Middle Ages Flashcards
What were the ideas about the causes of disease in the Middle Ages?
-The four humours
-Miasma
-God
-Supernatural ideas/Superstition
What did the four humours involve?
-If you were healthy then the humours were balanced
-If you were ill then the humours were unbalanced
-To cure you needed to get rid of the humour you had to much of e.g throwing up or nosebleeds
-Church was supportive
What did miasma involve?
-Disease caused by bad smells
-Supported by Hippocrates and galen
-Bad air sent from God
What did causes of disease linked to God involve?
-Disease was a punishment from God for your sins
-Disease was also a test from God on your faith, if you survived it was a miracle
-The Black Death was thought to be a punishment
What did causes of disease liked to supernatural ideas involve?
-Witchcraft and astronomy was believed by many people
-Position of planets and stars decided your health and caused disease
What were the main treatments of disease in the Middle Ages?
-Religious
-Herbal remedies
-Four humours
-Supernatural ideas
What did treatment of disease using religion involve?
-Pilgrimage’s to holy relics to cure illness
-Praying for forgiveness for their sins to cure illness
What did treatment of disease using herbal remedies involve?
-Given by apothecaries and wise women for people to smell or drink
-Honey put on wounds to fight infection
-Used herbs, minerals and animals
What did treatment of disease using the four humours involve?
-Blood letting, cutting open skin to remove blood
-Purging, swallowing herbs to make you sick or laxatives to remove poo
-Bathing, warm baths with herbs to draw out the humours
What did treatment of disease using supernatural ideas involve?
-Specific treatments were used for specific illness
Who were the wise women?
-Herbal treatments passed down from generation to generation
-Gave herbal remedies to patients
Who were the physicians?
-Training that used work of Hippocrates and galen
-Treatments based on the four humours
Who were the barber surgeons?
-Trained as an apprentice
-Could do basic surgery with no anaesthetic
What were the apothecaries?
-Learnt from other herbal apothecaries
-Made herbal treatments and medicine that they sold to physicians
What were the ways that people prevented disease in the Middle Ages?
-Flagellants whipped themselves to beg for forgiveness
-Fasted, made offerings and lit candles to show god they were worth for their sins
-Followed the Christian lifestyle
-Lit fires and carried herbs to overcome bad air
What were the Middle Ages hospitals like?
-More like care homes for the poor and old
-Didn’t let ill people in to stop the spread
-Provided food, rest and herbal treatments
How did people help prevent the Black Death?
-Religious ideas such as praying for forgiveness, extra church services and pilgrimage
-Overcoming the bad air that caused miasma
-Cleaning the streets to stop bad air
How did people help treat the Black Death?
-Praying for people who caught it
-Treatments to balance the four humours
-Treating buboes by cutting them open or wrapping them in animal or food
What did Hippocrates do in the Middle Ages to try help with disease and illness?
-Said to not believe in supernatural ideas
-Came up with the four humours and how they needed to be balanced
What did Galen do to help with disease and illness in the Middle Ages?
-Dissected animals to help map out human anatomy
-Said blood was used like a fuel
-Carried on the work of Hippocrates on the four humours
