Progress:
Leechbook of Bald
Churches libraries
Urine charts
Universities
Islamic, Arabic & Christian Hospitals
Continuity and Regression:
Belief that God sent the Black Death as punishment for sin
Flagellants
Theory and the opposite humours
Astrology, zodiacs
Bleeding charts
Blaming Jews for illness
Loss of the roman pubic health system
Only monks could read and write
Kings Evil and the Royal Touch
Slide 2
Medical knowledge
All the ancient knowledge of the Greeks and Romans had been lost due to war, libraries literally burnt down. Galen was the only text supported at this time by the Church which is why we make no progress during the middle-ages. The church forbid dissection as it was believed that you need your body in the afterlife and so Galen's ideas couldn't be challenged. In the University lectures were very basic on medical knowledge. Many medieval doctors said that disease was caused by demons sin, miasma, the planets movements, stagnant water and the Jews. Unfortunately the great public health system was destroyed and the architects were lost to re-design the structures. This means that public health in the middle ages had dramatically regressed.
If you ever ponded why the women always stand on the inside of the path, it dates back to the 15th century. The second floor on houses used to over hang, so the women would stay under shelter avoiding the dropped waste whilst the men got covered in it all. where people drank, fished and washed clothes out of. Cesspits, where waste got stored was polluted into rivers. Open drains ran through the middle of the streets carrying away waste that was chucked out of windows leading to rat attraction. Butcher's threw out animal carcass' into the bare street and live animals were also kept in the streets e.g. Horses.
Slide 4
The Bubonic and Pneumonic plague reached Britain in 1348 and wiped out 1/3 of the population. together. Healthy people abandoned their villages and whole towns were deserted. Even parents abandoned their sick children to die.Why did the Black death spread so easily in London?
People ate fish from the polluted water
Open sewers and drains ran through the city
Toilets emptied above the river Thames on a bridge (if you were rich enough)
Butcher's held carcass' in the streets
People threw toilet waste out of their windows onto the streets
People urinated in the street
Crowded houses
Live animals kept in pens In the street
Supernatural
Flagellants ( These frequently whipped themselves in group so god would pity them and forgive them for their sins and take away or not give them disease.)
Praying
Charms
Natural:
Pop your boils/buboes
Blood let
Drink mercury and vinegar
Strap chickens with shaved bums to your boils
Kill all cats & dogs
Kill a toad, sundry it, hold it against your boils and watch the poison get sucked out
Slide 6
Astrology
Ideas of astrology in medieval Europe were a long way from today's star sign horoscopes. Although some medieval astrologers were thought to be magicians, many were highly respected scholars. Astrologers believed that the movements of the stars influenced numerous things on earth, from the weather and the growth of crops to the personalities of new born babies and the inner workings of the human body.Doctors often carried around special almanacs (or calendars) containing star charts, allowing them to check the positions of the stars before making a diagnosis. Many of these almanacs included pictures which helped to explain complicated ideas to patients. The picture above shows a 'zodiac man' from one of these almanacs. The almanac dates back to 1399. The diagram was intended to explain how the astrological formations (or star signs) rule over each part of the body. The man's pointing finger serves as a warning against the powerful forces of the stars.By the end of the 1500s, physicians across Europe were required by law to calculate the position of the moon before carrying out complicated medical procedures, such as surgery or bleeding.
Leechbook of Bald: The leech-book contained mainly charms, some of them poetic, and recipes for treating ailments afflicting humans and livestock, such as lice, boils, stomach-ache. The book's sources include ancient medical texts passed on from Roman times, some via Arabian sources--Arab traders apparently were key suppliers of ingredients. Urine charts: Usually, they examined the colour, smell and taste of the patient's urine, and made an on-the-spot guess as to what they might be suffering from. Pictures from the time make it clear that doctors also did clinical observation, and took their patient's pulse.Elves: Elves thought as the devil's helpers were blamed for shooting invisible arrows to cause them illness.Worms: It wasn't illogical for them to blame worms for illness since they probably spotted worms in their faeces.
King's evil and the royal touch: A touch by the King Edward The Confessor was believed to heal a skin disease called Scrofula.Barber-surgeons: These were major battlefield surgeon during the constant warfare in the middle ages. Surgery progressed here as new injuries were constantly being discovered- therefore new methods of treatment. They most commonly blood let.. Apothecary: is someone who sells medicine, typically herbs.Quacks: An unqualified healer, they conned people into buying false medicine.
