1200-1500 Medicine GCSE Edexcel History

what were the 4 humours

1. phlegm

2. black bile

3. yellow bile (choler)

4. blood

what ideas were there surrounding the cause of disease

1. miasma

2. sent by God (as a test or as punishment)

3. an imbalance of the humors

4. unclean streets

5. astrology

why did people believe the 4 humors

insufficient evidence to prove alternative theories

what treatments did people have for disease

1. praying for forgiveness from God

2. herbal remedies which they’d hear worked for a friend

3. blood-letting

4. purging by vomiting or pooing

5. bathing

whose idea was the four humors

hippocrates - invented it by him observing patients and their symptoms

whats the theory of opposites

counteracting the victims symptoms (if they felt hot and dry they should eat smth cool and wet to balance humors)

how did people in these times try to prevent disease

1. praying and paying tithes

2. abiding by the regimen sanitatis

3. purifying the air to rid it of miasma

4. cleaning the streets

who treated the sick

1. physicians

2. apothecaries

3. surgeons

what was a physician

basically a doctor - their main role was to diagnose people and recommend treatments. they used star charts and urine to do so

who were midwives and barbers

they did the treatment a physician would prescribe. physicians were clergymen so weren’t allowed to make someone to bleed

who were apothecaries

they made herbal remedies with knowledge from within, from books and family - they prescribed poisons which was smth a physician couldn’t do

who were surgeons

least skilled of all medical professions but they had steady hands so they did surgery (usually amputations)

what was a hospital like

it was a place to rest and be cared for as opposed to actually being treated

run by monks and nuns who prayed for those in their care

what was care at home like

women would care for those sick and prepare restorative foods and remedies

what was the cause of the black death

came by fleas on rats by ship but, everyone thought it was cats and dogs so they killed all cats and dogs they could find

what was thought to have caused the black death

1. jews

2. punishment from God

3. alignment of the planets

how long did the black death last

from 1347 to 1353 - in that time it killed ½ of the world and caused a wool shortage by attacking sheep

how did they prevent the black death

1. self flagellation

2. praying to god and fasting

3. pilgrimages

4. keeping yourself happy

5. quarantining those who were already sick

how did they try to treat the black death

1. praying to God and asking for forgveness

2. bleeding and purging

3. bursting buboes

4. buying remedies