Some medical practises were still used such as bleeding; because they believed in the theory of the 4 humours doctors carried out bleeding often these were usually ineffective for obvious reasons that we know today. Knowledge of anatomy did not progress due to the fact that dissections were forbidden by the church. The only place were dissections were common was in army surgery’s were dissections as well as amputations were carried out but here no major break throughs were made about the human body.
Religious treatments such as praying were brought back by the church; the church insisted it was god who made you ill and therefore you must beg for forgiveness from him if you want to become well again. Also some supersititious treatment were brought back: “for toothache hang the beak of a magpie round your neck” these were offered to people by doctors. These treatments were taken very seriously by the public.
Although many of the major cities that the Romans founded had aqueducts available as well as sewers they were not managed well and most fell into disrepair. The only people who had knowledge of hygiene was the monks who occasionally bathed and changed their clothes. They had fresh water and toilets. These items later spread into the public. This was one thing that the catholic church did that was totally useful as it increased health a lot by having fresh water although it did take them some time to realise this.
The catholic church did not provide anything pacific like hospitals for the sick. Monasteries were the only places that looked after the ill with the occasional physician who treated the very rich for a very high salary “ask of a worth man £40, with a robe and fee of 100 shillings” which is about £200 in modern day. These physicians showed very little medical knowledge at all and many of there patients died from the things they did to them; an Italian poet said “I have died of to many physicians”. Surgery in these times was also poor because of the church people could not carry out dissections so therefore knowledge of the human body was minimal. People cut open pigs to learn about anatomy which wasn’t very accurate. surgeons were generally part time workers they would usually be a butcher or a barber.
European doctors were not all bad they did carry vademecums which were a little reference book which contain supersititious theories such as a zodiac man:
this was the astrological theories behind illness. Each star sign related to a part of the body which is said to affect the person due to there birth sign e.g. During Pisces avoid cutting the feet. Also if a persons star sign was Pisces they would have trouble with their feet. As well as this and other supernatural theories it also contain a urine chart which told the doctor about the persons health due to what shade/colour it was. On the whole doctors in Europe were pritty bad and had little medical knowledge.
Women were not allowed to train as doctors but there were “wise women” who would help the sick and advise them on spiritual cures.
The strict teachings of the catholic church forbid any challenging of Galens and Hippocrates theories and those who did were said to be heretics and didn’t believe in god. This stopped any new theories being brought into the world during this time. The theories of Galen and Hippocrates coincided with the beliefs of god so the church did everything in its power to preserve these theories no matter what.
In eastern Europe and Asia however after the downfall of the roman empire they preserved a lot of their knowledge and under the teachings of Muhammad it progressed into a new civilisation. This new religion of Islam progressed rapidly throughout Asia Africa and some parts of Europe. This vast area was kept together under the Islamic religion and the language of Arabic. This empires capital was Baghdad and their holy book was the Koran which was influential throughout a Muslims life. This is what influenced the progress of medicine throughout this religion. In the Koran it encourages medical study “O servant of god, use medicine because god hath not created a pain without a remedy for it” this is the key scripture as it tells Muslims to study medicine.
As with the catholic church Islam forbid dissections so knowledge of anatomy did not progress a lot here either. Also the challenging of Galens and Hippocrates theories was forbidden aswell. Some Islamic doctors spoke against these theories but none of them were taken seriously and weren’t proved right till a long time after them.
Ibn-an-Nafis said that blood passed through the lungs and not the sternum. The Arab doctors also took time to observe patients and write down there discoveries.
Rhazes was a Persian doctor who analysed the difference between small pox and measles. He wrote over 150 books on many areas of medicine and personal hygiene. He also used plaster of paris to set broken bones.
Avicenna also wrote many books based on Galens theories as well as some of his own. The most famous being “the canon of medicine” which was to be the standard medical book for the next 400 years.
The most famous Arab surgeon was Albucasis. He advised surgeons to operate when they knew the cause of pain and took ‘caution’ as his motto. He wrote about many types of surgery including dentistry.
Unlike Catholics the Arabs did set up hospitals the most famous being Al Mansur in Cairo. As well as looking after the sick in these hospitals doctors were trained there. They had separate wards for male and female patience wit quarantined areas for fevers, eye troubles and wounds.
They introduce pharmacy and new drugs such as benzoine, camphor and myrrh. They also progressed in chemistry with the techniques of distillation and sublimation.
Also paper was invented in china replacing papyrus so therefore Glens work and Arab doctor’s work could be written down with ease and spread around quicker.
The Arabs had a vast knowledge of diet and personal hygiene and knew many herbal remedies which were more effective than the superstitious treatments going on in western Europe. The only restriction was the fact that dissections were forbidden so knowledge of anatomy didn’t progress.
As shown throughout the essay both religions of Islam and Christianity had both positive and negative effects on medical development. Islam had more of a positive influence due to the fact they had more knowledge and dint go back to spiritual theories. The strong beliefs in god asserted by the catholic church restricted progression although the Koran did hold the Islamic doctors back just not as influentially. On the whole both religions helped in the treating and teaching of medical theories. Although neither religions provided for those who wanted to look for new theories/ideas.
By Ben Mendo
