Flashcard 1
How much scientific knowledge was there?
Limited / not much at all / for most people none
What organisation controlled ideas?
The Catholic Church
What did the Church teach?
God punished man for sins / the works of Galen were permissible (allowed)
What does the “Medical Renaissance” refer to?
When new ideas were slowly “breaking” old ideas
Why did the power of the Church gradually decline?
The authority of the Catholic Church was being challenged by Protestant Christians
What happened to new scientific ideas?
They were created, but it took a long time for them to spread and people to accept them
What did people believe you could do to encourage God to make you better?
I. Say special prayers and healing spells called incantations.
II.Go on religious journeys called pilgrimages and make sacrifices to God.
III.More extreme forms of treatment came in the form of flagellants, who would whip themselves publicly to say sorry for their sins / for angering God.
According to the Regimen Sanitatis, what did you need to do before washing yourself?
You should always pray before having a bath. They also advised to avoid stress and try to exercise.
What did people believe about the King’s role in being able to heal people?
The King could cure scrofula by touching the sick person with holy oil to make them better.
What were common herbal remedies and where could people read about them?
I.Aloe vera to aid digestion, as well as mint, chamomile, rose oil, almonds, saffron and absinth.
II.Books such as the Materia Medica (by the Roman Dioscorides) and Circa Instans (published in the 12th century) both recommended which herbs, spices and plants to use to treat illness.
III.Therica was the most popular remedy and was a mix of 70 herbs and spices.
Was regimen sanitatis as popular as it had been in Medieval times?
It was still used with cleanliness being considered important and both the home and body needing to be kept clean and free from bad smells. Bathing became a lot less fashionable in England following the spread of syphilis.
What new herbal treatments existed after global exploration?
I.Yellow herbs such as radish or saffron would be used to treat jaundice or smallpox (which has a red rash) would be treated with II.‘red cures’ – red wine, red foods and red clothes.
III.Coffee.
IV.Cinchona Bark from Peru.
What was medical chemistry / iatrochemistry?
Experiments with chemicals that could cure disease, which began in the 17th century. Chemicals such as mercury, antimony and arsenic.
Who was Andreas Vesalius and what did he do?
I.He carried out a large number of dissections to find out how the body worked and found about 300 mistakes in Galen’s works. He also encouraged other doctors to carry out dissections to advance their medical knowledge.
II.He published the correct structure of the human body in a book called “The Fabric of the Human Body”
