Medicine- Medieval Times Flashcards
What did the church say about illness in medieval times?
That disease was sent from God and it was a punishment for your sins
How did the church help with illness?
They handed out advise on what caused illness as well as how to prevent it.
What was the connection between disease and astrology in medieval times?
People used astrology and the presence of comets in the sky as explanation of disease.
Why did the theory of the four humors grow in popularity in the medieval times?
Because the church deemed it an official theory and Galen was considered a “physician of importance”
Which rational cures were linked to the four humors?
purging and vomiting
Why was the catholic church so powerful?
- there was no other church at the time
- there was no government
- due to the lack of education the church had the power the scare people into believing them
Were supernatural ideas more influential than rational ones
Yes, because the Church had the final say. Something to be aware of is though that the Church did not completely shy away from all rational thought. They allowed the continued belief in miasma and officially recognised the “correct and unchallengeable” (even though they would turn out to be drastically wrong) ideas of Galen and, by extension, Hippocrates.
what did people believe that keeping unclean (both home and yourself) would do?
Anger god making him send disease
what was the theory of miasma?
Belief that the air was filled with harmful fumes.
How was urine used to identify illness
Doctors would use urine charts to check the smell, taste and colour of urine to try to identify illness.
What was the theory of contagion?
People had hunches that diseases like leprosy, although “sent from God”, could be spread from person to person.
What did hippocrates promote
As a physician (doctor) he promoted the importance of closely observing a patient and making detailed notes of their conditions.
who was Galen and what did he do?
A Roman surgeon and Roman doctor. He developed the theory of the four humours to promote a rational treatment called the the Theory of Opposites. He felt that you could balance out the Humours by giving someone the opposite to their symptoms. For example, if someone had a cold, he would offer them advice to eat a hot pepper…
What was the role of physicians
Their main role was to diagnose patients but not get involved in actually treating the patient. Physicians would use urine charts, astrology charts and the time a patient was born to try to identify their illness.
What was the job of an apothecaries
to mix herbal remedies. They had a good knowledge of herbs thanks to training and good knowledge of the Materia Medica.
