Medicine - medieval knowledge and information

What different treatments where used to help balance the four humans?

Medieval medicine emphasized balancing the four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Treatments included diet adjustments, bloodletting, herbal remedies, and purging.

What did Alchemists seek to discover and why

Alchemists wanted to discover the ‘elixir of life’so people could live forever

What did Astrologers consult to, to work out what treatments a patient needed?

Astrologers used the ‘Zodiac man’ chart to determine a patient’s health and to guide their treatment decisions.

Who was Galen and what did he believe?

Galen was a Greek physician who believed in the theory of the four humours along with Hippocrates.

What where the main (real) causes of illness and disease in the medieval period?

• Poor diet- malnutrition was common

• Poor living conditions - crowding was common, water was taken from contaminated sources and floors where covered in straw which was a breeding ground for rats

• Famine - harshest was in 1315-17

• War - wounded soldiers were infected

• Towns where breeding grounds for infection and vermin such as rats, leading to the spread of diseases like the plague.

What year was the black death?

The black death occurred in 1347 and lasted until 1351. 40% of the population of Europe perished due to the pandemic.

what kind of medicines where commonly made in the medieval times to help with illness?

Herbal remedies like drinks or ointments where commonly used.

What kind of treatments would barber surgeons use?

Barber surgeons would try balance the four humours using common things like bloodletting and purging however they would also perform minor surgeries like using hot irons to seal wounds

What where monastries like when treating patients?

monasteries where run by nuns and monks. they would try pray to cure patients and would sometimes offer herbal remedies and welfare for patients. However monasteries were mostly used for living spaces for the sick

What was an Alms House?

Almshouses were charitable housing, often built by wealthy individuals or religious institutions, to provide shelter for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled who were unable to support themselves

What ewhere Leper houses?

Leper houses were specialized institutions designed to isolate and care for individuals with leprosy.

what ways was the black death spreading prevented?

• travellers where quarantined and infected families boarded up in homes

• wood was burned in public to help ward off miasma and people would carry nice smelling objects for the same reason

• flagellants to gain gods forgiveness

• wise women or soothsayers were relied upon in local areas to provide herbs and charms to protect people

what 6 different developments where made in the medieval times in attempt to improve public health?

• monasteries where told to follow strict rules of cleanliness

  • toilets over bridges to not leave waste out in the open

• muck rakers where hired to clean the streets

• bath houses

• quarantine laws

• crusades brought back soap from the middle east