Medicine Stands Still-Disease and the Supernatural Flashcards
What was disease thought to be caused by?
Supernatural
Between what years was medieval England?
1000-1500
What was the key problem with disease in the medieval times?
Lack of understanding of the causes of disease
What did many people believe disease was?
A punishment from God for people’s sins
Why did they think disease existed?
To show them the error of their ways and to make them better people
Considering the reasoning they had behind why disease existed, what did they believe was the cure to disease?
Prayer and repentance
What other supernatural being was thought to be the cause of disease?
Evil supernatural beings, like demons and witches
Since it was believed that witches where behind outbreaks of disease, what happened to many people?
Tried as witches and executed
Within the body, and a supernatural cause, what else could have caused disease?
Evil spirits living inside someone
Since evil spirits living within the body were believed to be a supernatural cause of disease, what was done?
members of church performed exorcisms using chants to remove spirit
What institution had a big influence on medieval medicine?
Church
What church was an extremely powerful organisation in medieval Europe?
Roman Catholic Church
The church encouraged people to believe disease was a punishment from God, instead of?
Natural causes
Since the church encouraged disease to be a punishment from God, what was prevented?
trying to find cures for disease because they believed all you could do was pray and repent.
Whose works did the church make sure that the scholars of medicine learnt?
Galen
Why did the church make sure the works of galen were followed by scholars of medicine?
His ideas fit christian belief that God created human bodies and made them to be perfect.
Also stopped people from disagreeing with Galen
What did the Church outlaw?
Dissection
Since dissection was outlawed, what did this mean medieval doctors could not do?
Discover ideas about human anatomy for themselves
Since doctors couldnt perform dissections, what did they have to do instead?
Learn galen’s incorrect ideas
The churchs influence over medieval medicine meant that there was very little change in ideas about the cause of disease until what period?
The Renaissance
why were people unable to question the church?
Their messages were so influential
What other cause was used to diagnose diseases? (HINT: stars)
Astrology
What is the idea behind astrology?
The movements of the planets and stars have an effect on the Earth and on people
What did astrologers in medieval england believe caused diseases?
The movements of planets and stars