Medieval Medicine #2

Question 1

between which years did hippocrates live?

Answer 1

460 BC - 370 BC
(ancient greece)

Question 2

how did hippocrates contribute to the world of medicine? (3)

Answer 2

• he stressed the importance of observing his patients and taking notes of their symptoms
• treated the body as a whole and not individual parts
• developed the theory of the four humours

Question 3

between which years did galen live?

Answer 3

130 AD - 210 AD
(roman empire)

Question 4

how did galen contribute to the world of medicine? (3)

Answer 4

• he started dissecting animals to improve his understanding of the human body
• proved that the brain controlled the body and not the heart
• ideas were supported by the medieval christian church

Question 5

how did the christian church help the development of medieval medicine/hospitals? (3)

Answer 5

• between 1000 and 1500, more than 700 clean and quiet hospitals were set up
• the church founded many of these hospitals
• monks would preserve and study the teachings of galen and hippocrates

Question 6

how did the christian church hinder the development of medieval medicine/hospitals? (6)

Answer 6

• the church believed that illness was a punishment sent by God
• they thought that praying was the main way in which an illness could be gotten rid of and advised that this as a method of treatment should come before anything else
• hospitals set up by the church didn’t have a doctor but instead a chaplain and they were run by monks and nuns
• the church thought doctors weren’t there to heal but rather to predict illness and understand why God had sent it
• care not cure; curing someone of the illness that God had given them would be the equivalent of going against what he wants and that wasn’t acceptable
• you couldn’t challenge galen’s ideas

Question 7

what were the two main treatments a medieval doctor looked to?

Answer 7

1. the urine chart
   - a doctor or physician would look at the colour of the urine and compare it to the chart; sometimes he would smell it or taste it to help him decide what was wrong with the patient
2. the zodiac chart
   - told the doctors which body parts were connected to which astrological signs
   - sometimes, there would be guidance on the perfect time to give a patient the treatment and even on the perfect time to pick the herbs for the treatment
   - treatments that worked for an aries wouldn’t necessarily work for a scorpio