Medieval Medicine Flashcards
Give 3 ways god effected people’s knowledge of medicine
- they believed that god created illness and created the right herbs/plants to treat them (called the doctrine of signatures)
- believed that illness was a punishment from god
- believed that if society as a whole was sinful, then an epidemic or plague was a reward to remind people their duties to the church
Give 1 way mad smells effected people’s knowledge of medicine
People thought bad smells caused disease especially in towns where people lived aside animals and filth
Give 1 way everyday life effected people’s knowledge in medicine
-most believed illness and early death in everyday life was inevitable due to high mortality rates in women during child birth and childeren
Give 2 ways the supernatural effected people’s knowledge of medicine
- many believed the world was full of demons trying to cause trouble and death
- supernatural was used by some to explain illness, death or general misfortune
What were the four humours? Who came up with the idea?
They are Hippocrates idea that the body is made up of 4 elements; blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile, and each one had to be in balance or else you’d become ill
When were medical schools set up?
During the 12th century
Which individual’s ideas where very influential over medieval medicine and why?
Galen as his teachings aligned with Christian ideas
What methods of treatment were used?
bloodletting and purging the balance
What did doctors do to treat patients overcome by the ‘supernatural’
They checked the position of starts and recommended charms and prayers
What methods of diagnosis did medieval doctors use?
Urine testing and astrological info
Who treated patients?
Physicians and barber surgeons
What was the role of my women in medieval medicine?
They were mainly midwives and female physicians were very rare
What hindered the development of medicine?
The belief in galen’s ideas, the Christian church,
What did medieval medical students study in textbooks, how did they do this and what were the limitations?
- Studied old manuscripts from Galen
- studied through a lecture after undergoing translation
- limited as you couldn’t use the manuscripts yourself and you couldn’t criticise Galen as that went against the church
What did medieval medical students learn from dissection, how did they do this and what were the limitations?
They learnt about dissection from Galen’s writings by watching and listening only.
Limited because students don’t actually do anything
How were they hoping to improve students learning from. dissections?
By hoping to introduce one dissection a year in 1340
How did medieval medical students learn about diagnosis, what did they actually learn and what were the limitations?
They learnt the theory of the four humours and how to study urine charts by studying books.
Limited as it’s only theory and you can’t actually see real patients
How did medieval medical students learn about the four humours, what did they actually learn and what were the limitations?
Studied books to learn that each humour is strongest in a specific season and how an in balance leads to illness
Limited as it was mainly theory and this evidence hasn’t been backed up since the ancient Greeks
How did medieval medical students learn about treatments, what did they actually learn and what were the limitations?
Studied the astrological charts due to the moon having an effect on the humours and learnt how to study the astrological chart, and were taught to bleed with a bleed cup and leeches
Limited as there’s not much evidence confirming it works and it’s linked to the four humours
Give a positive and a negative about medieval medical school
+ students learnt about various areas of medicine
- it was mainly just theory
who was a healer? What did a healer do?
Usually a village woman who acted as a midwife. Treated people through the special knowledge of herbs and charms and accepted some kind of small payment
Who was a barber surgeon, what did they do?
A man present in most towns who pulled out teeth and performed simple surgeries like amputation
Who was an apothecary and what did they do?
A man who sold wine herbs and spices. They prepared and sold medicines to physicians and directly to patients. They also offered medical advice
Who was a physician, what did they do?
A man who was trained in one of Europe’s medical schools. He would use astrological and urine charts plus knowledge of the humours to treat the patient
What kind of person would have gone to a physician?
Someone with a lot of money as they charged high fees e.g. a king
What treatment did physicians usually use in the end?
Bloodletting
Who would ill people go to if they couldn’t afford a physician?
Healers, barber surgeons or apothecaries
Give 3 ways Christianity affected medieval people
- every villager had to give the church a tithe (1/10 of everything they produced)
- people believed god controlled their health and success
- god decided if you went to heaven or hell so you would have acted accordingly
Give 3 positive impacts Christianity had on medicine
- the church believed in following Jesus’ example of healing the sick so people believed it was good to look after the ill
- there were different hospital types, lazar houses dealt with leprosy and were set up outside towns to prevent others catching the disease
- between 1000 and 1500, <700 hospitals started in England
Give three negative impacts Christianity had on medicine
- the church made sure medical students only learnt Galen and Hippocrates knowledge
- there was a strong Christian belief curing illness was like challenging god so patients were cared for but not cured
- people who criticised medical knowledge backed up by the church were arrested
Give an example of someone who was arrested for critiquing old ancient medicine backed up by the church
Roger Bacon, the thirtieth century English monk after he suggested doctors should do original research and not trust old books
