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Medieval medicine, c1250 to c1500
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In medieval England, ideas about disease came from ancient Greek doctors and from the Church. Both shaped how people were treated.
Ideas about causes
Supernatural: disease as a punishment from God, or caused by the position of the planets.
The Four Humours: from Hippocrates and Galen. The body has four humours: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Illness happens when they are out of balance.
Miasma: the idea that bad air from rotting matter causes disease.
The Four Humours: from Hippocrates and Galen. The body has four humours: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Illness happens when they are out of balance.
Miasma: the idea that bad air from rotting matter causes disease.
Why ideas did not change
The Church controlled education and supported Galen's ideas, which fitted with belief in a designed body.
Doctors learned from old books, not by testing ideas. Challenging Galen could be seen as challenging the Church.
Doctors learned from old books, not by testing ideas. Challenging Galen could be seen as challenging the Church.
Treatments and the Black Death
Treatments aimed to rebalance the humours: bloodletting and purging. Prayer and pilgrimage were also common.
The Black Death reached England in 1348. People blamed God, the planets and miasma. Some flagellants whipped themselves to show penance.
The Black Death reached England in 1348. People blamed God, the planets and miasma. Some flagellants whipped themselves to show penance.
Explain why the Church slowed down medical progress.
- The Church controlled universities, so it controlled what doctors learned.
- It promoted Galen's ideas because they fitted Christian beliefs.
- So doctors were discouraged from questioning old ideas or experimenting.
Answer: It controlled education and discouraged challenging Galen.
Medieval causes: supernatural, Four Humours, miasma. The Church backed Galen and controlled learning, so ideas changed slowly. Treatments tried to rebalance humours. Black Death 1348.
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