medieval medicine Flashcards
who was hippocrates and what was his theory?
Ancient greek physician
theory of the four humours
what are the four humours?
Yellow bile, black bile, blood, phlegm
who was Galen and what was his theory?
Roman
theory of opposites
wrote over 300 books
supported by the church
ideas about causes of diseases
God - punishment
astrology - planet alignment
miasma - bad air
4 humours unbalanced
why were medieval towns so unhealthy?
overcrowding - 100,000 people
dirty streets - animal dung, animal entrails, human faeces
no sewage systems
no clean water
no public sanitation
women - healers
acted as midwives
herbal remedies - poppies, willow, garlic
passed through generations in books (herbals)
apocetharies - healers
make ointments and medicines - sell to physicians or public
learn from other apothecaries
physician - healers
trains at university for 7 years
less than 100 of them
test urine
only rich can afford
barber surgeon - healers
trained as apprentices
- bleeding, remove surface tumours, sew wounds
occasionally amputated limbs
how did the church prevent progress?
if god caused disease then no need to look for other causes
fear to challenge church ( said would go to hell)
supported galen
monks wrote books - control spread of info
control education
ban dissections
how did education prevent progress?
taught hippocrates and galen were correct - nopt encouraged to experiment
dissections only held to prove galen was correct
controlled by church
how did attitudes prevent progress?
respect old traditions
books handwritten - expensive and slow
how did government prevent progress?
no money spent to fund medical research
no taxes to earn money for research
didn’t enforce street cleaning (no police)
lasseiz- faire approach
how did individuals prevent progress?
hippocrates and galen - very confident they are correct
lots of books written
nobody questions them
prevention/ treatment of diseases
pray/ pilgrimages
flagellation
sweet smelling herbs carried (miasma)
treatment of opposites
