Religion was a hindrance to the development of medicine in the Middle Ages. - Discuss

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Emma Austin, 2nd October 2004

Examen: Religion was a hindrance to the development of medicine in the Middle Ages.

Religion in the Middle Ages was not entirely a hindrance to the development of medicine. In some ways it improved it but also held back the development. I shall discuss Christianity and Islam (as they were the leading religions) to support this.

When the Roman Empire collapsed very few organisations were left. One of these was the Christian church.

Christianity hindered the development of medicine because priests said that God caused sickness and faith, saints and prayer seemed effective cures. They also relied on charms and herbal remedies. They believed that “to buy drugs and consult with physicians doesn’t fit with religion”. Because of this there was hardly any study of medicine or training of doctors in Christian Europe until 1200. The development of medicine was hindered because the Christian religion did not allow them to buy drugs and believed that religious ways were more effective cures. In 1200 Universities were built and controlled by the Church. This meant teachings were according to the Bible and other medical books such as Galens (Galen’s religious beliefs also restricted him as he could not dissect a human body. To find out more he dissected animals and believed in these findings. However some were incorrect, as most animals are different to humans). Scholars there did not start new ideas but only taught old ones (which they tried to update) as the Christian Church was opposed the study of the human body, and, believed firmly that Galen was right. They would not allow people to question his ideas. They were also against people charging for medical treatment, as it was part of their duty as Christians. This hindered the development of medicine as there were no new ideas but only old ones were kept alive (and some of these theories were incorrect).

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Christianity, which was a strong organisation, improved the development of medicine because their clergy could read Latin and kept medical ideas of Galen. This meant they were not forgotten and they could carry on using and teaching these (however, as I mentioned above, some of these theories were incorrect). They believed it was part of their religious duty to care for sick but this had no major affect on the development of medicine until 1200. There was more trade and better farms which meant there was the option of more herbs for medical treatments and possibly more exotic treatments.

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