Medieval Medicine (1250-1500)

Question 1

What was the Hippocratic Oath and who created it?

Answer 1

The Hippocratic Oath is something that doctors still have to sign today. It is to say that the doctor will not cause intentional harm to a patient when carrying out a surgery, treatment or procedure.

It was created by Hippocrates

Question 2

What did Hippocrates encourage doctors to do?

Answer 2

Hippocrates encouraged doctors to look for natural explanations for disease, because he believed there was an explanation for disease beyond religion and superstition.

Question 3

Why did Galen’s belief in monostheism help his theories to become more popular?

Answer 3

Galen’s belief in there being one God led to the Church, who were very strict on ideas about the cause of disease, to support his ideas.

Question 4

Who created the Theory of the Four Humours and what were the four parts?

Answer 4

Hippocrates created the Theory of the Four Humours
The four parts were: Phlegm, blood, black bile, yellow bile

Question 5

What was believed to happen if your humours were imbalanced?

Answer 5

If your humours were imbalanced, they believed that you would fall ill

Question 6

What was the Theory of Opposites and who created it?

Answer 6

Galen created the Theory of Opposites
The idea was that the opposite would be applied to an excess humour.
(For example: Too much blood (which was hot and wet) could be rebalanced by eating something cool (like cucumber))

Question 7

How did the black death arrive in England?

Answer 7

The black death bacteria was carried in the digestive system of fleas, who arrived in England on rats, carried on merchant ships.

Question 8

Give 2 symptoms of the black death

Answer 8

Chest pains and breathing troubles
Fever
Sneezing and coughing up blood
Boils and black buboes appearing in the groin and armpits

Question 9

Give 3 effects the black death had on society

Answer 9

The black deaths effect on society:
People thought it would be the end of the world
20 million people died
Some buildings never got finished
Over 60 priests died
Harvests were ungathered and livestock was never tended to - which caused famine
People thought it was God’s punishment
Half of the towns became ghost towns
People believed Jews were poisoning the wells

Question 10

Who were barber surgeons?

Answer 10

Barber surgeons were people who had access to razors and did a lot of medical procedures. They did not get training

Question 11

Give 2 jobs that a barber surgeon performed

Answer 11

Barber surgeons:
Cut people’s hair
Did bloodletting
Amputated people’s arms and legs

Question 12

Who were apothecaries?

Answer 12

Apothecaries were people who sold herbal remedies in medieval times. Female apothecaries were called “wise women”

Question 13

Why did many people use apothecaries and not physicians?

Answer 13

Most people couldn’t afford to pay physicians, so they used apothecaries

Question 14

What were vivisections?

Answer 14

A vivisection was a dissection of the body of a criminal. This was accepted because criminals bodies were seen as imperfect

Question 15

What was trepanning?

Answer 15

Trepanning was the practice of cutting a hole in the skull to release evil spirits

Question 16

What is amputation?

Answer 16

Amputation is the process of removing a limb

Question 17

What was cauterisation?

Answer 17

Cauterisation was the process of burning a wound to stop the blood flow

Question 18

What was bloodletting?

Answer 18

Bloodletting was losing blood to balance the humours

Question 19

Give 2 religious preventions of the black death

Answer 19

People whipped themselves (Flagullation)
Praying
Attending religious processions
Burning Jewish People

Question 20

Give 2 natural preventions of the black death

Answer 20

People stayed at home
Didn’t mix with others
Ate and drank moderately

Question 21

Give 1 supernatural prevention of the black death

Answer 21

Some people used lucky charms to prevent themselves from getting the disease

Question 22

Give 5 natural treatments of the black death

Answer 22

People ate lettuce and alternated sides when sleeping
Using herbal remedies
Enjoyed themselves (e.g. by drinking alcohol)
Used sweet-smelling herbs to mask miasma
Lancing buboes
Doctors used leeches
Trepanning
Geophagy
Warm baths (Helped to draw in heat and dissolve blockages in the humours)

Question 23

What was geophagy?

Answer 23

Geophagy was the act of putting earth-like substances on wounds

Question 24

Give 1 religious treatment of the black death

Answer 24

Praying

Question 25

Give 2 natural causes of the black death

Answer 25

Miasma
People thought just thinking about the black death would cause you to become ill
Looking at people with the disease was also believed to make you ill

Question 26

Give 2 religious causes of the black death

Answer 26

People believed the black death was the result of God deserting mankind
The black death was believed to be sent by God, to cleanse one’s soul of sin
God’s punishment to mankind

Question 27

Give 1 supernatural cause of the black death

Answer 27

Misalignment of planets

Question 28

Give 1 natural diagnosis of the black death

Answer 28

Physicians used urine charts - they believed there was a correlation between the colour of a patients urine and the black death

Question 29

What was miasma?

Answer 29

Miasma was bad smells from rotting food or decaying bodies - people thought this caused disease

Question 30

Give 5 reasons why there was continuity in ideas about the cause of disease

Answer 30

Most people followed the Catholic Church
There was a lack of scientific knowledge
Most people could not read or write
Learning came from the church - the church controlled education and universities
Wars between rivals caused disruption to education
Physicians were trained in universities
Books were handwritten and expensive and most large collections were owned by the church
The church was afraid of new ideas that might challenge their power
The church taught that disease was sent by God to test their faith
All new ideas were checked against the bible
Many people were superstitious and believed in the devil, hell, and the power of planets
The church didn’t allow dissection of human bodies

Question 31

Who were hospitals ran by, and why was this problematic?

Answer 31

Hospitals were ran by monks and nuns
They aimed to care for the sick, but not cure them - they saw this as God’s job

Question 32

What were the roles of monks and nuns in hospitals?

Answer 32

Nuns would perform a nursing role
Monks saw to the spiritual welfare of the patients

Question 33

Who was often rejected from hospitals?

Answer 33

Insane and pregnant patients were often rejected from hospitals

Question 34

What was an endowment and what percentage of churches were funded by one?

Answer 34

An endowment was money left for the setting up of a hospital, they were funded by rich people
70% of hospitals were funded by an endowment

Question 35

Hospitals were quite successful for people not suffering from terminal disease, why?

Answer 35

Hospitals were a good place to rest and recover
They were kept clean - bed linen and clothing of patients were regularly washed

Question 36

What percentage of hospitals were owned and ran by the church?

Answer 36

30%

Question 37

How many hospitals were there by the 1500’s?

Answer 37

There was an estimated 1,100 hospitals by the 1500’s

Question 38

Give 2 advantages of hospitals

Answer 38

1) Bury St Edmund’s was famed for its healing powers. It had at least 6 hospitals to cater for lepers, the infirm and the old.
2) Hospitals were a good place to rest and recover.
3) They were kept clean - bed linen and clothing of patients were regularly washed.
4) Recovery in a hospital was proof that God existed and that prayer worked in healing patients
5) Patients who had a chance of recovery were able to see the altar and even participate in Church services from their beds, to help with the healing of their souls.

Question 39

Give 3 disadvantages of hospitals

Answer 39

1) By the 1500’s, there was an estimated 1,100 hospitals. These ranged in size from offering a few beds to hundreds.
2) Patients would share beds unless they were dying and female.
3) Many hospitals didn’t actually treat the sick. Instead, they offered hospitality to travellers and pilgrims.
4) About 30% of the hospitals in England were owned and run by the church. They were run by the monks and nuns who lived in nearby monasteries. Nuns would perform a nursing role. Monks saw to the spiritual welfare of the patients.
5) Focus was placed on caring for the sick, rather than curing disease. The church believed that diseases had been sent by God as a punishment for sin, so only prayers could cure it.
6)
70% of churches were funded by an endowment, a rich person had left money for the setting up of a hospital.

Question 40

Give 3 advantages of home care

Answer 40

1) Although many hospitals were established in medieval England, the vast majority of sick people were cared for at home.
2) Women were expected to care for their relatives and dependents when needed.
3) Women would make the patient comfortable, preparing restorative foods and mixing herbal remedies.
4) Women would also be responsible for the garden, in which they were expected to grow various plants known for their healing properties, such as marigolds and clover.
5) Women had more healing skills than just mixing herbal remedies, keeping patients clean and well fed. They carried out minor surgeries and bleedings.
6) Women served as herbalists, midwives, surgeons, barber-surgeons, nurses and traditional healers.

Question 41

Give 2 disadvantages of home care

Answer 41

1) Records on care in the home were patchy. This is because it was taken for granted that women cared for the sick, so nobody bothered to record it when it happened.
2) Women waged a lengthy battle to maintain their right to care for the sick and injured. The 1322 case of Jacqueline Felicie, one of the many healers charged with illegally practicing medicine, raises serious questions about the motives of male physicians in discrediting these women as incompetent and dangerous.
3) The second development against women was the campaign promoted by the church and supported by both clerical and civil authorities to brand women healers as witches. Perhaps the church perceived these women, with their special healing skills, as a threat to the church.

Question 42

Define public health

Answer 42

Public health is the science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities.

Question 43

Give 3 features of monasteries

Answer 43

-Monasteries had their own drainage and water supply systems
-Water was piped through five settling tanks to purify it
-Dirty water was drained off and used to clean the toilets
-One monk was always in charge of the laver to ensure it was clean and had clean towels
-Most monasteries and nunnaries had an infirmary and an almonry
-Aqueducts brought clean water into cities. They were above ground and separate from sewage.

Question 44

Give 3 features of a medieval town

Answer 44

-Ordinary people found it hard to get clean water to cook, brew and wash with
-Each town was run by a corporation of rich men who had to decide how much sanitation to provide
-People put their rubbing and sewage out on the streets or in a nearby river
-Sometimes houses shared a cesspit, but they often became full and ran over
-Streams often got choked with sewage and the river water was not healthy

Question 45

Describe the government’s response to the black death

Answer 45

-The government had no effective response to the black death
-Some of the government quarantined houses and separated the sick from the healthy
-They considered banning religious processions and preaching, to stop large crowds
-These laws were not fully enforced as local government didn’t have as much power as rich people moved quite a lot, and the church continued to run as normal

Question 46

What was the Regimen Sanitatis?

Answer 46

The Regimen Sanitatis was believed to be written in the 12th or 13th century
It was translated into almost every European language
Its first appearance in print was in 1480
It was a loose set of instructions on how to maintain good health
It advised: regular bathing, excercise, clean air, avoiding dogs, good diet, not eating too much
Regimen Sanitatis means Rule of Health