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Medieval Medicine
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Much from the medieval
time period is surprising. Innovations in architecture,
warfare, commerce and the arts began during this time
period and have had profound influences through history.
Yet while advances were made in some areas, this was not
true across the board. Perhaps the one area that could
have most benefited society, but saw little improvement,
was that of medieval medicine.
While the Greeks and Romans had done a great deal of work
in the field of medicine, little of their knowledge made
it through to the medieval times. A generally poor understanding
of the body, a population explosion and unsanitary conditions
in many medieval cities, made sickness and illnesses quite
common. This led to one of the worst illnesses/epidemics
in history, the Black Death, which claimed the lives of
nearly ½ of the population of Europe.
Part of the problem was that the spread of infectious
disease was not understood. It was widely believed that
bad odors caused sickness. Antibiotics were also unheard
of. Generally, there were two beliefs in regard to health.
According to the Church, if one was to get sick, it was
believed the illness was a physical manifestation of some
sin or weakness of the soul. To combat this, people meditated
or prayed in hope of regaining their health. Needless
to say, this was not often effective.
 The other view was that the bodies’ operation was
governed by four systems of “humors” that related
to the four basic elements, earth, water, air and fire.
According to this belief, the “humors” had to
be in balance. If a person got sick, to make them better,
balance had to be restored. To restore this balance, bloodletting
where blood was drained in an effort to bring back the
lost balance, was a common, albeit largely unsuccessful
practice. Not surprisingly, medical treatment from trained
healers was primarily available to the wealthy, many times
consisting of herbal remedies. Since the bodies’
operation was not really understood, these herbal remedies
could sometimes be worse than the illness as they sometimes
included poisons, urine or excrement. Barbers were also
the first surgeons, though the concept of anesthesia was
virtually unknown.
The “trained” physicians would examine a patient’s
blood, urine or stool to diagnosis a patient’s illness.
In addition to balancing the “humors,” complex
surgeries such as brain surgery or the cataract removals
were sometimes performed. Though these surgeries often
failed, they were sometimes, surprisingly so, successful.
Other medical practitioners were folk healers, monks and
even saints. Women often practiced as healers, though
later their role was prohibited. Hospitals first appeared
during medieval times, led largely by the monastic order
know as the Knights Hospitaller. Their fighting experience
made them very skilled in the treatment of trauma type
injuries.
While medical care could be found during medieval times,
quality medical care was rare to nonexistent. Despite
the work of some, such as Da Vinci in the later medieval
period, advancements in medical science were not made
and accepted until many years later.
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