Medieval medicine Flashcards
What did medieval people believe caused illness?(5)
God, supernatural, bad smells, everyday life, the 4 humours
What was the 4 humours?
The Four Humours were: blood, yellow bile, phlegm and black bile
How did people think you got ill from the 4 humours?
When they were out of balance
What were popular treatments that were believed to work in the medieval age?
Bloodletting, Urine charts, Whipping, Purging
What was bloodletting?
This was when blood was removed by opening a vein or using leeches to suck the blood out
Why did people whip themselves?
As they would be punishing themselves for their sins, this would mean God wouldn’t have to punish them.
Why did people purge?
Cure is linked to the theory of the Four Humours, it was thought your humours were out of balance and one way of fixing this was to purge the excess humour.
Who would rich people go to see if they were ill?
Uni trained doctor who learned from Hippocrates and Galen
Why would people go to see priests if they were ill?
As some believed religion(sin) caused illness
Who is the 1st person a poor person would visit if they were ill?
A local ‘wise woman’
What did the ‘wise woman’ do?
She’d use herbs to produced homemade medicine, first aid and supernatural cures
Who were local class medical treaters?
Barber surgeons
What small surgical operations did barber surgeons do?
Bloodletting and tooth extraction
What was an apothecary?
Like a chemist, would give herbs
Who were Hippocrates and Galen?
Men who contributed towards western view of health and medicine
What did Hippocrates NOT believe?
That illness was caused by God or supernatural
What theory did Hippocrates develop?
4 humours
When was Hippocrates around?
Greek times - believed in Greek gods not Christian god
Who believed diet and rest was important for recovery?
Hippocrates
What was the ‘doctrine of signatures’?
It guided doctors on treatments
Made by Galen
States herbs resembling body parts can be used to treat those body parts
Successes of Hippocrates?
Taught importance of clinical observation
Didn’t believe God was cause of illness
His books were used to train doctors
His books provided 1st accounts of symptoms and treatments
Successes of Galen?
Influenced treatments in Britain until 1800s
Did first dissections (on animals)
Significance of Hippocrates and Galen?
Hippocrates taught importance of medical observation
Galen did first dissections (animals)
They wrote books which trained future doctors
Hippocrates didn’t believe God caused illness and Galen built on those ideas
What were Galen’s failures?
He made errors as he dissected animals to learn about humans
Why were Galen’s errors/mistakes accepted?
As the Church banned anyone questioning his work as Galen was supported by the church for believing the design theory
Why did the Church support Galen?
As Galen saw God as the creator (design theory)
What did Christian church believe and teach about illness?(3)
That God send illness as a punishment
Trying to find cures would be challenging God
To look after sick, not treat them
What did the church ban?
Human dissections
Medical research that wasn’t from Hippocrates or Galen
What did the Church see doctors roles as?
Someone who could predict illness symptoms, not treat the patient
How did the church hinder advancement of medicine?(3)
Didn’t allow training doctors to discover new things
Banned medical research and human dissection
Believe curing illness was challenging God
Who did the Church send to prison and what for?
Roger Bacon for scientific observations
How did the church advance medicine in medieval period?
They started training doctors in 1200
Who were Islamic people that helped the development of medicine?(3)
Al Razi
Ilon Sina
Avicenna
What did Al Razi do to help the development of medicine?
Wrote over 150 books
What did IIona Sina do to help the development of medicine?
Listed medical properties of over 150 drugs
What did Avicenna do to help the development of medicine?
Wrote ‘Canon of medicine’ which was important text for medical students until 1700s
What were Islamic beliefs about illness?
They didn’t believe illness was a punishment from God, they believed every illness was a cure from God
What did Islamic doctors write and how were they spread?
Medical encyclopaedia’s which were spread to Britain through crusaders
When did Islam doctors open a hospital known as ‘Bimaristans’ to treat patients and train doctors with a medical school and library?
805
How did warfare help surgeons improve their skills?(3)
Improved skill in sealing wounds
Improved ointments e.g. John Ardenne’s painkiller
Quicker amputations
What were the 2 types of plagues in The Black Death?
Bubonic - death rate 50%, spread by fleas, buboes found in armpits
Pneumonic - 90-100% death rate, spread by contact with victims via breath or blood
When was the Black Death?
1948-1950
How many were killed from the Black Death from 1948-1950?
A third of the population
What was the impact of the Black Death?
There was a food shortage as fields were unploughed as peasants were dead
What were medieval explanations of the Black Death?
Sent by God
Astrology
Miasma theory
Minority groups were blamed e.g. Jews accused of poisoning water
What were medieval methods of prevention against the Black Death?(5)
Special services to pray for God’s forgiveness
Flagellants (People whipped themselves to be free of sin)
Avoiding baths as they opened up pores and disease could go in
Carrying posy of herbs which keep bad smells away
Drinking mercury
What methods of the Black Death had logic reasoning?
Local councils tried to quarantine infected areas which would’ve stopped spread of pneumonic plague if effective
What was the real cause of the Black Death?
Bacteria in fleas that travelled on rats
What regulations were put in place because of epidemics like the Black Death?
Waste disposal sites in coventry were introduced in towns but they weren’t effective as illness cause was unknown
What was bad public health in towns?
Waste would stay in street as no waste collectors
Bad sanitation - no knowledge on germs
Animals left dung on streets
Butchers put slaughtered animal guts and blood in rivers
What was good public health in towns?
Wealthy people had servants clean the street outside their house
Bath houses were around for those who could afford it
Most towns had privies with cesspits under
What was the roman water system which some towns had that transferred water across the town?
Aqueducts
What was public health in monasteries like?
Monks could read - more knowledge on sanitation
Had money to build good sanitation facilities
Had filter systems to remove impurities from water
Monks regularly washed clothes and face and bathed 2-4 times a year
Monasteries were far from towns
Used settling tanks to purify water e.g. cambridge
What was the Doctrine of signatures and who used it?
States herbs resembling body parts could be used to heal those body parts and wise women used it
