Middle Ages / Medieval Flashcards
What did people believe caused disease in the Middle Ages?
- Imbalance of four humours
- Miasma
- Punishment from God
- Misalignment of planets
Who’s ideas were still followed in the Middle Ages?
Galen and Hippocrates
How long were Galen’s ideas believed for?
1500 years
Describe what public health was like in the Middle Ages?
- Open sewers carried sewage to the river
- Gutters carrying sewage through the middle of the streets
- Rubbish thrown into streets
- Wells
- Very few public toilets “privies”
- Few public baths + were visited less frequently
Name 2 things that were thrown into the rivers?
- Sewage
- Butchers threw rotten meat
What were wells often built close to?
Cesspools - spread disease from the sewage in the cesspool to the drinking water
What did some rich houses have?
Private latrines - over streams or pits lined with stone tiles and cement.
How much did a latrine cost to build in 1391?
£4
What was the only city that had public toilets?
London
Why did the catholic church support Galen in the Middle Ages?
Because he said that the body contained a place for the soul which agreed with the church’s idea that God created man.
Why were doctors only taught Galen’s ideas and not allowed to challenge them?
Because the church controlled doctors’ training and agreed and used Galen’s work.
No one could challenge Galen’s work without challenging the church and God.
Who were the different healers in the Middle Ages?
- Barber surgeon
- Priest
- Trained physician
- Wise woman
- Apothecary
- Blood-letter
What were common methods of treating diseases in the Middle Ages?
- Blood letting + leeches
- Prayer
- Herbal remedies
- Charms
- Potions
- Theory of Opposites
How did people prevent disease in the Middle Ages?
- Flagellation (whipping)
- Smelling even worse smells - burning barrels of tar / smelling sewage
- Charm to ward off evil spirits
- Prayer
When did the Black Death hit England?
1348
