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Medieval Medicine Flashcards

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1
Q

Who was Hippocrates?

A

A Greek doctor born around 460 BC, known as the ‘father of modern medicine’.

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2
Q

What is the Hippocratic Oath?

A

A promise by doctors to treat patients ethically and keep information confidential.

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3
Q

What is the theory of the four humours?

A

The idea that the body is made of blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile; illness occurs when they are out of balance.

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4
Q

What did Hippocrates encourage doctors to do?

A

Seek natural causes and cures for illness and use clinical observation.

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5
Q

What is the Hippocratic Corpus?

A

A collection of Hippocrates’ writings that spread his medical ideas.

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6
Q

Who was Galen?

A

A Roman doctor born in AD129 who expanded on Hippocrates’ ideas.

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7
Q

What is Galen’s theory of opposites?

A

The idea that illnesses could be treated with opposite qualities (e.g., cold with heat).

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8
Q

How did Galen study anatomy?

A

By dissecting animals like pigs and monkeys.

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9
Q

What important discovery did Galen make about the brain?

A

That the brain controls speech.

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10
Q

What were two of Galen’s anatomical mistakes?

A

He thought blood passed through heart septum holes and that the jaw had two bones.

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11
Q

What supernatural treatments were used in medieval medicine?

A

Prayer, astrology, and trepanning.

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12
Q

What natural treatments did Hippocrates and Galen support?

A

Bloodletting, purging, and herbal remedies.

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13
Q

What role did the theory of four humours play in treatments?

A

Doctors tried to balance humours using the theory of opposites.

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14
Q

How did medieval doctors view symptoms like nosebleeds or colds?

A

As the body’s way of correcting imbalances, e.g., removing excess blood or phlegm.

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15
Q

Until when were humoural ideas used in medicine?

A

Until the 19th century, when germ theory emerged.

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16
Q

Who provided medical treatment in medieval times?

A

Monasteries, local wise women, and private physicians for the wealthy.

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17
Q

What did monasteries base treatment on?

A

Prayer and herbal remedies.

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18
Q

How did local wise women treat people?

A

With herbal remedies passed down through generations.

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19
Q

What kind of training did private physicians have?

A

University education based on ancient ideas like those of Hippocrates and Galen.

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20
Q

What role did the Catholic Church play in medieval England?

A

It was extremely powerful and influenced training of doctors and healthcare in infirmaries within monasteries.

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21
Q

How did the Church influence ideas about disease and treatment?

A

By supporting Galen’s teachings, which aligned with Christian beliefs, and controlling university education.

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22
Q

Why did the Church support Galen’s ideas?

A

Because Galen believed a greater being created human life, which aligned with Christian teachings.

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23
Q

How did the Church help preserve ancient medical knowledge?

A

Monks copied out the works of Galen and Hippocrates, preserving and spreading their ideas.

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24
Q

What was the role of monasteries in healthcare?

A

They provided free healthcare, often by monks, and priests prayed for the sick.

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25
How did the Church control medical education?
It controlled university teaching, which ensured Galen’s ideas remained dominant and discouraged questioning them.
26
What argument suggests the Church helped medicine?
It provided free healthcare and preserved ancient medical texts.
27
What argument suggests the Church limited medical progress?
It discouraged challenging ancient ideas and promoted supernatural explanations like divine punishment for illness.
28
What belief led to prayer being used as a treatment?
The belief that God caused disease and could cure it through prayer.
29
How did Islamic beliefs influence medicine?
The Qur’an encouraged caring for the sick and charity, leading to hospital funding and medical progress.
30
Why was Islamic medicine considered more advanced than in England?
Because it encouraged new ideas, unlike the Catholic Church in England which limited questioning Galen.
31
How did Islamic medical knowledge reach England?
Through Latin translations of works by doctors like Al-Razi and Ibn Sina.
32
Who was Al-Razi (Rhazes)?
A doctor who helped plan the first general hospital in Baghdad and distinguished between smallpox and measles.
33
How did Al-Razi decide where to build the hospital?
By observing where meat took the longest to rot, indicating the healthiest location.
34
What was Al-Razi’s approach to medicine?
He emphasized observation and natural causes, similar to Galen.
35
What did Al-Razi write?
Over 200 books, many of which were translated into Latin and used in European universities.
36
Who was Ibn Sina (Avicenna)?
A doctor and astronomer who wrote 'The Canon of Medicine', promoting anatomy and natural treatments.
37
What was 'The Canon of Medicine'?
A book by Ibn Sina that explored anatomy, human development, and natural treatments.
38
How was Ibn Sina different from earlier doctors?
He built on Galen’s work instead of just copying it.
39
How did the Crusades affect medical progress?
Doctors traveled with Crusaders and learned new ideas from Islamic kingdoms, spreading medical knowledge.
40
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41
What were the extensive public health facilities built by the Romans in Britain?
Public baths
42
What happened to Roman public health facilities after they left Britain?
They fell into disrepair or were deliberately destroyed
43
How were public toilets designed in medieval London?
They were built on a bridge over the River Thames so waste would be washed away from the city.
44
Where did some homes' toilets empty in medieval London?
Directly onto the street below.
45
What did other households use for waste disposal in medieval London?
A bucket
46
How did wealthier individuals dispose of waste in medieval times?
They paid for their own toilets leading to a pit emptied by a **gongfermer**.
47
Where was waste from wealthy individuals' toilets supposed to be taken?
Outside the town or city walls.
48
Where did gongfermers sometimes dispose of waste?
Into the river or another part of the town.
49
What was a consequence of medieval toilet practices?
A lot of human waste ended up dumped on the streets
50
What did butchers do with waste they could not sell in medieval towns?
They would dump it in the streets or the river.
51
How did open drains in medieval streets contribute to waste disposal?
They washed waste down into rivers.
52
What happened to street waste during a dry summer?
It would be left in the streets.
53
What did the poor conditions in medieval towns attract?
Rats.
54
What did the presence of rats eventually contribute to?
The spread of the **Black Death** in the 14th century.
55
What did authorities introduce to try and stop people dumping rubbish in the streets?
Punishments.
56
What was the fine for dumping rubbish in the street in 1309?
40 pence
57
What were butchers banned from doing in the streets?
Slaughtering animals.
58
What new jobs were created in London to improve sanitary conditions?
**Gongfermers**
59
What was the job of a **gongfermer**?
Emptying out **cesspits** and taking the sewage out of the city.
60
What was the job of a **muck raker**?
Removing waste from streets
61
What was the job of a **surveyor of the pavement**?
Removing rubbish and waste from pavements.
62
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63
What was one of the few areas of progress in medieval medicine?
Surgery.
64
Why was there progress in medieval surgery?
The number of wars across Europe (e.g.
65
What was **trepanning**?
A procedure where a hole was cut in the top of someone's skull.
66
What was the purpose of trepanning?
To allow 'bad spirits' to escape the body.
67
What did archaeological evidence suggest about trepanning survival rates?
Some people survived
68
What does the survival of some patients after trepanning suggest about medieval surgeons?
They must have been quite skilled.
69
What was **cauterisation**?
A process used to stop bleeding by heating an iron and pressing it onto a wound.
70
How did cauterisation work?
It sealed blood vessels by burning them.
71
What were the risks of cauterisation?
Severe burn
72
What did medieval surgeons experiment with to reduce pain during operations?
**Anaesthetics**.
73
What were medieval anaesthetics often made from?
Herbal mixtures
74
How was most surgery performed without anaesthetics in medieval times?
Patients were held down while the surgeon operated.
75
Who was John Bradmore?
A surgeon during the reign of Henry IV.
76
What happened to Henry IV's son?
He was shot in the cheek by an arrow.
77
What did John Bradmore use as an **antiseptic** to treat the prince's wound?
Honey and wine.
78
What did John Bradmore invent to help the prince?
A medical instrument to safely remove the arrowhead.
79
What was the outcome of John Bradmore's treatment of the prince?
The young prince made a full recovery and later became Henry V.
80
Why was John Bradmore writing about his methods important?
It communicated his new techniques so other surgeons could learn.
81
Who were Hugh and Theodoric of Lucca?
Italian surgeons.
82
What idea of Galen's did Hugh and Theodoric of Lucca question?
The idea that pus in a wound was a sign that it was healing.
83
What did Hugh and Theodoric of Lucca use to clean wounds?
Wine
84
What did Theodoric of Lucca also experiment with?
Herbal remedies as anaesthetics.
85
What were the basic surgical procedures carried out by **barber surgeons**?
Removing teeth
86
What other role did barber surgeons often have?
They would work with the army to treat injured soldiers during war.
87
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88
What role did monasteries play in medieval English healthcare?
They were crucial in continuing the work of ancient doctors and providing free healthcare.
89
Who could access free healthcare at monastery **infirmaries**?
Local people who could not afford a private **physician**.
90
Roughly how many monasteries were there in England during the medieval period?
Over 1
91
Why were monasteries important for healthcare in medieval England?
They provided free care when no government healthcare existed.
92
What did monasteries preserve regarding medicine?
Ancient ideas about medicine.
93
Who ran monasteries and **abbeys**?
Monks and nuns.
94
What were the general conditions like in monasteries compared to towns?
Cleaner and more hygienic.
95
How did monasteries often get running water?
They were usually built near a river.
96
What was the river used for in monasteries?
To carry away sewage and provide clean drinking water.
97
What did every monastery have that was important for preserving knowledge?
A library.
98
What works did monks copy in their libraries?
The works of **Galen** and **Hippocrates**.
99
Why was copying these works important?
It preserved them for later development during the **Renaissance**.
100
Who was the **infirmary** primarily for in a monastery?
Treating ill monks
101
Who else did monastery infirmaries treat?
People from the local area.
102
Who provided treatment and care in a monastery?
Monks and nuns
103
What was most of the care in a monastery based on?
The belief that illness was caused by God or an imbalance in the **four humours**.
104
What religious practice was performed for patients in monasteries?
Prayers were said.
105
What medical practice did monasteries also perform
based on Galen's ideas?
106
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107
When did the **Black Death** arrive in England?
1348
108
Approximately how much of Europe's population was killed by the Black Death?
Up to half.
109
What is the Black Death believed to have been?
Probably two diseases: bubonic and pneumonic plagues.
110
What were the large swellings caused by **bubonic plague** called?
**Buboes**.
111
Where did **buboes** appear?
Under the armpits
112
How was **bubonic plague** spread?
By fleas living on infected rats
113
How is the **Black Death** believed to have arrived in England?
By rats travelling on ships from China.
114
How was **pneumonic plague** spread?
Through coughs and sneezing.
115
What was the **mortality rate** of **pneumonic plague**?
Almost 100 percent.
116
Why did people in medieval Britain not know the true cause of the Black Death?
They did not know about germs.
117
What was **miasma**?
The theory that bad air spread disease.
118
Besides **miasma**
what other belief about the cause of the Black Death was based on Galen's work?
119
What supernatural belief did some people have about the cause of the Black Death?
**Witchcraft**.
120
What religious belief did people have about the cause of the Black Death?
It was a punishment from God.
121
What did **flagellants** do to try and prevent/cure the Black Death?
Whipped themselves
122
What religious practice was used to try and cure the ill?
People would **pray** for them.
123
What common treatment was used to balance the **four humours**?
**Bloodletting**.
124
What did people carry to avoid the smell of the streets
based on **miasma** theory?
125
What did **physicians** use to try and treat people with the Black Death?
A range of herbal remedies.
126
What was a devastating consequence of the Black Death?
Up to half of the population of Europe was killed.
127
When the plague broke out again in 1665
how did people deal with it?
128
What did the recurrence of the plague in 1665 suggest about the understanding of disease?
There was no greater understanding of the cause of disease than over 300 years earlier.
129
Survival rate for John of Arderne?
around 50%
130
What drug did John of Ardern use?
opium
131
What did John of Ardern write?
Practica 1376

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