c1250-c1500: Approaches to treatment and prevention

Question 1

Treating disease - Religious and supernatural treatments

Answer 1

healing prayers and incantations
paying for a special mass to be said
fasting
pilgrimages

Question 2

Treating disease - Humoural treatments - Theory of Opposites

Answer 2

Galen proposed the Theory of Opposites, where a treatment which can balance the humours is given e.g. too much blood = hot, red skin (symptom of fever), so treatment = cucumber (cold and wet); too much phlegm = runny nose (symptom of cold), so treatment = chillies (hot and dry).

Question 3

Treating disease - Humoural treatments - Blood-letting

Answer 3

Believed that bleeding a patient would get rid of extra humours and rebalance them again.
It was carried out by barber surgeons and inexperienced people since it was a common treatment - many people died due to losing too much blood.

Question 4

Treating disease - Humoral treatments - Purging

Answer 4

Since humours were made up of food eaten, vomiting the food was a treatment to rebalance humours. Laxatives and enemas were common, including a mix of strong herbs and weak poisons.

Question 5

Treating disease - Herbal remedies

Answer 5

Sweet-smelling herbs were mixed to make concoctions or used in bath water since sweet smells were associated with purity (opposite of bad-smelling miasma).

Question 6

Preventing disease - Church

Answer 6

Leading a life free of sin was believed to be the best way of preventing disease. Prayers and confessions were encouraged.

Question 7

Preventing disease - Hygiene

Answer 7

The Regimen Sanitatis was a set of instructions provided by physicians to prevent disease. They encouraged regular bathing too, since cleanliness was next to godliness. Sweet-smelling herbs were scattered around around the house to keep them fresh.

Question 8

Preventing disease - Diet

Answer 8

Since the food eaten affected the balance of humours, a healthy diet was adviced. Overeating was also thought to lead to disease.

Question 9

Preventing disease - Purifying the air

Answer 9

Keeping the air pure by spreading sweet-smelling herbs was important since it kept the air free from miasma. Rotting corpses and smelly public toilets were cleaned often.

Question 10

Medical care - Physicians

Answer 10

Main role was to diagnose illness and recommend a course of treatment. Diagnosed by consulting star charts and urine charts, but did not carry out treatment themselves - were not allowed to bleed since they were clergymen.

Question 11

Medical care - Apothecaries

Answer 11

Mixed herbal remedies. Preferred over physicians since they were much cheaper. But, they also prescribed poison and gave charms to ward off evil spirits, making them unreliable.

Question 12

Medical care - Surgeons

Answer 12

Least qualified medical professionals. Performed small surgeries as well because of their experience and skill.

Question 13

Caring for the sick - Hospitals

Answer 13

Owned and run by Church - mainly monks and nuns. Funded by rich families. Focused more on care (clean bedding, healthy diets) rather than treatment, since holy men could not cut someone.

Question 14

Caring for the sick - Home

Answer 14

Most sick people were cared for at home by women. They made the patient comfortable and prepared restorative foods.