Religious Healing

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.

Treatment: Popular Medicines

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)

Diagnostic Methods

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.

Medieval Hospitals

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.

Early Scientists

Albertus Magnus (ca. 1200–80) was a priest born in Germany,
who was educated at Padua and went on to become a fine teacher
in Paris. While a certain degree of science had been used during
the Roman Empire, Albertus was the first European to use the
scientific method. He built his theories on Aristotle and added
to these the idea that there could be the possibility of chemical
change. The church ultimately canonized him as a patron saint
of scientists.