Medieval Medical standstill: medical progress Flashcards
How did medieval people show their commitment to the church and why was it important?
God decided if you went heaven so pleasing him was important and feared if they did not God would cause plagues or diseases or make their loved ones ill so…
- every villager had to give a tithe (1/10 of everything they produced)
- everybody went to church on holy days and Sundays. All around the villages there would have been shrines and holy crosses.
- religion shaped was went on during the heat. E.g feasts, special holy
What did people in the medieval era believe about Gods impact on their health?
They believed God controlled every part of their lives. God made them healthy or ill. Or if they were successful in work/business that was also due to God. If they did not show commitment they could punish them with disease, a death in their family or plague.
State 5 ways Christianity hindered health and medicine:
- there was a strong belief illness came from God and curing an illness would be to challenge God who had sent it as a punishment or a test of faith. So it was more important to care for the sick rather than to cure them.
- prayers to God were the most important treatment :’to buy drugs or to consults other physicians doesn’t fit with religion.’ Said Saint Bernard, a famous 12th century monk.
- hospitals depended on charity for money and was mainly financed by the church or a wealthy patron. Many hospitals did not have doctors but a chaplain (priests) and were run by monks or nuns. The church saw the role of a doctor not as a healer but someone who could predict symptoms and duration of illness and who could provide the reasons as to why God might inflict the illness on the person.
- In Europe the training of doctors began after 1200. The church controlled universities in England e.g Oxford and Cambridge. Students were taught the medical ideas of the ancient Greeks and Romans. This involved teaching ideas from textbooks and students were not allowed to explore new ideas or question the ideas.
- the church approved Galen’s books because he believed in a singular God; this fitted their ideas. This meant it was difficult to challenge anything Galen wrote, as it would be criticising the church. E.g Roger Bacon an English monk in 13th century was jailed for suggesting doctors should do original eraser hair and should not trust old books.
State 4 ways Christianity helped the progress of health and medicine:
-Between 1000-1500 more than 700 hospitals were started in England. Many hospitals were centres of rest where sick people could recover in quiet and clean surroundings.
- there were different types of hospitals e.g.
1) hospitals/asylums to care for the mentally ill such as Bedlam, London
2) Lamar houses dealt with those who had leprosy. These were set up outside towns to prevent the disease from spreading.
3) monasteries had infirmaries that provided free care to the poor. - church valued traditional medical knowledge of the Ancient world because they thought Galen and Hippocrates was correct so monks preserved and copies these books out by hand.
- Christians believe in following example of Jesus, who healed sick so Christians believed it was good to looks after the sick and so created hospitals.
What were the 3 problems medieval surgeons had?
- pain
- microbes/infection
- bleeding
Who were most medieval surgeons?
Barbers, who combines hair cutting with small surgical operations such as:
Blood letting
Amputation
Tooth extraction
Trepanning (drilling into skull for people who suffered from epilepsy)
Why was blood letting done?
To restore the balance of the Four Humours. It was done by making a small cut in inside of arm for blood to run out.
How did Barber surgeons learn their skills?
The were lower class than physicians and learned their skills by being apprentices to other surgeons, watching and copying them; or they learned on the battle field since wars were frequent in medieval period.
How did barber surgeons stop bleeding and what were the dangers and disadvantages of this?
Cauterisation was a common way to stop blood flow by by burning the wound. It was usually done with heated iron and was extremely painful. It also led to the risk of infection.
How did barber surgeons try and deal with pain?
Surgeons used natural substances such as, mandrake root, opium and hemlock as anaesthetics (to put patients to sleep) for their operations but ok much could kill a patient.
How successful was amputation?
This included cutting off painful or damaged parts of limbs. It was successful in cases such as breast cancer, bladder stones and haemorrhoids.
Who was the French surgeon Guy de Chauliac?
Write the text book ’Great Surgery’ in 1363. Dominated English and French surgical knowledge for 200 years so was influential. He referred to writers like Galen and Avicenna. Quoted Galen 8890x. However he criticised Theodoric of Lucca’s ideas about preventing infection by pouring wine over wounds so his ideas did not catch on till much later.
Who was Hugh of Lucca?
He had a son Theodoric who was a famous surgeon who worked at Bologna university in Italy. In 1267 they wrote a book criticising the common view pus was needed for a wound to heal. They used wine on wounds to prevent infection and had new techniques of removing arrow heads but their ideas about preventing infection went against Hippocrates so were not popular.
Who was Mondino de Luzzi?
He was a famous professor in Bologna, who in 1315 witnessed the first public dissection. In 1316 he wrote a book ‘Anathomia’ which became standard dissection manual for 200 years.
Who was Roger Frugardi?
Lived in Salerno Italy and wore a text on surgery called ‘The practise of surgery’ in 1180. It was widely used in Europe. He was warned against trepanning, tired ambitious operations on the chest and attempted to remove bladder stones.
