Medieval 1250-1500

Question 1

What were Supernatural and Religious explanations of why disease happens?

Answer 1

God punishes sins.

Astrology - the alignment of Mars and Jupiter.

Question 2

What was the Theory of the Four Humours?

Answer 2

Blood, Phlegm, Yellow Bile and Black Bile.

Too much or too little of one humour causes mental or physical illness.

Question 3

What was the miasma theory?

Answer 3

The fumes given off of rotting matter / human waste causes illness.

Question 4

Why did Galen and Hippocrates have continuing influence in England?

Answer 4

The Catholic Church allowed the continuation of their medical textbooks.

Question 5

What religious action was taken to prevent and treat disease?

Answer 5

Pilgrimages and sacrifices.

Following the guidance of the Regimen Sanitatis.

Question 6

What was the purpose of bloodletting and purging?

Answer 6

Rebalancing the humours.

Question 7

Why was the air purified?

Answer 7

To remove miasma fumes and please God.

Question 8

What herbs and remedies were used to treat disease and illness?

Answer 8

Garlic / Onions : to settle stomachs.

Therica - a popular “catch all” mix of 70 herbs.

Materia Medica - a popular 12th century book of remedies

Question 9

What were new approaches to hospital care in the 1400s?

Answer 9

Hospitals were based in monasteries and were for rest.

Types of hospitals: for the poor, the sick, the infirm (disabled) and purely for prayer.

Question 10

What were traditions of care in the 1400s?

Answer 10

Monks and nuns were instructed to pray for you.

The normal medieval diet of bread and ale had apples and cheese added to it and sometimes fresh fish and vegetables.

The quality of care was better than the care you would receive at home.

Question 11

What was the role of a physician?

Answer 11

Physicians had to have a University degree and were regarded as medical experts. They would instruct doctors to carry out action linked to their diagnosis of a patient’s illness.

Question 12

What was the role of an apothecary?

Answer 12

To mix and recommend herbal remedies for patients.

Question 13

What was the role of a barber surgeon?

Answer 13

They were apprentice-trained surgeons / barbers who carried out invasive surgery: e.g. lancing boils.

The quality of their work improved throughout the 1400s because of a willingness to work for little money.

Question 14

What attempts were made to treat the Black Death?

Answer 14

In some cases, none. People believed it was God’s intention for the world to suffer.

Trying a mix of herbs and herbal remedies like myrrh and therica.

Bleeding the buboes that appeared on the skin.

Question 15

When did the Black Death/Bubonic Plague start and end?

Answer 15

1346-1352

Question 16

What attempts were made to stop the Black Death’s spread?

Answer 16

Praying and fasting.

Attempts to purify the air like lighting fires on street corners.

Due to the belief in bad air, the local authorities stopped cleaning the streets as they believed the foul stench of rubbish and rotting bodies would drive away the plague.

Eventually Quarantine laws were put in place after the outbreak had already started, where whole villages would shut themselves away. But these laws were not compulsory.

People would carry herbs and spices with them so that they were surrounded by good smells and good air.