Medieval Medicine

Question 1

who would you go to if you were ill?

Answer 1

Barber surgeons
wise women/men
Quacks
monks 
trained doctors/physicians

Question 2

Barber Surgeons

Answer 2

they did bloodletting, minor surgery and amputations

Question 3

Wise Women/men

Answer 3

gave first aid, herbal remedies, supernatural charms and spells based on traditions.
their knowledge was based on word of mouth and experience

Question 4

Quacks

Answer 4

traveling healers that sold miraculous medicines that did not do what they said they did

Question 5

Monks

Answer 5

herbal treatments, bloodletting, pray and rest in the infirmary
Monks often had herbal gardens in the monasteries
Knowledge from ancient books like Pliny’s Natural History

Question 6

Trained Doctors

Answer 6

knowledge from textbooks such as Galen and Hippocrates
very few doctors
charged service fees
studied for at least 7 years at universities controlled by the Church

Question 7

Popular treatments

Answer 7

Bloodletting, prayers, herbs, pilgrimages, purging/vomiting, whipping (Flagellants), getting rid of bad smells (Miasma)

Question 8

Popular diagnosis methods

Answer 8

Urine charts, zodiac charts

Question 9

Hippocrates - contributions to medicine

Answer 9

Four Humours needed to be in balance (blood, phlegm, yellow/back bile)
one of the first to use clinical observation (using reasoning and observation)
viewed the body as a whole, understood that illness can effect multiple parts of the body

Question 10

Hippocrates - links to religion

Answer 10

believed doctor’s and priest’s work is separate

illness had a natural cause not a supernatural or Godly cause

Question 11

Hippocrates - links to modern medicine

Answer 11

“Hippocratic Oath” states the obligations of good conduct
clinical observation
he kept a record of observations, using it later to improve treatment (trial and error)

Question 12

Galen - work

Answer 12

continued the idea of the Four Humours

dissected pigs and monkeys believing they were similar to humans in anatomy

Question 13

Galen - links to religion

Answer 13

Church encouraged to study Galen as he referred to the “Creator” in his work and believed in one God
anyone challenging Galen would be seen as challenging the Church

Question 14

Arrested by the Church

Answer 14

Roger Bacon: in 1277
(monk/lecturer) at Oxford University was arrested for spreading anti-Church views after questioning the Church’s stance on Galen

Question 15

Reasons for bad health

Answer 15

• keeping towns clean was the local councils’ job which
• they had little money for (taxes were low)
• 90% people worked as farmers (little time for education)
• animal dung and their butchery created a lot of dirt ing the street (transport mainly via horses)
• Church had great influence

Question 16

Church’s beliefs about medicine

Answer 16

Should follow Jesus’ example and care for the sick
God has sent illness as punishment or test of faith (so curing is against God’s will)
Prayers are more important than medicine or drugs
Pilgrimages would lead to miraculous healing

Question 17

Church’s influence

Answer 17

Controlled all of education so decided to based teaching on Galen’s and ancient Greek work
Discouraged people to challenge traditional ideas

Question 18

Popular beliefs about causes of illness

Answer 18

God - a punishment sent by God,
the Doctrine of Signatures: god created treatments alongside illness (plants/herbs)
Four Humour - illness came because the Four Humours were out of balance
Bad Smells - (Miasma) people saw a link and thought bad smells infected people and made them ill
Supernatural - planets being out of line or 4 elements had to be in harmony (earth, air, fire, water)
Everyday - people thought illness and premature death was inevitable