Treating the Sick in Medieval England

Question 1

Were there any professional doctors?

Answer 1

No

Question 2

What were cures based on?

Answer 2

Ancient Greek theory of illness that involved equal balance of the four humours

Question 3

Did doctors have medical training?

Answer 3

No

Question 4

How did medieval doctors learn their practice?

Answer 4

Word of mouth or personal experience

Question 5

What did medieval doctors experiment with?

Answer 5

Herbs and charms

Question 6

Who did medieval doctors learn from?

Answer 6

Apothecaries, travelling healers and wise men/ women

Question 7

Where were barber surgeons found?

Answer 7

Towns

Question 8

Did barber surgeons get training?

Answer 8

Yes, as apprentices

Question 9

What did barber surgeons do?

Answer 9

Cut hair, did bloodletting and even amputation of arms and legs

Question 10

What did most barber surgeons perform?

Answer 10

Minor surgery based on experience

Question 11

What minor surgeries did barber surgeons perform?

Answer 11

Setting bones and pulling out teeth

Question 12

Why did a lot of people die after surgery?

Answer 12

Infection or blood loss

Question 13

Who did most people with money go to?

Answer 13

Barber surgeon

Question 14

How did wise men/ women treat the ill?

Answer 14

First aid, herbal remedies, supernatural cures with charms and spells

Question 15

What were wise men/women’s cures based on?

Answer 15

Tradition, word of mouth and trial and error

Question 16

What were passed on down the families of wise men/ women?

Answer 16

Wisdom and skills

Question 17

How were wise men/ women priced?

Answer 17

Reasonably

Usually knew the patient

Question 18

What were wise women? (Pregnancy)

Answer 18

Midwives

Question 19

What was the Lady of the House expected to provide?

Answer 19

Medical care for her family and workers

Question 20

What did travelling healers extract and mend?

Answer 20

Teeth, dislocations, fractures

Question 21

What did travelling healers sell?

Answer 21

Potions

Question 22

What did herbalists in monasteries use to treat patients?

Answer 22

Herbal treatments

Question 23

What treatments did herbalists perform?

Answer 23

Bloodletting, prayers

Question 24

How did herbalists in monasteries treat patients?

Answer 24

Let them rest in the infirmary

Question 25

What were herbalists’ knowledge based on?

Answer 25

Books, word of mouth, experience

Question 26

What was an example of a book that herbalists in monasteries used?

Answer 26

Pliny’s Natural History

Question 27

What did apothecaries sell?

Answer 27

Medicine, herbs, spices

Question 28

How long was an apothecary apprenticeship for training?

Answer 28

7 years

Question 29

What were simples?

Answer 29

A medicine made from one herb or compounds which were a combination of ingredients

Question 30

Example of a simple for treating smallpox?

Answer 30

Red rose and bamboo juice

Question 31

Whose methods were trained doctors taught in?

Answer 31

Hippocrates and Galen

Question 32

Where were trained doctors found?

Answer 32

Large towns

Question 33

What textbooks did trained doctors use?

Answer 33

Islamic and British

Question 34

Why could most people not afford to see a trained doctor?

Answer 34

Rare and expensive

Question 35

How long did trained doctors have to study at university for?

Answer 35

At least 7 years

Question 36

Who were universities controlled by?

Answer 36

Christian church

Question 37

What was the main religion in Western Europe?

Answer 37

Christianity

Question 38

Where were most universities based?

Answer 38

Italy eg Bologna and Padua

Question 39

Where did some trained doctors begin to observe and treat patients?

Answer 39

On the battlefields in wars

Question 40

What did doctors use to decide what illness someone had?

Answer 40

A book which recorded possible illnesses

Question 41

What did leeches remove?

Answer 41

Blood

Question 42

What did doctors prescribe to stop misma?

Answer 42

Aromatic objects

Question 43

What had did zodiac charts show?

Answer 43

Which parts of the body were linked to which astrological sign

Question 44

What did zodiac charts tell doctors?

Answer 44

What would and wouldn’t work and the best time to treat patients eg herbs picked at the wrong time could do damage

Question 45

How did doctors use urine to determine disease?

Answer 45

Compared urine colour to a chart and sometimes smelled or tasted it

Question 46

What is uroscopy?

Answer 46

Visually examining a patient's urine for pus, blood, or other symptoms of disease.

Question 47

Who used herbal remedies?

Answer 47

Apothecaries and wise men/ women

Question 48

What was a herbal remedy for headaches?

Answer 48

Camomile tea and rest on lavender-scented pillows

Question 49

What was toothache treated with?

Answer 49

Hot rods in the cavities because it was thought a tooth worm was making the holes

Question 50

How were patients bled?

Answer 50

Cupping or leeches

Question 51

Up to how many times were monks bled per day?

Answer 51

8

Question 52

Why were patients bled?

Answer 52

Too much blood was believed to have caused illness