Medieval medicine Flashcards
How long is the Medieval period?
From 1250- 1500
Who was Hippocrates?
[2]:
- Greek doctor and teacher of doctors
- Came up with the theory of the four Humours
What where the 4 Humours?
- Blood
- Phlegm
- Yellow bile
- Black bile
Who Was Galen?
[2]:
- Roman doctor
- Came up with the theory of opposites
The Black death/ The Pestilence [3]:
- 1348-49
- 40% of the country’s population died because of the plagues
- It arrived in a port called Melcombe in Dorset
Causes of The Black death [3]:
- It was mostly believed that God had sent the Pestilence to punish for their sins
- Many also believed the cause was Miasma or bad-smelling air
- Others turned to more supernatural and astrological explanations like the planets aligning in the wrong order
Prevention of The Black death [3]:
- The King and Bishops ordered services and processions in every church at least once a day for religious cleansing
- Prayer
- Public displays of forgiveness and remorse
Treatments for The Black death [6]:
- Some people self-flagellate to appease the angry God
- Holy charms around the neck of sufferers
- Bleeding
- Purging
- Cut open buboes to let out puss and tried putting bread around the buboes, they would then remove the bread and bury it
- Herbal remedies
Wisewomen [4]:
- Treated most illnesses and knew a wide range of remedies
- They had licences and were paid
- Local women acted as midwives
- Women could qualify as surgeons but were not allowed to become Physicians
Hospitals [5]:
- First hospitals first appeared in the 11th century
- Where run by monks and nuns
- They offered food warmth and prayers
- Mostly cared for older people who couldn’t take care of themselves
- They weren’t really about treating the illnesses but making the patients comfortable in their final moments
Barber-Surgeons [3]:
- Didn’t go to university by learnt by watching others
- They honed their skill through practice and reading books about surgery
- They carried out procedures such as bleeding, removing surface tumours, sewing up wounds and making splints for broken bones
Apothecaries [2]:
- Mixed ingredients to make ointments and medicines for Physicians
- Also made their own medicines to sell
Physicians [3]:
- Most expensive type of medieval doctor
- Trained at university for 7 years
- Read books by Hippocrates, Galen and Arab medical writers
Preventing disease and illness [4]:
- Keeping towns clean
- Cleaning teeth, combing hair
- exercise in fresh air
- bathing in hot water
Why were there problems keeping towns clean?
[3]:
- Water supplies were dirt because of industrial and human waste
- Animals left trails of dung on streets
- Latrines and cesspits sometimes leaked into rivers used for waters supplies and washing
Solutions to keeping towns clean [3]:
- Laws were passed to punish people if they throw waste
- A small number of rakers were employed to clean the streets
- Monasteries and the townspeople collaborated to bring fresh water to public wells through lead pipes
The church and its support of Galen’s ideas?
- The church was in control of education and medical developments during this era
- They supported Galen’s theories as it agreed with the fact that there was only one God and that all body parts were made for a specific function God wants them to carry out
When did the printing press come to England?
1470
What were 3 services barber-surgeons administered?
- Cutting hair
- Amputating limbs
- Bloodletting
What was the name for the procedure involving drilling a hole into a human’s skull?
Trepanning
What does cauterisation involve?
Burning a wound to stop blood flow
Where did the bacteria that caused the plague come from?
Fleas’ stomachs
How many days were ships arriving in Britain quarantined for during the Black Death?
40
Why could Galen’s mistakes anatomical mistakes not be corrected and why was this an issue for medical progress? [2]:
- The church did not allow dissection
- This meant that scientist could not actually prove their knowledge of the human anatomy and so medical progress was hindered
How many years did Galen’s years remain popular?
1400
What is the way in which the church helped medicine progress?
After the fall of the Roman empire, monks tried desperately to copy and preserve medical texts
What caused public health conditions to worsen in medieval times than in Roman times? [4]:
- Population growth
- urbanisation
- Lack of understanding of disease
- Rivers were used as both drinking water and sewage disposal
What are the factors that impacted the little change in medieval medicine? [5]:
- The church
- Individuals
- Education
- The government
- Respect for tradition
Education in the field of medicine [3]:
- Was lead by the church as they had the largest influence on medical training
- This meant that medical progress was severely slowed down as the church did not have any experimental methods of learning and teaching
- They refused to even question Galen’s theories as they aligned with their basic principles
How many physicians were in London in the 1500s and why? [3]:
- Fewer than 100
- Their training was 7 years long
- Very few people could afford the cost of Physicians for them to receive a stable income
What is another reason as to why Galen’s beliefs remained unchallenged in the medieval era? [4]:
- Dissections: Doctors attended dissections of deceased human bodies (as recommended by Galen), but they did not attempt to make new discoveries
- In these, the trainee surgeons would watch a surgeon carry out a surgeon dissect the body while Galen’s works were read aloud
- These dissections were a form of demonstrating that Galen’s descriptions were correct as they did not delve deeper in the bodies
- This meant that there was no medical change as doctors did not try to disprove Galen
Key individuals in medieval medicine [2]:
- Hippocrates
- Galen
Why did the Church believe that God caused diseases?
[2]:
- The bible said that God controlled every aspect
- This means that they attributed illness and disease as a punishment from God
Kings and queens as a cure:
People believed that the ‘Royal touch’ could cure disease
