Transcript File - Ossett History

Medieval Medicine and Treatment
Roman Medicine and Treatment
Hippocrates was a doctor in Ancient Greece and did not
believe that illness was caused by the Gods. He believed:
• That the body was balanced by four humours. If your humours
fell out of balance then you would get ill.
• In clinical observation – this means watching a patient,
observing them and making notes so that you can learn better
and treat other patients with similar symptoms.
• That doctors should respect all life and not try anything on
patients that might be harmful.
• That the best form of treatments came through diet, rest or
exercise.
Galen was a Greek doctor that lived in Rome and did not believe
that illness was caused by the Gods. He believed:
• In almost all of the ideas first raised by Hippocrates about 500
years before.
• His ideas for treatment were different. Galen created the
theory of opposites and that if you have an imbalance in your
humours then you should attempt to rebalance them e.g. if
you have too much phlegm (a cold), eat hot peppers.
• He proved that the brain controlled the body by cutting the
nerves of a live, screaming pig. When he cut certain nerves
coming from the brain, the pig stayed alive but was unable to
scream.
• He wrote over 350 books. His teachings were used long into
the Middle Ages.
Other Roman ideas were that:
• Some thought the Gods caused disease.
• Some thought bad smells caused disease.
• Romans used ideas that they got from countries in their
empire if they appeared to work, for example they used some
of the herbs that the druids used in Britannia (our country).
Medieval medicine did not change much because most people
living in Britain had continued to use druids and herbal cures whilst the
Romans were in control and, although some British would have adopted
Roman ways, most simply continued their old herbal ways.
Honey, onions and garlic were often part of medieval medicines and
we now know that they have some antibiotic qualities (fight infection).
Prayers and pilgrimage were also popular as people in the middle ages
attempted to get better. People also carried lucky charms or had
superstitious rituals such as rubbing snail juice on eyes to cure blindness.
Astrologers would be consulted before operations were carried out.
They thought that body parts were linked to the stars, for example,
according to medieval medics, a head injury should be operated on during
the time of Aries which is March 21st-20th April.
Richer people used physicians who followed the teachings of
Galen and they might use blood letting or purging (making yourself
throw up) to attempt to ‘balance the humours’. They might attach leeches
or open a vein to bleed a certain amount of blood into a bowl with
measuring marks on it.
Churches were a central part of medieval medicine. They had
infirmaries who cared for the sick but also held medicine back by
encouraging prayer and pilgrimiges as treatment.
Changes
Similarities
• Using the star signs to choose when to
operate
• More use of rituals and lucky charms
• The church controlled a great deal of
medical world
•
•
•
•
•
Still believed Galen
Blood letting
Still praying to try to get better
Still using herbal remedies
Still believed in four humours
Roman Public Health
Medieval Public Health
Romans saw a link between hygiene and health so they
No one took responsibility for Roman structures so the Roman
stressed the need for clean water and the need to remove
sewage.
baths and health facilities fell into ruin.
Romans noticed that if you lived near marshes and
swamps you were more likely to get ill, they thought this was
paid for by the city authorities, to provide water from the River Tyburn.
However the pipes cracked, had leaks, the water was often contaminated
and the pipes only provided water for a relatively small amount of people.
due to ‘bad air’ which they called Malaria.
Roman baths were popular. During a typical visit a person
would:
1) Do some exercise such as wrestling or lifting weights
2) Use the public toilets which had fresh water for cleaning
hands
3) Go in the warm rooms, either steamy and damp or hot and
dry like a sauna. People would scrape their skin (good for
removing dirt) and have massages.
4) Finally, they would go for a cool dip in the baths and leave
cleaner and relaxed.
Other features of Roman public health were:
• The government collected tax and spent some of it on public
health works such as aqueducts.
• The army needed a good standard of hygiene. They also
provided men to build some of the public health works.
• Roads were important for the spread of information and ideas
across the empire.
• Sewers were built by the Romans in some British cities to
remove waste, though most cities and towns had open sewers
in the streets.
• Water pipes were used to pump fresh water to towns such as
Lincoln but most people would still get their water from shared
wels.
Lead pipes were laid in London in the 13 th century and were
Open sewers ran in the streets, animals were butchered in the streets,
rats ran freely around town and although some laws were passed
during times of disease they had little impact. The government found it
too hard to enforce their laws as it wasn’t developed enough.
An examples of a law passed was the 1281 the government which
attempted to stop pigs being allowed in London’s streets.
Rich people often had a good standard of hygiene and had their
own tubs for bathing. They had toilets to keep waste away from living
areas.
Monks and nuns usually had a fresh water supply and had their waste
carried away by streams or rivers.
Towns such as Exeter, Southampton and London had fresh water
pipes. Some towns or wealthy families had large baths known as stewes in
which people would bathe as a social occasion.
Changes
Similarities
• Less use of baths
• No sewage works
• Less government control of
public health
• Roman structures fell to ruin
• The rich had their own baths
• Some fresh water pipes
Roman Medical Training
Medieval Medical Training
Alexandria in Egypt was the main place that medical people
Word of mouth was how many of the remedies and treatments were
went to train because they were allowed to dissect dead bodies.
There was also a well stocked library including medical books
from Greece, India and Egypt.
passed down through generations. However some books were written such
as the Leechbook of Bald.
Books were the main way that people ‘trained’ in the Roman
period, people read books such as the Hippocratic Collection.
followed, rather than the old druid knowledge, because the druids relied
on word of mouth and did not write things down, but the Romans did.
Following existing doctors to learn from watching them was
Books was the main way in which doctors trained in the Middle Ages.
another way.
A lot of the medical knowledge that the Romans brought was
Monasteries and convents had their own libraries and became centres
There was no formal requirement for doctors to be trained
and anybody could call themselves a doctor.
for medical training. To begin with people had to train in the
‘arts’(geometry, astronomy, music etc…) as well as medicine and it took
10 years.
By the 12th century a separate course had been set up based on books
Changes
Similarities
• Libraries in monasteries and
convents so they became centres
for training, rather than just
Alexandria.
• A new medical course had been
set up by the 12th century using
the set of books called ‘Ars
Medicinae’.
• By the 13th century some towns
and cities would not let doctors
set up practice unless they had
several years of training. But
there was no body to check this.
• Galen was still the main basis
of training.
• Books were the main method
for training.
• Following established doctors
was also still the other main
method of training.
called ‘Ars Medicinae’ (Art of Medicine) including some books by
Muslim medics.
Galen was still the man on whom medical training was based. The
church did not encourage people to look for mistakes in his teachings so
his ideas were followed for much of the Middle Ages.
Education and training was largely controlled by the church and
therefore ideas could spread quickly and training centres were available in
many places BUT there were few ideas because they continued to base
training on Galen,.
By the 13th century some towns would prevent a doctor from
practicing medicine unless he could prove that he had completed several
years of study.