Medieval Medicine (AQA GCSE History: Thematic Study (Paper 2: Section A)): Flashcards

According to the Theory of Opposites, too much phlegm (cold) would be treated by eating something hot, such as a hot pepper.

The Church supported Hippocrates' and Galen's theories because their theories did not require human dissection.

Miasma was bad air that people believed carried disease and made them ill.

Medieval people believed miasma was found near swamps, corpses and rotting objects.

To protect against miasma, people carried a locket of sweet smells worn around the waist called a pomander.

One herb or flower used to counteract miasma was lavender (or posies).

Physicians believed that examining a patient's urine could tell them which humour was unbalanced.

One feature of urine physicians checked was its colour (or consistency, or smell).

Physicians compared a patient's urine against a chart, checking its consistency, smell and colour.

True.

Physicians discouraged overeating.

The Regimen Sanitatis was a loose set of instructions from a physician to help patients maintain a healthy life.

One piece of advice from the Regimen Sanitatis still used today is exercise (or do not overeat, sleep, or avoid stress).

The theory that linked good health to digestion was the Theory of the Four Humours.

The Church was said to dictate people's lives from 'cradle to grave'.

The Medieval Church controlled the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

All books in Medieval England were handwritten by monks.

True.

The Church approved every medical text a physician used for his education.

According to the Church, if a person sinned, illness could be caused by God's punishment.

The disease people believed was a punishment from God was leprosy.

One religious method Medieval people used to prevent illness was regular prayer (or confession, or leading a morally good life).

Astrology was the belief that the movement of stars and planets could affect a person's health.

Physicians used star charts to diagnose disease using astrology.

It was believed that a 'bad' positioning of certain planets could cause epidemics.

In times of plague, people wore charms to ward off evil spirits.

According to physicians, a person's star sign influenced their overall health and the symptoms they experienced when ill.

Theriacas were a mixture of over 60 ingredients that became popular for treating multiple diseases.

The herbal remedy used to help digestion was aloe vera.

Hot baths were commonly prescribed to melt excessive humours.

The dish made from chicken and almonds, believed to aid the humours because it was warm and moist, was Blanc Mangier.

Blood-letting was releasing blood from a patient to rebalance their humours.

The three methods of blood-letting were cutting a vein, leeches and cupping.

Purging was making a patient vomit or poo to remove 'excess bile'.

An emetic is a bitter herb or poison that forces a patient to vomit.

Using the Theory of Opposites, a patient with too much blood would eat cucumber.

True.

People believed the King had the power to heal.

The King's Touch was believed to be particularly effective against scrofula, a form of tuberculosis.

The King's power to heal came from the Medieval belief in the Divine Rights of Kings.

One religious treatment promoted by the Church was healing prayers (or touching relics, placing an offering at a shrine, fasting, or pilgrimage).

A physician was the most well-trained and respected medic in Medieval times.

The term 'doctor' replaced 'physician' from the 17th century onwards.

A physician attended university for between seven and ten years.

False.

Women were not allowed to be physicians in Medieval England.

Most qualified English physicians did not treat patients themselves because they were clergymen, who were not allowed to deal with things like blood.

One way a physician diagnosed a patient's illness was using the Theory of the Four Humours (or taking urine and blood samples, or using star charts).

While someone else conducted surgery, a physician would read Galen's medical texts.

The herbal remedies that physicians recommended were made by an apothecary.

The only people who could afford to use physicians in Medieval England were royalty and the wealthy.

An apothecary was a Medieval medic who mixed herbal remedies from recipes passed down through generations.

Apothecaries used manuals such as Materia Medica to help treat a patient's illness.

In villages and households, the main source of care for the sick was wise women.

Medieval hospitals were supervised by nuns and monks.

By 1500, there were 1,100 hospitals in England.

The Church owned about 30% of Medieval hospitals.

Medieval hospitals were better at caring than curing.

Medieval hospitals provided rest (or good hygiene, or hot meals).

Medieval hospitals turned away pregnant women (or those with mental illnesses, or infectious/terminal diseases).

True.

The Church banned dissection.

The Church arrested the 13th-century monk Roger Bacon for saying physicians should not trust old medical textbooks.

In the later Medieval period, the Church began to allow the dissection of criminals.

The Church claimed that the criminals had sinned, which had changed their anatomy.

The Church continued to promote the Theory of the Four Humours because it matched Christian teachings.

Bimaristans were Islamic hospitals that tried to cure patients and did not turn away 'undesirable' patients.

Scholars in Baghdad translated thousands of Ancient Greek manuscripts.

Islamic scientists discovered the healing properties of senna.

The three key Islamic physicians were Al-Razi (Rhazes), Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn al-Nafis.

Al-Razi noticed that smallpox and measles were separate diseases.

The Canon of Medicine was Ibn Sina's encyclopaedia of medical knowledge, used as a textbook by European physicians until the 17th century.

The Canon of Medicine listed 760 substances and their medical benefits.

Ibn al-Nafis discovered that blood circulated the body via the lungs.

Ibn al-Nafis' discovery disproved Galen's theory that the liver created all the blood in the body.

True.

Ibn Sina became a physician at 16 years old.

Islamic medical theories had begun to spread in Europe by the 11th century.

The Crusades made some people sceptical of Islamic medical ideas.

Islamic medicine had a limited impact on England partly because the Church actively blocked some Islamic theories.

A barber-surgeon was someone who cut hair but also performed operations such as tooth extractions.

A barber-surgeon learned their skills through an apprenticeship with a master barber-surgeon.

Barber-surgeons were used more often than physicians because they were less expensive.

The three key problems of Medieval surgery were blood loss, infection and pain.

Trepanning was drilling a hole into a patient's skull, believed to release bad spirits.

Cauterisation was placing a hot iron onto an open wound to stop the bleeding.

One natural anaesthetic used by some barber-surgeons was mandrake root (or opium).

Patients were commonly tied to the operating table so the surgeon could perform the surgery.

John Bradmore used honey and wine as an antiseptic to remove an arrowhead from Henry IV's son.

The Guild of Surgeons was created in 1368 by John of Arderne.

Abulcasis invented grasping forceps, a piece of surgical equipment still used today.

True.

Hugh and Theodoric of Lucca used wine to clean wounds.

In 1267, Hugh and Theodoric of Lucca questioned the popular belief that pus was vital for healing a wound.

Public health is how communities manage cleanliness and health for everyone.

A privy was a communal, outdoor toilet used in Medieval towns.

People in Medieval towns put their human waste into rivers and streams, or thrown onto the streets.

True.

Medieval towns had no sewage system.

In 1357, London banned people from placing waste in the River Thames.

Gongfermers emptied cesspits before they overflowed.

Muck rakers swept the streets and removed the waste.

In 1309, the fine for dumping rubbish was 40p.

Fines failed to improve conditions in towns because people simply found other places to dispose of their waste.

Belief in miasma failed to improve public health because people covered up bad smells rather than removing the source.

Monks washed themselves about once a month.

Monasteries were usually built by streams, providing a clean water supply.

Waste from monastery privies was used as manure for growing crops.

About half of Europe's population died of plague by 1351.

The Black Death originated in the Far East.

Buboes were pus-filled swellings that developed in hot areas of the body, such as the armpits.

The Black Death came to Europe via Sicily in 1347.

Many people believed the Black Death was a sign of God abandoning humans because of their sins.

Jewish people could not be blamed for the Black Death in England because the Jewish population had been exiled in the 13th century.

The bubonic plague was spread by fleas on rats, while the pneumonic plague was spread by sneezing and coughing.

It usually took three to five days for victims of the Black Death to die.

Lancing the buboes was more effective because it removed the infection.

Flagellants were people who whipped themselves (self-flagellation) to show God how sorry they were.

True.

People avoided bathing to help prevent the Black Death.

Under new quarantine laws, people new to an area had to stay away from others for 40 days.

Local governments stopped cleaning the streets during the Black Death because they believed the bad smell would drive away the miasma causing the plague.