Medieval Medicine

Question 1

Which organisation had the most control over medicine in the Middle Ages?

Answer 1

The Church

Question 2

Which ancient doctors ideas were still widely used?

Answer 2

Galen

Question 3

Why did the Church support the work of Galen?

Answer 3

Because in his work he spoke of an ‘intelligent designer’ the Church took this to mean God.

Question 4

Which theory were physicians trained in using?

Answer 4

The Theory of the Four Humours

Question 5

What were the main believed causes of disease?

Answer 5

An imbalance of humors, miasma, Gods punishment

Question 6

Why was bloodletting and purging used?

Answer 6

The balance a patients humours

Question 7

Why did people attempt to purify the air?

Answer 7

To remove miasma

Question 8

What could apothecaries sell to patients?

Answer 8

Herbal remedies

Question 9

What medical professionals existed for people in the Middle Ages?

Answer 9

Physicians (highly trained doctors who had been to university) 
Apothecary (no formal training and sold herbal remedies)
Barbers surgeons (Least qualified and performed simple operations and blood letting) 
Wise woman (no formal training and relied on personal experience, often acted as a midwife)

Question 10

Who ran the medieval hospitals?

Answer 10

The Church and it was staffed primarily by monks and nuns

Question 11

What was the main focus of medieval hospitals?

Answer 11

Care not cure (Only God was allowed to decide who would be cured)

Question 12

What were the positives of medieval hospitals?

Answer 12

They provided a safe place for people to rest.

Patients were given regular meals and allowed to rest, this would have helped people to recover from minor illnesses

Question 13

What were the negatives of medieval hospitals?

Answer 13

No medical treatments offered
Patients sometimes had to share beds leading to cross contamination
Lack of understanding of bacteria
People with serious illnesses were not allowed into hospitals

Question 14

Why could people not question the work of Galen?

Answer 14

Because the Church was too powerful and might have declared them a heretic

Question 15

How was the Church able to control the spread of information?

Answer 15

Most books were copied out by monks meaning only books that matched the views of the Catholic Church were ever copied and circulated

Question 16

What year did the Black Death reach England?

Answer 16

1348

Question 17

What were the two types of plague?

Answer 17

Bubonic and Pneumonic

Question 18

What were the actual causes of the Black Death?

Answer 18

Bites from infected fleas (bubonic plague)

Breathing in infected particles from a plague victim (pneumonic)

Question 19

What were the symptoms of the Black Death?

Answer 19

Buboes (large black swellings), fingers and toes developing gangrene and turning black, vomiting, a fever, internal bleeding/bruising

Question 20

What were the believed causes of the Black Death?

Answer 20

Gods punishment, miasma, the Jews poisoning the wells, the planets being out of alignment

Question 21

How did people attempt to prevent themselves from catching the Black Death?

Answer 21

Flagellation (whipping themselves as a punishment), prayer, sitting in a sewer, wearing charms

Question 22

How did people attempt to treat the Black Death?

Answer 22

Balancing the patients humours, prayer, herbal remedies, bursting the buboes

Question 23

What percentage of the population is believed to have been killed by the Black Death?

Answer 23

50%

Question 24

How did the Black Death spread between countries?

Answer 24

On trading ships that carried black rats (the rats carried the infected fleas)