Medieval Britain c.1250 - 1500 Flashcards
What medical ideas from the ancient world did people use in medieval times?
Four Humours
God - praying - being visited by Gods
What power did the catholic church have over peoples lives in c.1250?
Complete power
Catholic was the only church
It was dominant - people depended on it
Why did people believe God caused illness?
As punishment for sin
Punishment for not keeping clean
How did people think illness linked to astrology?
If the planets were aligned
If there were comets in the sky
How did people use astrology to diagnose illness?
Star signs to determine disease/illness
How did people think the four humours could make you sick?
If they were unbalenced
What illnesses were connected to which humours?
phlegmatic - when you had too much phlem
How did people use urine charts to diagnose illness?
Check smell and taste and use the colour
How did people think miasma could make you sick?
Delivered disease through the air
What did people believe you could do to encourage God to make you better?
Repent and go on a pilgrimage
According to the Regimen Sanitatis, what did you need to do before washing yourself?
Pray
What did people believe about the king’s role in being able to heal people?
That he would be able to heal you by touching you
What humoural treatments existed?
The theory of opposites
What were common herbal remedies and where could people read about them?
Materia Medica
600 plants, trees, minerals, essences and balms
What job did an apothecary have?
Provide people with herbal remedies
What was a barber surgeon?
They cut hair and perform surgery
How safe and professional was surgery?
Not safe an professional was surgery
Where were most hospitals based?
In churches
What sort of care did you get in hospitals?
Looked after but rarely treated
Who was turned away from hospitals?
Pregnant ladies and insane people
What was the role of Monks and Nuns in hospitals?
Acted as nurses
What was the general condition of a town during medieval times?
Unsanitary
What laws and when did the government pass to try to clean up towns?
Public Health Laws -
First - 1848
Second - 1875
What was the black death?
An outbreak of bubonic plague that killed a third of the English population between 1348-50.
What did people think caused the black death?
God
An unusual positioning of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn
Impure air - miasma - that corrupted the body’s humours.
The Jewish population.
What was done to try to prevent and treat black death?
Treatments-
No treatment - it was God’s will, you just had to suffer.
Bleeding and purging - but it made people worse
Lighting a fire and boiling vinegar - purify the air.
Trying a mix of herbs and herbal remedies
Preventions- Pray to God and fast Show God you were sorry - self-flagellation (whipping yourself). Run away to fresh air. Avoid family members with the illness.
