
Bloodletting, tooth extraction, amputation, trepanning
When was amputation successful in Medieval times?
Cases of breast cancer, bladder stones and haemorrhoids
What natural substances were used as anaesthetics in Medieval times?
Mandrake root, opium and hemlock
What was trepanning?
The process of drilling holes into the head
What was cauterisation?
Method of burning wound to stop flow of blood, usually with heated iron
What tools would a surgeon have?
Saws for amputation, arrow pullers, cautery irons and bloodletting knives
Who is considered the “father of modern surgery”?
Abulcasis
What did Abulcasis do?
Wrote 30-volume medical book, Al Tasrif, in 1000; invented 26 new instruments, describes many new procedures; popularised cauterisation
What did Roger Frugardi of Salerno do?
Wrote widely-used surgical textbook The Practice of Surgery in 1180; Frugardi warned against trepanning; tried ambitious chest operations; attempted to remove bladder stones
What did Hugh of Lucca and his son Theodoric do?
Famous surgeons worked at Bologna University; wrote book in 1267 criticising common view pus needed for wound to heal; used wine on wounds to reduce infection chances; had new methods of removing arrows
What did professor Mondino de Luzzi do?
Supervised public dissection in Bologna in 1315; wrote book Anathomia in 1316, became standard dissection manual for over 200 years
What did French surgeon Guy de Chauliac do?
French surgeon, famous textbook Great Surgery (1363) dominated English and French surgical knowledge for 200 years, book referenced Greek and Islamic writers, quoted Galen about 890 times, disliked Theodoric of Lucca’s ideas, main reason they didn’t catch on
What did John of Arderne do?
Most famous surgeon in Medieval England, surgical manual Practica (1376) contained illustrations; used opium and henbane to dull pain; charged large fee for operation to treat anal abscess; formed work association called The Guild of Surgeons within the City of London in 1368 to separate surgeons from lower-class barbers
What were the main factors behind poor public health in towns in the Medieval period?
Waste and sewage dumped into rivers and streams used to drink; waste and rubbish dumped onto street, cesspits sewage seeped into rivers and wells and cesspits overflew in downpour; no knowledge of germs and cause of disease; businesses dumping out waste
What was a privy?
A toilet located in a small shed outside a house or building
What was a cesspit?
A pit for the disposal of liquid waste and sewage
Who were gong farmers?
People who cleaned out privies or cesspits in Medieval times
Where did most people get their water from in Medieval towns?
Local springs, wells or rivers
What were the main factors promoting better public health in Medieval towns?
Pipe systems used to supply water; money left in wills to build public privies; wealthy had streets outside cleaned and private privies; local craft guilds regulated the health issues tradesmen caused; councils and government passed laws trying to keep town clean
What happened in 1298 relating to Medieval public health?
King Edward I complained unhygienic conditions in York danger to soldiers preparing for invasion, council ordered building of public latrines
What happened in 1330 relating to Medieval public health?
Glamorgan council passed laws to stop butchers throwing animal remains into High Street, ordered nobody should throw waste onto streets or close to town gates
What happened in 1371 relating to Medieval public health?
London mayors and councillors prohibit killing of large animals within city walls to make city healthier
What happened in 1374 relating to Medieval public health?
London local council gave up trying to control building and sewage disposal over Walbrook stream, instead making householders using stream pay a fee to have it cleaned each year
What happened in 1388 relating to Medieval public health?
Parliament passed law fining people £20 for throwing “dung garbage and entrails” into ditches, ponds and rivers, but difficult to enforce and catch violators
Where was public health bad in Medieval times?
Medieval towns
Where was public health better in Medieval times?
Houses of wealthy families, religious buildings like monasteries, abbeys and nunneries
What were the main factors which contributed to better public health in Medieval monasteries and abbeys?
Wealth (paid for health facilities); good health facilities; isolation; monks’ knowledge; monks’ discipline
What were good health facilities in Medieval monasteries and abbeys?
Elaborate pipe systems; filtering systems; lavatoriums; privies; bathhouses; infirmaries
What contributed to the wealth of Medieval monasteries and abbeys?
People giving money, valuables and lands in exchange for prayers; money from wool production
What was a lavatorium?
Communal washing area for monks where waste water could be emptied into a river
How did monks’ discipline and routines contribute to better public health in Medieval monasteries and abbeys?
Monks ordered to use baths; (probably celibacy); washed clothes regularly and bodies
How did monks’ medical knowledge contribute to better public health in Medieval monasteries and abbeys?
Access to medical books and manuscripts in monastic libraries; trained in use of herbs for healing in infirmaries; books explained ancient Roman medical ideas (moderate diet, sleep exercise and separate clean water from wastewater)
What were some reasons as to why Medieval monasteries and abbeys were so isolated?
Christian Church believed lay people sinful so monasteries build far from towns; land used for grazing sheep usually far from towns
When did the Black Death arrive in Constantinople?
1347
When did the Black Death arrive in England?
1348
How many people died in Britain of the Black Death?
At least 1.5 million people
What was the Black Death and its symptoms?
Epidemic disease, combination of bubonic and pneumonic plagues
What was the bubonic plague, how did it spread and what were its symptoms?
bubonic plague spread by fleas, buboes or lumps found on person’s groin, neck and armpits, oozed pus and bled when opened, high fever and vomiting of blood followed
What was the pneumonic plague, how did it spread and what were its symptoms?
Deadlier than bubonic plague, infected lungs, spread by contact with victim’s breath or blood, caused fever and coughing
When and why were Jews expelled from England?
King Edward I expelled all Jews from England in 1290
When did later outbreaks of the Black Death occur?
1361 - 1362, 1369, 1379 - 1383, 1389 - 1393,
How many people did the Black Death kill in 1603 and who?
38,000 Londoners
What did people think caused the Black Death?
Position of stars and planets, bad air, poisoning of wells by Jews, God’s punishment
What really caused the Black Death?
Mainly bubonic plague caused by bacteria Yersinia pestis, thrived in stomachs of fleas which lived on blood of rats, rats died of plague, fleas moved on to humans
What were factors which supported the spread of the Black Death?
Supported: crowded ports and towns, people lived close together, crude, shallow burials dug up by animals and parts spread around, filth littering streets encouraged rat breeding, rubbish and waste thrown into rivers and streets
What were factors which may have hindered the spread of the Black Death?
Local councils tried to quarantine infected places
When did the government of England introduce the Statute of Labourers?
1351
What minority groups were persecuted as people thought they caused the Black Death?
Jews, foreigners, beggars and lepers
What were the consequences of the Black Death?
Massive deaths; food shortages; feudal system weakened as peasants moved around to work for new lords; indirectly caused revolts and instability; Church weakened and reputation damaged
When did the Peasants’ Revolt occur?
1381
When and where did the Renaissance begin?
In the late 1400s in Florence
What was the Renaissance?
A period of history in which people began to question what they were told and experimented with new ideas across many fields
When was the printing press invented?
1451
What were some consequences of the Renaissance?
New lands; new ideas spread quickly; new style of art; new learning; new inventions
When was Andreas Vesalius born, and where, and when did he die?
Born in 1514 in Belgium; died in 1564
Where and by whom was Andreas Vesalius taught, and what was his life like before he published The Fabric of the Human Body?
Went to University of Paris, taught by Jacob Sylvius, became Professor of Surgery and University of Padua in Italy, did dissections of human body himself and realised mistakes in Galen’s writing, did dissections of animals to show how Galen got his knowledge from them instead of humans
When was The Fabric of the Human Body published and what was it?
Published in 1543, anatomy textbook which focused on different systems within body like skeleton, muscles, nerves, veins, digestion and reproduction
What was Compendiosa, who published it and when, and what was it based of?
Published by Italian printer Thomas Geminus; copied all of Vesalius’ illustrations and took text from French surgeon Henri de Mondeville’s 1312 book Surgery; 3 editions published 1545 and 1559
When was Galen born and when did he die?
Born in AD 131 and died in 201
What parts of human anatomy did Galen’s books often show accurate observations on?
Heart, kidney and nerve functions
Who were 16th-century anatomists who followed Vesalius’ approach regarding dissection?
Fabricius, Realdo Columbo, Fallopius
When was the Company of Barber-Surgeons formed, by whom, how, and what bodies did it have?
Henry VIII gave barber-surgeons charter in 1540 to form Company of Barber-Surgeons, granted 4 criminal corpses each year for public dissection
When was Ambroise Paré born and when did he die?
Born 1510 and died in 1590
What was Of Wounds in General, when was it published, what did it contain and who made it?
Influential book published in 1525 by Jean de Vigo, described standard way of dealing with gunshot wounds at time, recommended burning out wounds with boiling oil and smearing cream of rose oil, egg white and turpentine
How did Paré find a new, better way to treat gunshot wounds and when?
In 1537 during a French battle, when Paré ran out of oil, he only used cream of rose oil, egg white and turpentine without cauterising, wounds healed quickly
When did Ambroise Paré write a book about treating wounds in new and better ways?
1545
What did Paré do in regards to amputations?
Used ligatures (strings) instead of cauterising to stop bleeding, designed bec de corbin “crow’s beak clamp” to halt bleeding while blood vessel tied with ligature, moved on to designing and drawing false limbs for wounded soldiers
How did Ambroise Paré relate to Andreas Vesalius?
In Paré’s 1561 book Anatomie Universelle and book Works on Surgery published in 1575, included sections of Vesalius’ anatomy work and translated Vesalius’ writing from original Latin into French
How did Paré contribute to English medical progress?
English hand-written translation of Paré’s Works on Surgery given to library of Barber-Surgeons of London in 1591, printed in English in 1634
When was William Clowes born and when did he die?
Born in 1544 and died in 1604
What did Williams Clowes do and who was he?
16th century English surgeon to Queen Elizabeth I, admired Paré, gained medical experience from battlefield, carried many healing potions in chest, agreed with Paré gunshot wounds not poisonous, published book Proved Practice in 1588, acknowledged Paré as source for treatments of burns using onions in 1596
When was William Harvey born and when did he die?
Born in 1578 and died in 1657
Where and when did William Harvey study medicine and to whom did he become doctor?
Studied medicine at Cambridge and Padua; began work as St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London in 1609; became doctor to King Charles I in 1632
When did William Harvey talk about his theory of blood in a lecture and when did he publish it in a book, and which one?
Commented in a lecture in 1616, published De Motu Cordis in 1628
Where did William Harvey get his knowledge from?
Realdo Columbo, Fabricius, anatomists at Padua’s discoveries, dissection, observed hearts of cold-blooded animals, experiments involving pumping liquid through valves and worked out mathematically amount of blood for Galen’s theory
What things did William Harvey not know the answers to when he published De Motu Cordis?
Didn’t know why blood circulated, why blood in arteries different colour from blood in veins
What ideas was William Harvey challenging with his theory of blood?
Galen’s theory of blood being produced and used up; contemporary medical ideas based on balancing four humours, including bloodletting
What criticism did William Harvey face to his theory of blood and from who?
Critics called him mad; some doctors rejected ideas due to contradiction with Galen; French anatomist Jean Riolan, at University of Paris, called Harvey a “circulator”; Professor Caspar Hofmann in 1636 in Germany dismissed Harvey’s calculations as accountant’s trick
How was William Harvey’s ideas regarding blood useful?
Not immediately useful; modern medical treatments like blood tests (help diagnose diabetes or heart, kidney, liver disease), blood transfusions and heart transplants wouldn’t work unless blood circulation understood
