Medical history: Medieval times

Relics

In faith healing, relics were often important to the process, and if
a possession that was thought to have belonged to a saint seemed
to cure effectively, then myths about the objects grew.

Medical knowledge of the day was inadequate for solving many
health problems, so healing through prayer and divination seemed
like a logical option. Since physicians and healers could be expensive
and were not available in some communities, faith healing
offered advantages. Anyone could pray for help at any time, and
every community had religious leaders to whom they could turn
for this type of healing.

Medicines were used by both empirics and university-trained doctors as part of most treatments. Medications were compounded by the medical healer or physician, or later on, by the local pharmacist
from ingredients kept in an apothecary. Trial and error was very much a part of the treatment process. The results were mixed, ranging from effective (there was some knowledge of good pain killers and laxatives) to harmless (similar to taking a sugar pill with possible improvement from the psychological expectation
of getting better) to dangerous (some remedies—or their dosages— were actually poisonous)

The medieval medical practitioner felt that the key to diagnosing
a person’s ailments was assessing the person’s humoral balance
to determine the nature of the illness and to prescribe the
appropriate cure. This diagnosis rarely involved physical examination
of the patient, which was considered unnecessary, and
of course, male practitioners were prohibited from examining a
female patient.

Diagnosis and treatment Methods

Medieval medical healers and physicians took diagnosis and
treatment of their patients very seriously.

Hospitals in medieval times were not really hospitals in the modern sense of the word. While some offered minor medical care, they were primarily created to offer food and shelter to travelers (“hospital” is derived from the Latin word hospes, which means guest or foreigner). Religious entities were the primary sponsors of
these facilities. A Christian organization, the Knights Hospitaller (later known as the Knights of Malta), established many hospitals during the 12th century in areas through which people traveled on the Crusades so that soldiers and pilgrims would have a place to rest and get food. Over time, the Knights of Malta began to expand its offerings, establishing facilities elsewhere in Europe.

“The Articella” as a Basis for University Teaching

The Eastern Roman Empire preserved a good number of medical texts from Greek and Roman times, where they had been rewritten in Arabic in order to make them more widely available throughout the Islamic Empire.

folK heAlerS

In the early part of the medieval period, folk healers were all that
existed to help anyone who was sick or injured. The term empiric
was used as a pejorative by some during the Middle Ages when
referring to folk healers; while the word generally is used to describe
methodology based on experience, it was used by medieval physicians
to describe those who practiced using skills honed through
experience, but without regard to the science or “deep insight” into
the problem. Empirics made up the largest group of health providers
in medieval Europe, and both men and women were included.
Some of these empirics were generalists; others specialized in one
type of care or another. (Midwives, discussed in chapter 5, would
have been included in this category.) Their approaches to treatment
varied widely, from fi rst-aid measures (simple cleaning and bandaging)
to the use of medicinal herbs or prayers and magic.

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.

The Important Science of Gardening

After the collapse of Rome, city life throughout the Roman Empire
broke down and was replaced by a feudal society, with castles
and a ruling class that oppressed the peasant class. Agricultural
life dominated, but Roman farming methods were less effective
in northern Europe where the soil was less fertile and the climate
undependable.

How Medieval Practitioners Thought Diseas e Was Transm itted

During the Middle Ages there were many theories on what caused
disease to spread. Some thought ailments were caused by the wrath
of God; others thought witches and demons sent illnesses. Many believed in a strong astrological influence on life, and they felt
that the planets and stars sometimes aligned to create bad health
among people on earth.

Overall Health Status of Medieval People

The overall health of people who lived in the Middle Ages was not
particularly good; people were expected to live about half as long
as they do today. Urban dwellers in Italy in 1480 had a life expectancy
of only about 30 years. People who lived in the countryside
might live a little longer, perhaps to the age of 40.

Belief in the Four Humors Continues

The four humors and the importance of keeping them in balance
in order to maintain good health was the most influential of the
theories that were passed down from the Greeks and Romans; it
was actually a dominant factor in medicine until the 19th century.
A physician or healer was to assess the basic composition of each
sick person and then establish a method to rebalance the patient’s
humors for better health. The factors that could affect humoral
balance ranged from diet and the environment to the position of
the stars.

Medical beliefs in Medieval times

The fall of the Western Roman Empire altered the pace of progress
for the people of the medieval era. Parts of Europe were
so disrupted that chaos overshadowed any type of scientifi c or
medical knowledge. In other areas, the culture held together well
enough that some of the medical practices from Greek and Roman
times survived to be passed on to later generations.

Medical history