Medieval Medicine

Question 1

what was miasma?

Answer 1

the belief that bad smells were causing disease

Question 2

what was the 4 humours?

Answer 2

the belief that the body was made up of black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm and an imbalance of these things caused disease

Question 3

what was the theory of opposites?

Answer 3

you needed to do the opposite of what was wrong to balance out the 4 humours e.g eat chillies if you had a cold

Question 4

why did people think religion was a cause of disease?

Answer 4

god punished people for their sins or to test their faith

Question 5

why did people think astology was a cause of disease?

Answer 5

the alignment of the planets and peoples star signs determined when they were going to get ill

Question 6

who were galen and hippocrates?

Answer 6

Greek physicians

Question 7

what was bloodletting?

Answer 7

the removal of ‘bad’ blood from the body usually using leeches, cutting the vein or cupping

Question 8

what was purging?

Answer 8

clearng the body of bad substances using either a laxative or an emetic

Question 9

what was used as a laxative?

Answer 9

linseeds

Question 10

what was used as an emetic?

Answer 10

aniseed or parsley

Question 11

what herbs were common for making herbal remedies?

Answer 11

aloe vera, mint and camomile

Question 12

what were people encouraged to do to prevent illness?

Answer 12

take care of their bodies by exercising, sleeping, keeping clean, breathing clean air and avoiding stress

Question 13

how was the air purified?

Answer 13

sweet herbs and carrying flowers

Question 14

how long did it take to get a medical degree

Answer 14

attended university for at least 7 years to gain a medical degree
doctors studied the ideas of Galen

Question 15

what did physicians do in medieval England?

Answer 15

diagnosed illness and suggested a treatment
studied patients’ urine and star charts
treatments rarely worked

Question 16

what did apothecaries do?

Answer 16

mixed herbal remedies

used supernatural treatments

Question 17

how did apothecaries gain their knowledge?

Answer 17

from experience; either their own or passed down from family members

Question 18

why were apothecaries more common than doctors?

Answer 18

they were more affordable

Question 19

what did barber surgeons do?

Answer 19

performed simple surgery using a sharp knife such as bloodletting or pulling teeth

Question 20

who owned 30% of hospitals?

Answer 20

the church

Question 21

who ran hospitals?

Answer 21

monasteries

Question 22

what did hospitals focus on? Why?

Answer 22

providing care rather than treatment

it was gods will if people died

Question 23

what type of patients were rejected?

Answer 23

infectious, insane and pregnant women

Question 24

where were the majority of the sick treated?

Answer 24

at home

Question 25

what would women do?

Answer 25

care for their relatives and act as midwives

Question 26

what were women not allowed to do?

Answer 26

become physicians

Question 27

when was the Great Hospital in Norwich founded?

Answer 27

1249

Question 28

by the 1400’s how many patients could a hospital admit at a time?

Answer 28

6

Question 29

how many hospitals remained in England by 1500?

Answer 29

1100

Question 30

what did the church ban?

Answer 30

dissections

Question 31

why did the church banning dissections limit medical progression?

Answer 31

doctors could not see inside the body or how it worked

Question 32

what were the positives of the church controlling hospitals?

Answer 32

many were attached to monasteries meaning they generally had a clean water supply

Question 33

what % of hospitals cared for the old and dying?

Answer 33

47%

Question 34

what % of hospitals cared for lepers?

Answer 34

31%

Question 35

what % of hospitals cared for the sick?

Answer 35

10%

Question 36

what was public health like?

Answer 36

the government and king did not see it as their responsibility to keep towns clean

Question 37

what did gong fermers do?

Answer 37

empty cesspits because it was thought that they were causing miasma

Question 38

how did the rejection of responsibility from the king and government lead to the spread of disease?

Answer 38

there was no attempt to clean the streets meaning sewage was everywhere and acts were passed to clean them but not enforced meaning they has little influence