THE MIDDLE AGES 1250-1500 Flashcards
WHAT DID PEOPLE BELIEVE ABOUT GOD AND THE CUASE OF DISEASE?
People believed god made them ill because he was either displeased with them or testing their faith.
WHAT WERE THE ISSUES WITH THE IDEAS ABOUT GOD AND SUPERNATURAL CAUSING DISEASE?
The christian church was dominant in medieval society, the ideas about god and the supernatural held back medical progression in the medieval period
WHAT WERE THE MAIN IDEAS ABOUT ASTROLOGY AND ILLNESS?
- alignment of planets and stars were thought to cause some diseases
- astrology was used to help diagnose patients
WHAT WERE THREE MAIN WAYS THE CHURCH CONTROLLED IDEAS?
- Church was the centre of formal learning, only monks and priests could read and write so monasteries had much influence over what was written
- The church approved of all rational explanations of diseases: Galen’s theory fitted Christians beliefs so it was taught anything that contradicted it was ignored
- Church taught people they should follow Jesus’s example of caring for the sick, many hospitals housed in nunneries and monasteries
WHAT WERE THE FOUR HUMOURS?
The Greeks believed everyone had a mixture of four humours in their body ( Phlegm, Blood, Yellow bile and Black bile) if these humours became unbalanced it made you ill, so they needed to be balanced again.
WHAT WAS THE THEORY OF OPPOSITES?
Galen developed the ideas of the four humours into theory of opposites which was the idea of rebalancing the humours by giving the patient the “opposite of their symptoms”
SUMMARISE HIPPOCRATES:
His ideas and books were very influential in medieval time and he dismissed the ideas that god caused disease. His treatments were rational ( rest, diet and exercise) He wrote the Hippocratic oath: where doctors swore to respect life and prevent harm
SUMMARISE GALEN:
Galens ideas were the basis of medical training in the middle ages. He developed Hippocrates ideas of bloodletting and purging as well as his own treatments based off the theory of opposites. He drew detailed diagrams of the anatomy based off dissections he had followed through on gladiators and animals.
WHAT WAS MIASMA?
Miasma was another theory about the cause of disease being he transmission of “bad air” This was related to god as bad air indicated sin
WHAT WERE THE TWO MAIN RATIONAL TREATMENTS LINKED TO THE FOUR HUMOURS IN THE MIDDLE AGES?
Bloodletting- done by cutting a vein using leeches or cutting, occasionally performed by physicians but usually done by barber surgeons
Purging- Required making a patient vomit or go to the toilet to remove food from the body, emetics and laxatives were mixed in apothecaries and prescribed
WHAT WERE COMMON RELIGIOUS AND SUPERNATURAL METHODS FOR THE PREVENTION AN TREATMENT OF DISEASE?
- Living a Christian life ( praying ect…)
- Chanting incantations
- Carrying lucky charms/Amulets
- Self punishment ( flagellation)
WHAT WERE COMMON RATIONAL METHODS FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF DISEASE?
- keeping streets clean
-bathing and washing
-purifying air
-bleeding and purging
-not overeating and exercising
WHAT WERE TRADITIONAL REMEDIES
traditional ones made with herbs which were drunk sniffed and bathed in. Also included different foods which rebalanced the four humours and ointments they were made at home or in the apothecary
WHAT DID A BARBER SURGEON DO?
-no training
- carried out bloodletting, pulling teeth ect..
- did basic surgery such as amputations
-less costly
WHAT DID APOTHERCARIES DO?
-received training but not qualifications
-mixed medicines and ointments
-cost money
HOW DID CARE AT HOME WORK?
-most ill people treated by female family member
- the village “wise women” would also tend to people
WHAT DID PHYSICIANS DO?
-medically trained at universities
-diagnosed illnesses and gave treatments
-expensive
-very few
WHAT DID PHYSICIANS USE?
-urine charts
-observation of symptoms
-zodiac charts
SUMMARISE HOSPITALS IN THE MIDDLE AGES
-usually a place travellers and pilgrims would rest on their journey
-anyone with a contagious or severe disease was not permittedn
-they were ran by the church
-very clea
WHAT WAS THE BLACK DEATH OF 1348-49
the bubonic plague was carried by fleas living on black rats which brought disease to different countries on trading ships
WHAT ARE KEY WAYS PEOPLE THOUGHT THE BLACK DEATH WAS CAUSED?
-religion: they thought god was punishing them
-astrology: alignment of mars, Jupiter and Saturn was unusual
- Miasma: bad air
- witches and strangers
- Four humours: imbalance
WHAT WERE KEY THINGS PEOPLE DID TO PREVENT CATCHING IT?
-praying and fasting: people wgo believe god sent disease wanted him to show mercy
-cleaning rubbish in the streets
-lighting fire and having birds fly across room to keep air moving
-carrying herbs and spices to avoid breathing bad air
-isolating villages
WHAT WERE THE SYMPTONS OF THE BLACK DEATH?
-swelling of lymph glands with pus (buboes)
-fever and chills
-headache
-vomiting, diarrhea
WHAT WERE COMMON TREATMENTS OF THE BLACK DEATH?
-praying
-cutting buboes
-holding bread against buboes and burying it
-eating cool things
-cold baths
