c1250-c1500: Ideas about the cause of disease and illness

Question 1

Supernatural and religious explanations

Answer 1

The Church taught that those who committed a sin could be punished by god (the devil could send disease to test someone’s faith).
Astrology (the alignment of planets and stars) was important when physicians were diagnosing illnesses - they used star charts, along with urine charts.

Question 2

Theory of Four Humours - Hippocrates, Galen

Answer 2

Hippocrates developed the Theory of Four Humours, proposing that the imbalance of the four humours (blood, phlegm, black bile and choler) caused illness.
Galen added to the Theory of Four Humours by proposing the Theory of Opposites.
Impact - had a large impact (Church used his books since they agreed with his ideas about a soul, etc.)

Question 3

Miasma

Answer 3

Bad air filled with harmful fumes was thought to be the cause of illness.

Question 4

Influence of individuals and the Church

Answer 4

The Church controlled libraries and universities, so the books that scholars and physicians studied were of their choosing. They chose books which fit in with their religious views, like those of Galen and Hippocrates, who believed in the soul.

Question 5

Influence of science and technology

Answer 5

Since dissection was banned, attempts to disprove ideas was not possible, meaning people had to believe these were the causes of illness.
The printing press enabled faster sharing of information, but it did not have a big impact in the medieval period since there was no new knowledge to share.

Question 6

Influence of attitudes in society

Answer 6

Since many people had a strong belief in God, they did not want to risk going to hell by contradicting the Church’s teachings, so people were resistant to change and new ideas.