c1250-c1500: Medieval England

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  • Created by: Yazxo
  • Created on: 28-05-18 15:23

Ideas about the Cause of Illness/Disease

Supernatural & Religious explanations:

  • People in medieval England were very religious and followed the Catholic Church, they attendeed service regularly and were expected to give a sum of money to the Church.
  • The Church used the tithes (money) to pay for the care of the community.
  • A lack of scientific knowledge meant that the cause of illness and disease were a mystery.
  • The Church used religion to answer the questions people had about illness and disease.
  • The Church taught that those who committed sin could be punished by God.
  • The Church taught that the Devil could send disease to test someones faith.
  • It was logical to blame people's sin for for their illnesses.
  • When people recovered, the Church claimed that it was a miracle.
  • Blaming sickness on God acted as "proof of the divine" and provided evidence of God's existence.
  • Miasma was another theory about the cause of disease that was transmitted by "bad air".
  • This was related to God because ad smells indicated sin (this belief continued ito the c.19th)
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Ideas about the Cause of Illness/Disease

Astrology:

  • The allignment of planets and stars was thought to cause some diseases.
  • Astrology was also used to help diagnose what was wrong with a patient.
  • A physician would consult the star charts, looking at when the patient was born and when they fell ill to help identify what was wrong.
  • Many people believed that the Black Death was caused by a bad alignment of the plants.
  • After the Black Death, the Church became more accepting to this idea.
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Explanation for Disease

The Four Humours:

  • In Ancient Greek, people believed that they became ill because when the mix was unbalanced- this idea continued to Middle ages.
  • The Theory of Four Humours was made up of the four basic elements:
    • Fire
      • Choler
    • Water
      • Black Bile
    • Earth
      • Phlegm
    • Air
      • Blood
  • Each Humour was linked to certain that physicians would look for when carrying out their diagnosis.
  • Astrology was considered an important part of the Theory of the Four Humours, as the humours were connected with star signs and seasons.
  • The Theory of Opposites aimed to balanced the humours by giving them the "opposite" of their symptoms.
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The Four Humours

  •      Ancient Name:      Humour:            Season:            Element:        Qualities:  
    • Sanguine               Blood                Spring               Air                  Hot & Wet    
    • Choleric                 Choler               Summer           Fire                 Hot & Dry
    • Melancholic           Black Bile          Autumn            Earth              Cold & Dry
    • Phlegmatic            Phlegm              Winter              Water              Cold & Water
  • Hippocrates was very influential, he dismissed the belief that Gods caused disease- he believed there was a physical reason for illness, which needed a physical cure.
  • Most of his treatments were based on diets, exercise and rest but he also used bleeding and purging to get rid of excess humours.
  • Hippocrates Oath: Doctors swore to respect life and prevent harm.
  • His method of clinical observatioons are used today- study symptoms, making notes, comparing with similar cases, then diagnosing and treating.
  • Galen, a Physician in Ancient Rome liked the ideas of Hippocrates and developed them futher.
  • Galen drew detailed diagrams of human anatomy from operating wounded gladiators and dissecting dead animals.
  • The Theory of Four Homours was very detailed could be used to explain almost any kind of illness.
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Influences About The Cause of Disease

Influences:

  • Individuals & The Church
  • Science & Technology
  • Attitudes in Society
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Individuals & The Church Influence

The Church:

  • They did not like change and they wanted to keep things the way they were.
  • The Churrch controlled the medical learning, it chose which books were copied and distributed.
  • The Church liked the Theory of the Four Humoursnbecauase it fitted with their teachings, so they promoted the teachings.
  • The Church srongly discouraged anybody from criticising the theory.

Individuals:

  • Hippocrates and Galen (Ancient Greeks) were important in the Middle Ages, their books were preserved by Arabic scholars.
  • Latin translations were available in Europe by the Middle Ages.
  • Galen was popular in the Church which meant that his work was promoted.
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Science & Technology Influence

Science:

  • There was a lack of scientific understanding, this meant that new knowledge was limited.
  • Physicians and medical students tried to make new discovers fit into old theories, rather experimenting to explain the discoveries.

Technology:

  • The printing press was the most important piece of technology in the Middle Ages.
  • It invented was towards the end of the Middle Ages, 1440 by Johannes Gutenburg in Germany.
  • Eventhough it was not directly related to advancing Medival medicine, it did lead to much faster and easier sharing of medical texts.
  • It did not have a huge impact during the Medival period.
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Attitudes in Society Influence

Attitudes in Society:

  • Medival people had a strong belief in God  and did not want to risk going to hell by being critical of the Church.
  • Physicians who did follow old ideas found it hard to get work.
  • A "good" physician would follow the Theory of the Four Humours.
  • Many people believed that, since medicine had always been done this way, there was no need to change it.
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Lack of Alternatives

  • There was a lack of scientific evidence to support any other kind of theories of the cause of disease.
  • Dissections were illegal because of the Church taught the body needed to be buried whole for the soull to go to Heaven.
  • Occasionally, physicians were able to dissect executed criminals.
  • The physician would sit a far from the body, reading from the work of Galen, while a barber would cut up the criminal.
  • Since, it was the body of  criminal- it was imperfect, this meant that anything that didn't agree with Galen's teachings would be disregarded.
  • This also meant that the physician never did any examination on the body.
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Approaches to Prevention & Treatment

The Four Humours:

  • Bloodletting was the most common treatment for an imbalance of humours.
  • Different points in the body were used for different illnesses.
  • This was done mainly by barbers
  • Purging was another treatment used to re-balance the humours, this meant the patient had to either vomit of go to the toilet to remove food. 
  • Emetics and laxatives were mixed by apothecaries, wise women or a phsician perscribed the treatment.

Religious/Supernatural Methods:

  • Living a Christian Life- Praying, Going to Church.
  • Carrying lucky charms or amulets.
  • Chanting incantations.
  • Self-Punishment so that God wouldn't
  • Fasting.
  • Going on pilgrmage.
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Approaches to Prevention & Treatment

Rational Methods:

  • Purifing the air.
  • Keeping the streets clean.
  • Bathing & Washing.
  • Exercising.
  • Not overeating.
  • Bleeding & Purging

Traditional Remedies:

  • Herbs that are drank or bathed in.
  • Different foods to re-balance the humours.
  • Ointments to apply on the skin, either home-made or sold by an apothecary.

Supernatural Treatments:

  • Specific ideas for certain illnesses.
  • E.g. Hanging a Magpie's beak around your neck to cure a toothache.
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Approaches to Caring for the Sick

Who Treated the Sick:

  • Barber- Sugeons
  • Care in the Home
  • Physicians
  • Apothecaries

Hospitals:

  • Many hospitals were palced where travellers and pilgrims stayed on their journey's.
  • The number of hospitals increased during the Middle Ages.
  • Many hospitals were run by the `church, so the emphasis was on God and healng the soul.
  • Patients were given fresh food and plenty of rest.
  • Pateints and their surroundings were kept very clean.
  • Usually, people with infectious diseases or incurable conditions were not admitted.
  • Some hsopitals were built for specific infectious diseases.
  • Hospitals were places of recuperation rather than places where patients were treated for disease.
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Treating the Sick

Barber-Surgeons:

  • No training
  • Carried out bloodletting, pulling teeth and lancing boils and cutting hair.
  • Did basic surgery such as amputating limbs (low success rate).
  • Cost less than a physician.

Care in the Home:

  • Most ill people throughout this period were treated at home by a female family member.
  • The village "wise woman" would also tend to people in their homes for free.

Apothecaries:

  • Recieved training but no medical qualifications.
  • Mixed medicines and ointments based on their own knowledge.
  • Cost money but less that physician.
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Treating the Sick

Physicians:

  • Medically trained at universities and passed exams.
  • Diagnosed illnesses and gave treatments or sent them to the barber-surgeon.
  • Expensive, so mainly used by the wealthy.
  • Very few of them, mainly men.
  • They observed a patient's symptoms and checked their pulse and urine.
  • They consulted urine charts in their vademecum.
  • They then consulted the zodiac chart to help diagnose the illness and to work out the best time to treat the patient.
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Black Death 1348

  • The bubonic plague was bacteria that was carried out in the digestive system of flees.
  • It was spread by flea bites.
  • It killed victims in 3-5 days, around 200 people were buried every day.
  • 1/3 of the population in England died.
  • Main symptom was buboes under armpits or goin which was filled with pus.
  • Other symptoms:
    • Chest pains and breathing troubles
    • Fever
    • Sneezing and coughing up blood
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Causes of Black Death

Religious & Supernatural:

  • Many people believed that it was a result of God deserting mankind.
  • It was a punishment for sin in the world.
  • In 1345 there was an unsual positioning of the planets: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
  • Astrologers intrepated this as sign as something wonderful or terrible was about to happen.

Natural Causes:

  • The main cause attributed was impure air, miasma.
  • Breathing in miasma caused corruption to the body's humour.
  • People believed that impure air may have originated from poisonous fumes released by an earthquake or volcano.

Common Beliefs:

  • There were many conflicting ideas about the cause of the Black Death.
  • In Europe, many people blamed the Jewish population.
  • In England, Jews had already been expelled, so they couldn't be to blamed in England.
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Treatments of the Black Death

Supernatural:

  • Confess sins.
  • Ask God for forgiveness through prayer.
  • Once caught, people believed that it was in God's will.

Natural:

  • Physicians tried bleeding and purging- it made people die faster.
  • Physicians recommended strong-smelling herbs like aloe, which were believed to have cleaning properties
  • Lighting a fire and boiling vinegar could drive off the miasma.
  • Physicians/Surgeons would also sometimes lance the buboes- occasionally, people whose buboes burst survived.
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Treatments of the Black Death

Common Beliefs:

  • People held strong Christian beliefs, they would confessed sins and prayed.
  • They wouls seek traditional cures like bleeding.
  • It became clear that neither priests nor physicians were capable of curing the disease.
  • Apothecaries sold remedies and herbs that were mixed in the home based on old recipes.
  • It was uncertain and had unpredictable results, nobody came up with a cure that worked.
  • The Lack of medical knowledge about the cause meant that it was impossible to cure it.
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Preventing the Black Death

Supernatural:

  • The main advice given by priests was for people to:
    • Pray to God and fast
    • Go on a pilgrimage and make offerings to God.
    • Show to God how sorry you are by self-flagellation (whipping).
  • Large groups of flagellants wandered the streets, chanting and whipping themselves.

Natural Means:

  • Escaping the plague was the best advice.
  • If they were unable to escape the plague, then they would carry flowers or herbs and they would hold to their nose, to avoid breathing in the miasma.
  • People were adviced to NOT bathe, they believed that water would open up the skin's pores to the corrupted air.
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Preventing the Black Death

Common Beliefs:

  • One physician recommened doing joyful things; physicians were so desparate that they were willing to suggest anything to prevent their patients from catching the disease.
  • People stopped visiting family members who had caught the plague.

Government Action:

  • Local authorities attepted new quarantine laws were put into place to try to stop people from spreading it.
  • People new to the area had to stay away for 40 days.
  • They considered banning preaching to stop large crowds of people gathering.
  • But the local government did not have the power.
  • The local authorities stopped cleaning the street; they believed that the foul stench of the rubbish and rotting bodies would drive off the miasma causing th plague.
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