✏️IDEA medieval Flashcards
Medieval beliefs about the causes of illness and treatments
Who provided medical treatment and what treatments were they providing?
What did medieval people think was causing illness?
How were medieval doctors trained?
What issues were caused by the teaching that medieval doctors received?
Barber surgeons- towns bloodletting, teeth pulling minor surgery
Physicians- treatments based on Galen and Hippocrates
Herbalists, apothecaries- providing cures
Wise woman- herbal cures and midwife
Medieval hospitals care for patients: praying and keeping them clean, not curing them.
4 humours out of balance
God sending illness
Bad smells
Curse- superstition
Medical universities, lectures from professors- reading from Islamic Hippocrates and Galen transcripts.
Theory based- no practicals, never see patients, can’t question Galen, urine samples + astrology charts. In 13th century there was a small amount of watching human dissection.
Can’t question Galen- limiting progress
200BC- Galen. 400BC Hippocrates : 1500 years of using same ideas- old ideas.
Islamic influence
When was the Islamic empire in place and what beliefs did it hold about medicine and hospitals?
Why did Islamic culture encourage an interest in medicine?
Why was Islamic culture’s interest in the ideas of Galen and Hippocrates important for medieval knowledge?
How did Islamic medical ideas spread to Europe in medieval times?
Late 8th century (700). Believes in cures for everything. Liked Hippocrates (observation) ideas + Galen’s dissecting animals. Hospitals tried to cure people.
Islam’s caliph encouraged an interest in medicine. Islam was a peaceful and stable society so could focus on cures. Muhammad’s teachings encouraged Islam to love learning and that there’s a cure for everything.
Roman Empire fell and left countries they invaded so Europe went through the dark ages but Islam kept ideas of Hippocrates and Galen alive through the dark ages and into medieval times. Cannon of medicine- Avi Cenna.
Trading boats in Islam - Constantine of Africa- taken into Europe in 1065 + translated to European languages. Taught in university of Padua.
Barber surgeons
Name 3
What 3 problems were associated with problems in surgery?
How did each of your named surgeons contribute to overcoming one of the problems of surgery?
How widely accepted were each of the barber surgeons ideas?
Hugh of Luca, Guy de Chauliac, Mondino de Luzzi, John of Arderne
Pain, infection (open wound after operation), blood (stopping loss of blood)
Hugh of Luca- used wine to reduce chance of infection.
Mondino de Luzzi- wrote book ‘Aanathamia’ which used as basic barber surgeons book.
Guy de Chauliac- text book ‘great surgery’ based on Islamic ideas e.g. Al Bucasi who invented ligatures + cauterisation.
Guy de Chauliac made sure Hugh of Lucas ideas weren’t accepted.
Guy de Chauliac’s ideas were very well accepted because they match Greek and Islamic ideas- Galen and the church.
Monasteries
What features of monasteries were designed to keep monasteries healthy?
Where had monasteries got their ideas from about the importance of cleanliness?
Why were monasteries more likely to be healthier than towns based on resources and location?
How/why might monastic ideas about cleanliness influence other sections of medieval section?
Pipes to deliver water to wash basins (lavers). Filtering systems to remove impurities by allowing dirt to settle out of water. Waste water from lavatorium was emptied into river. Toilet waste used as manure. Cesspit flushed clear by diverting river through them e.g. West Minster Abbey.
They were educated and had books to learn the ancient idea of a moderate diet, sleep and exercise to balance the 4 humours.
The early 13th century guide to monastic life stated ‘filth was never dear to god’ so monks had baths and washed their clothes. They learned that basic sanitation was to separate clean water from wash + toilet water.
They were built long distances from towns- the isolation protected them from epidemics like the Plague. Their toilet/ wash waste being separated from clean water meant they had less chance of catching disease. Waste was washed away by the river which prevented an overflow and spread of disease.
Medieval people looked up to the church and God and would give money and valuables to the church in return for being prayed for. Because everyone was religious, they looked up to the monks clean lifestyle which was approved by God.
Towns
What measures did town authorities take to improve public health in towns?
What were the public health problems in towns?
What aspects of improvements would have had a beneficial affect and why?
How does Coventry show active intervention by town authorities, therefore proving that medieval people recognised the importance of keeping towns clean?
They thought disease was spread by miasma (bad air) so had sweet smelling posey to prevent smelling the butchers blood+ guts. In Worcester law of 1466 said blood of butchered animals had to be carried away the same night. Encouraged people to keep the streets in front of houses clean. People living next to streams built latrines over streams + toilets were emptied regularly.
Water wells and cesspools got built too close together, water from river contaminated with toilet waste. If it doesn’t rain for weeks, rubbish accumulates in the streets, cess pits could overflow. Shop keepers don’t throw rotten food away and rubbish attracts rodents spreading disease.
Keeping streets clean would prevent attraction of rodents and animals which carry fleas which carry disease - prevent spread of disease. Emptying toilets would stop accumulation of faeces that could overflow into towns and spread disease.
In Coventry mayors proclamation required everyone to clean outside their house every Saturday or pay a 12 penny fine. The waste was sold to nearby farmers and waste disposal locations were made around the perimeter of the town. In 1421 latrines over Red Ditch were removed + stop throwing waste into the river.
Hippocrates and Galen
When were Hippocrates and Galen alive and what beliefs did they hold about medicine?
How did Hippocrates and Galen gain their knowledge and ideas?
Why were Hippocratic ideas accepted by Islamic culture and Galen’s ideas accepted by the church?
How did Islamic cultures acceptance of hippocratic ideas further the development of medical knowledge?
How did acceptance of Galen’s ideas hold back development of medical knowledge?
Alive during Ancient Greek time. Believed in the 4 humours being out of balance made people ill. Galen dissected animals. Their knowledge was inaccurate.
From dissecting animals. Galen worked as a doctor in a gladiator school where his knowledge and techniques developed.
Galen- the church decided his ideas fit with the Christian ideas. He also referred to ‘the creator’ which linked with the Christian belief of there being one god. Doctors believed his ideas were impossible to improve.
Hippocrates- the Islamic religion encouraged medical learning because ‘for every disease, Allah has given a cure’ .Hippocrates believed in the importance of observation.
Al-Razi, a Muslim doctor, stressed for the need of careful observation of a patient. He also believed that students should improve on the work of their teacher. Ibn al-Nafis thought Galen was wrong about how the heart worked = Islam was ahead of the west in the development of medicine.
Galen- it was illegal to question Galen despite his ideas being wrong which hindered the development of medicine.
4 humours
What was it?
Which ancient doctors believed and promoted the theory of the 4 humours?
How did Islamic culture help the theory survive into medieval times?
What does the survival of the theory of the 4 humours into medieval times show about a lack of development in medical knowledge?
Blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm needed to be balanced for you to be healthy.
Hippocrates and Galen
The Islamic Caliph’s library preserved hundreds of Ancient Greek medical books by Hippocrates and Galen. The books were translated to Latin and reached England through trade.
It was illegal to question Galen so all the doctors continued to be taught that the four humours being balanced was a correct way to treat people. This meant a lack of development in medical knowledge because universities didn’t teach anything else and people didn’t want to break the law of going against Galen.
Christian church
What did church believe about Galen, dissection and hospitals?
Why did church accept Galen’s ideas? Why wouldn’t they allow dissection?
Why did the nature of medieval Christian hospitals hold back medicine?
How did a lack of dissection and unquestioning support Galen’s ideas hold back medicine?
Galen’s ideas fit with Christian ideas and it was illegal to question him.
Dissection wasn’t allowed.
Hospitals were a place to care for and pray for patients but they didn’t try to cure them.
Galen refers to ‘the creator’ in his texts meaning he believes in a singular god and the church decided his ideas fit with Christian ideas.
Dissection wasn’t allowed because it was seen as a sin hence why Galen dissected animals and why no one could prove him wrong by dissection.
Christians believed it went against gods will to try to cure the patient so they just cared and prayed for them. The church was very influential and believed in miraculous recovery which meant no one was looking for cures for illnesses which held back the development of medicine.
Meant no one was willing to dissect to see whether Galen’s ideas about the anatomy were correct so people were treated incorrectly.
No one was willing to find cures for diseases as it went against Gods will.
Black Death
When did it happen and what was it?
What did medieval people think caused the Black Death?
How was the widespread nature of the Black Death a consequence of poor public health in towns?
What were the consequences of the Black Death?
Began in Asia and arrives in England in 1348.
It was a medieval epidemic that killed 1.5 million people in Britain 1348-1350 and was a combination of the bubonic (spread by rats + fleas) and the pneumonic plague (spread by coughing + attacked lungs).
Position of stars and planets
Punishment from god
Bad air
Wells poisoned by Jews
Unhygienic habits + poor street cleaning encouraging rats to breed
Animals dug up quickly buried victims’ bodies
Laws on cleanliness were hard to enforce
Quarantining victims was attempted but wasn’t effective on infected villages.
Ignorance of germs
Political impact- Peasants revolt 1381 demands for higher wages + weakening of feudal system.
Religious impact- damage to Catholic Church because experienced priests died or ran away.
Economic impact- food shortages: prices of food went up. Landowners switched to sheep farming. Farm workers demand higher pay + less willing to be tied to land + weakening of feudal system.
