Medieval healers and hospitals

During the Middle Ages, basic health care and any curative treatments were primarily managed at home by family members, but when needed, outside help was sought. Early on, there was neither a controlling medical elite nor any particular standard for those who practiced healing. Most healers combined their work
with another profession, and few were actually trained in any form of medicine. University training for physicians began to be available to a very few starting in the 12th century.

When hospitals began to appear, they were originally rest places for travelers;only later were they dedicated to a place for the ailing.
If a nonfamily member was called in to treat a patient during
this time, a sick person in western Europe might have been treated
by one of three types of healers: a folk healer, a clerical leader, or
a surgeon. A folk healer (also known as an empiric, a term used
by university-trained physicians to refer to nonuniversity trained
practitioners) made up the largest category. These healers learned
techniques from each other and through trial and error. Clerical
leaders were the second group of nonfamily members consulted
for medical advice; for them religion came fi rst, and prayers for
healing often trumped any actual hands-on medical care. Surgeons
were the fi nal type of medical practitioner. In many communities,
surgical duties were assumed by the barber because of his basic knowledge of how to stop bleeding if a person was cut during a shave. In communities where there was enough need,
some barbers quit providing haircuts and shaves and devoted
themselves to serving as a town’s full-time barber-surgeon.
By the 12th century, universities began to offer medical training
to a very small group of men. Eventually some level of licensing
came into play within the fi elds of medicine and surgery, and
this provided some guarantee of a minimum level of training and
education. Even during the latter part of the Middle Ages when
physicians began to attend universities, there were actually very
few schools, and those that existed tended to graduate only fi ve or
six individuals each year. Because there were so few people who
emerged with these advanced degrees, few people would have had
access to a university-trained physician.
This chapter examines the various types of healers, ranging
from folk healers to those who were university trained. Apothecaries,
surgeons, and barber-surgeons were also important to healing,
and eventually hospitals were helpful, fi rst as places to isolate
the sick and only later on to provide better health care.