c.1250 - c.1500: Medicine in Medieval England Flashcards
Key causes of disease in Medieval times?
- God
- Imbalanced humours
- Miasma
- Astrology
How was the Church important during Medieval times?
Influential throughout Europe and managed the way people thought about different ideas, including medicine
- Did publish the Regimen Sanitatis that helped with cleanliness
How did the Church influence education?
- Made sure people learnt from Galen
- Outlawed dissection
Did the Church help change or continuity?
- Church was a reason for little change
- The Church was so influential that people were unable to question them
Why was outlawing dissection a reason for continuity?
- Doctors couldn’t discover ideas about anatomy for themselves
- They couldn’t check that what they had been taught was true
- They had to believe Galen’s ideas based on animal dissection
Why did the Church support Galen’s ideas?
- His ideas fit the belief that God created human bodies
What is astrology?
The idea that the movements of planets and stars have an effect on Earth and the people
How was astrology used for diagnosis?
- Doctors had a calendar called an almanac which had information about where stars and planets where and how this related to illnesses
How were star signs relevant?
- Different star signs were thought to affect different parts of the body
Who developed the Theory of the Four Humours?
Hippocrates
What were the four humours?
- blood
- phlegm
- yellow bile
- black bile
What did the Theory of the Four Humours say?
All the four humours had to stay balanced in order to stay in good health
What did Galen do?
- Developed the theory of the four humours
What did Galen’s theory say?
- Diseases could be treated using opposites
- Different foods, drinks, herbs, spices had a humour which could balance your own humours
Why did people believe the theory of the four humours?
- It was so old that people saw no reason to change
- It was easy to believe because people could see the effects
Why did people like the theory of the four humours and miasma?
- Gave people a rational theory
- Made people feel more in control against disease
What is the miasma theory?
- Bad air causes disease when inhale
Why were Galen’s ideas about anatomy wrong?
He only dissected animals
Give an example to the theory of opposites?
Someone with a cold, producing lots of phlegm might be encouraged to have wine, chicken or pepper which were considered hot and dry humours
How did people treat disease if they thought it was a punishment from God?
- Prayer
- Pilgrimages
- Flagellation