Medieval Medicine Flashcards
1
Q
What time period is medieval medicine?
A
1250 - 1500 (13th cenury - 16th century)
2
Q
Medieval
What are the theories of the causes of disease?
A
- Miasma
- Supernatural / astrology
- Religion
- The four humours
3
Q
Medieval
What is miasma?
A
- Bad air believed to be filled with harmful fumes.
- Associated with God.
- Hippocrates and Galen both wrote about it.
4
Q
Medieval
What is supernatural / astrology?
A
- Considered impact of stars and planet on disease.
- Influence of Hippocrates.
- Helped diagnose diseases.
- Became more popular because of the Black Death because the Chou arch became more accepting.
- Physicians used star charts to help identify what was wrong.
- Used when people were born and fell ill to help know what was wrong.
5
Q
Medieval
What are the four humours?
A
- Universe made of four elements
- Made up of: - Blood
- Yellow bile
- Phlem
- Black bile - Created by Hippocrates in the 5th century BCE.
- Galen helped develop this idea further, after it was created.
- The church thought this idea “worked” therefore Hippocrates and Galens ideas remained throughout the medieval period.
6
Q
Medieval
Why did many people believe religion caused diseases?
A
- Most people were unable to read and learned from paintings and stories.
- Many paintings showed that when people committed sin they would be punished by God and fall ill.
- They believed the devil would send the diseases to test someone’s faith.
- When people recovered the Church would declare a miracle had happened because the patients prayed.
- Many of the other ideas about causes of disease were believed to be linked to God.
7
Q
Medieval
Why did not much change about medicine in the medieval period?
A
- (Religion) The church was very influential and most people were religious and followed the Church’s ideas.
- (Science and technology) There was a lack of technology. The printing press was invented during this period so there wasn’t many printing presses so not many people could print books or buy books. Books were handwritten so were slow to produce and spread this also made them expensive.
- (Seeking improvement) Few people wanted to challenge the traditional ideas about what caused disease.
- (Seeking improvement) People who did challenge the traditional ideas about what caused disease were ignored.
- (Respect for tradition + Individuals - Galen + Hippocrates) Very few people questioned the way things were done, if Hippocrates and Galens ideas had “worked” for thousands of years why change them.
8
Q
Medieval
Where would you go for help with your disease?
A
- Wives, mothers and midwives
- Hospitals
- Physicians
- Barber Surheons
- Apothecaries
9
Q
Medieval
Why would you go to wives, mothers and midwives for help when you have a disease?
A
- They would give you herbal remedies - They know a wide range of them.
- They treated most illnesses.
- In some towns midwives were apprenticed, had licenses and were payed.
- Women would qualify a surgeons by working as apprentices, but they were not allowed to become physicians.
10
Q
Medieval
Why would you go to hospitals for help when you have a disease?
A
- The first hospitals appeared in towns in the eleventh century.
- They mostly acted like care homes, looking after older people who couldn’t look after themselves.
- Provided warmth, food and prayers.
- Run by monks.
- Rarely admitted sick - because it could spread infection.
- By 1400 there were over 500.
- From the 13th century local guilds set up small ones.
11
Q
Medieval
Why would you go to physicians for help when you have a disease?
A
- They trained at universities for 7 years.
- Fewer than 100 in England in 1300.
- Only rich could afford.
- Use star signs and astrology to diagnose and treat people.
12
Q
Medieval
Why would you go to barber surgeons for help when you have a disease?
A
- Didn’t go to university.
- Trained as apprentices.
- Improved their skills by reading books on surgery and practise.
- Basic surgery e.g. bleeding, removing surface tumours, sewing up wounds and making splints.
- Not effective anaesthetics.
- People who are barbers who cut hair.
13
Q
Medieval
Why would you go to apothecaries for help when you have a disease?
A
- Mixed ingredients to make ointments and medicines for physicians.
- Learned from other apothecaries.
- Made their own medicines to sell to the sick.
14
Q
Medieval
What did people do to prevent disease?
A
- Herbal remedies.
- Prayers, magic and folk lore.
- Bleeding to rebalance the humours.
- Surgery.
15
Q
Medieval
Herbal remedies
A
- Many ingredients added to these to attack bacteria.
- Most common ones made from plants.
16
Q
Medieval
Prayers, magic, folk lore
A
- Often prayers were said whilst making remedies or treating the sick.
17
Q
Medieval
Bleeding to rebalance the humours
A
- A popular treatment as it was believed that an imbalance of humours would create illness and disease.
18
Q
Medieval
Surgery
A
- Surgeons used diagrams such as the ‘wound man’ to help them deal with different wounds.
- Could not be complex.
- Did not know much
19
Q
Medieval
Public health
A
- Most towns were unhealthy.
- Not on high agenda for most town councils.
- Towns id not have sewage systems.
- Didn’t have supplies of fresh water.
20
Q
Medieval
The Black Death
A
- Many people believed it was a punishment from God.
- To stop the plague spreading many people plead for forgiveness (services we ordered for people to do this).
- Bad air was believed to cause it. King Edward ordered the street to be cleaned. To prevent the spread people lit fires to over power the bad air and carried sweet-smelling herbs. They kept air moving by ringing bells or birds to flay around the house. Rakers employed to clear the streets.
- People believed God controlled the planets. Only praying to prevent this.
- Physicians wrote if people had evil humours that they would be killed by the plague. To prevent this they cut open the buboes to let pus out. Made people bleed and purge. Given cold food to treat their fever - theory of the opposites.
