Medieval Medicine (1250-1500)

Question 1

CAUSE:
Medieval people believed illness was CAUSED by what 4 things?

Answer 1

God
Bad air (miasma)
Four humours
Planets and stars

Question 2

TREATMENT:
Medieval people tried to cure illness by using what 4 TREATMENT?

Answer 2

Herbal remedies
Prayer
Bleeding and purging
rest, exercise and diet

Question 3

PREVENTION:
Medieval people tried to PREVENT illness by what 4 things?

Answer 3

God - prayer, pilgrimage
Bad air - occasional orders to keep streets clear of waste, carry herbs
4 humours - regular bleeding and purging
Healthy lifestyle - encouraged rich to clean teeth, wash, exercise, fresh air

Question 4

INDIVIDUALS:
Name the Greek doctor was nicknamed the father of medicine?

Answer 4

Hippocrates

Question 5

INDIVIDUALS:
Name the Roman doctor who wrote over 350 books influenced thinking in the Medieval times?

Answer 5

Galen

Question 6

CASE STUDY:
What is the case study we focus on in the Medieval period AND when did it arrive in Britain?

Answer 6

Black death - 1348

Question 7

CAUSE:
Many still believed with ancient ideas of Hippocrates and Galen, that illness was caused by an imbalance in the 4 humours - name these 4 liquids

Answer 7

Black bile
Blood
Phlegm
Yellow Bile

Question 8

PROGRESS:
Give 4 reasons why there was very little medical progress in the Medieval period (1250-1500).

Answer 8

Church control - you only get into heaven if you follow the rules and don’t ask questions

Communication - books were copied by hand by monks so were typically only religious

Education - most people were illiterate peasant farmers, not taught to challenge and question, those who were educated were taught to follow the ancient ideas of Galen and Hippocrates

Government - the government believed their role was “wars and laws” not welfare

Question 9

CASE STUDY:
What percentage of the population died from the Black Death?

Answer 9

40%

Question 10

CASE STUDY:
Black death - give 3 causes and there relative treatments

Answer 10

Punishment from God: treatment = prayer, gifts to the church, flagellation (whipping), pilgrimages

Bad air: treatment = carrying sweet herbs, birds in home to flap air away, ringing bells, fires

Four humours: treatment = bleeding, purging, Galen’s treatment by opposites

Question 11

TREATMENT:
Name the four different roles who provided treatment in the medieval period and a fact for each

Answer 11

Physician - only for the rich - 7 years at university - cause and treatment based on the 4 humours - only 100 in Britain in 1300

Barber Surgeon - trained through observation - did basic surgery

Apothecaries - mixed medicines

Herbal woman - provided herbal remedies to the poor - 1/3 effective!

Question 12

SURGERY:
Give 4 reasons why so many died in surgery during the medieval period

Answer 12

Anaesthetic - no pain relief = shock
Infection - no understanding of germs = no antiseptics
Blood loss - operations had to be quick to prevent death from blood loss
Understanding - very little understanding of human anatomy - based largely from Galen’s 350 books which themselves were based on the anatomy of a pig

Question 13

TREATMENT:
What can you remember about hospitals in the Medieval period?

Answer 13

Run by monks

Rarely admitted the sick - fear of infection spreading

Primarily for old, homeless

500 small hospitals by 1400