Medieval Medicine 1250s - 1500s Flashcards
What period and century was the Medieval medicine?
1250s - 1500s (13th - 16th century)
During this time what were the four main theories that people thought caused illness?
Religious causes, astrology, miasma, 4 humours
What was the reason that religion was a cause of illness?
The church controlled medicine, the church taught people that if they commit a sin then God would make them ill as punishment.
What was the reason that Astrology caused illness?
They believed that alignment of stars and planets made them ill.
What was the reason that Miasma caused illness?
People believed that bad smelly air caused illness ( Miasma )
What were the reasons that the four humours caused illness?
If they were unbalanced then it would make them ill.
What are the four humours?
Blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile.
Who is Galen?
He is a physician, he developed the four humours further, created the Theory of opposites which was a treatment for the four humours being unbalanced, church supported his ideas because he believed in the idea of the soul.
What is the difference between treatment and prevention?
Treatment is giving / doing something to a patient to make someone better whereas prevention is taking / doing something to stop yourself getting an illness in the first place.
How did Medieval people attempt to treat illness?
Herbal remedies, purging bloodletting (cupping, cutting a vein, leeches)
How did Medieval people attempt to prevent illness?
The church, Purifying the air, Diet, Regimen sanitatis
What is Regimen Sanitas?
Rules for a healthy life in the Medieval period.
Who were the Medieval medics?
Physicians, Apothecary, Barber surgeon, Wise women
What were Medieval hospitals like?
Hospitals were attached to the church so that patients could be close to God whilst dying, hospitals were staffed by monks and nuns to give spiritual healing, patients would often share beds, anyone with an infectious disease would not be aloud in the hospital,
What is the Black Death?
The Black Death was sometimes referred to as a plague, it was a deadly virus that broke out in China and arrived in England in 1348, people rarely survived the plague and had caught it, there were 2 forms of the Black Death (Bubonic, most common) and (Pneumonic, less common but deadly)
