Medicine in Britain, c.1250 – present
c1250-c1500: Medicine in Medieval England
1) Disease was thought to have supernatural causes like…
A punishment from God for people’s sins. They tried to cure disease by prayer and
repentance.
Evil supernatural beings, like demons or witches.
Evil spirits living inside someone.
2) Church slowed down progress in medieval medicine.
Church said that disease was a punishment from God. This prevented people from trying to
find cures for disease; all you could do was pray and repent.
They made sure scholars of medicine learned the works of Galen as his ideas fit the Christian
belief that God created human bodies and made them to be perfect. Couldn’t disagree with
Church (religion) at the time.
Church prevented dissection – so medical doctors couldn’t discover ideas about human
anatomy – had to learn Galen’s false ideas.
3) Astrology used to diagnose disease.
Idea that the movements of planets and stars effect the Earth and people, causing disease.
Different star signs thought to affect different parts of the body.
4) Four Humours theory.
Created by Hippocrates.
Body made up of four fluids: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile. They must be in balance
for good health.
Galen developed this – diseases could be treated using opposites.
5) Miasma theory.
Bad air causes disease when someone breathes it in.
Prompted people to do hygienic things, like cleaning the streets.
6) Hippocrates and Galen were influential.
, Their texts were considered important and truthful by the Roman Catholic Church.
Their ideas were taught for centuries after their deaths.
Hippocratic Oath = promise made by doctors today to obey rules of behaviour in their
professional lives.
7) Prayer and Repentance were treatments.
Sick people prayed to saints.
Went on pilgrimages to holy shrines.
Flagellants = people who whipped themselves in public for repentance.
8) Bloodletting and purging.
Used to balance the four humours.
Purging = getting rid of other fluids from the body by excreting.
9) Purifying the air.
People carried posies or oranges around them to counter miasma.
People purified or cleaned the air to prevent sickness.
10) Herbal remedies.
Bought from an apothecary or made at home.
Contained herbs, spices and minerals.
11) Physicians’ experience.
Male doctors who had trained at university for 7 years.
Read ancient texts and books, but had little practical experience.
Only rich afforded to see a physician.
12) Apothecaries and quacks.
Prepared and sold remedies.
Most common and most accessible form of treatment.
Quacks = people without any medical knowledge who sold medical treatments that didn’t
work.
13) Barber surgeons.
Barber-surgeons weren’t doctors, so had little medical training.
c1250-c1500: Medicine in Medieval England
1) Disease was thought to have supernatural causes like…
A punishment from God for people’s sins. They tried to cure disease by prayer and
repentance.
Evil supernatural beings, like demons or witches.
Evil spirits living inside someone.
2) Church slowed down progress in medieval medicine.
Church said that disease was a punishment from God. This prevented people from trying to
find cures for disease; all you could do was pray and repent.
They made sure scholars of medicine learned the works of Galen as his ideas fit the Christian
belief that God created human bodies and made them to be perfect. Couldn’t disagree with
Church (religion) at the time.
Church prevented dissection – so medical doctors couldn’t discover ideas about human
anatomy – had to learn Galen’s false ideas.
3) Astrology used to diagnose disease.
Idea that the movements of planets and stars effect the Earth and people, causing disease.
Different star signs thought to affect different parts of the body.
4) Four Humours theory.
Created by Hippocrates.
Body made up of four fluids: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile. They must be in balance
for good health.
Galen developed this – diseases could be treated using opposites.
5) Miasma theory.
Bad air causes disease when someone breathes it in.
Prompted people to do hygienic things, like cleaning the streets.
6) Hippocrates and Galen were influential.
, Their texts were considered important and truthful by the Roman Catholic Church.
Their ideas were taught for centuries after their deaths.
Hippocratic Oath = promise made by doctors today to obey rules of behaviour in their
professional lives.
7) Prayer and Repentance were treatments.
Sick people prayed to saints.
Went on pilgrimages to holy shrines.
Flagellants = people who whipped themselves in public for repentance.
8) Bloodletting and purging.
Used to balance the four humours.
Purging = getting rid of other fluids from the body by excreting.
9) Purifying the air.
People carried posies or oranges around them to counter miasma.
People purified or cleaned the air to prevent sickness.
10) Herbal remedies.
Bought from an apothecary or made at home.
Contained herbs, spices and minerals.
11) Physicians’ experience.
Male doctors who had trained at university for 7 years.
Read ancient texts and books, but had little practical experience.
Only rich afforded to see a physician.
12) Apothecaries and quacks.
Prepared and sold remedies.
Most common and most accessible form of treatment.
Quacks = people without any medical knowledge who sold medical treatments that didn’t
work.
13) Barber surgeons.
Barber-surgeons weren’t doctors, so had little medical training.
