Medieval Medical
History
th
5
to
th
16
Century
 No progress was made in
medical knowledge or
practice
 Blend of Pagan magic and
herbalism
 Anglo Saxons in Britain believed
that illness was caused by “nine
venoms”
 Worms
 Elves
 Witches
Illness treated
with charms and incantations
In the 6th century,
epidemics of
smallpox,
dysentery,
typhus and
plague were
prevalent due to
filth and total
absence of
sanitation.
 The Church didn’t foster medical science
 391 AD: Religious fanatic mob burned
the great library in Alexandria
 The use of
exorcisms and
holy relics were
to cure the sick.
The belief that
illness was due
to punishment
for sins. Priests
again became
healers
Arabs Medical Knowledge
 Moslem Arab Empire extended from
Spain to India
 Medicine began a revival due to Arabs
curiosity
 Learned much about epidemics
 Four major teaching centers
The Arab’s major medical contribution
was chemistry and pharmacology.
Rhazes The Arab Hippocrates based
diagnosis of disease upon observation .
Wrote over 150 books/ medical
encyclopedia
His major contribution was distinguishing
smallpox and measles.
 Rhazes
 (ad 865- c.925)
 was credited with
using animal gut
sutures.
 The major surgical instrument
was the cautery, which was a
red hot iron used to burn out
poison. This was VERY painful,
disfiguring and often fatal
 By 850 AD and
outstanding medical
school was in Salerno.
By the 12th century it
had highly organized
curriculum upon
which students were
examined and issued
degrees to become the
first doctors
 Medieval European
surgeon’s practice
was limited to nobility,
high clergy and
wealthy merchants.
Other patients were
treated by ignorant
barber/surgeons.
 Typhus was flourishing due to
the custom of wearing the same
underclothing which was infested
with fleas.
 Tuberculosis flourished due to
poverty and food shortages.
 Two of the greatest Medieval
diseases were leprosy and
bubonic plague, probably
brought by the Roman soldiers.
Leprosy was one of the few
diseases recognized as being a
result of sins against God.
 The “Black Death” is bubonic
plague. It killed many lepers.
Black death was a term used to
describe the dark mottle
appearance of the corpse due to
hemorrhages beneath the skin.
 It was caused by a bacillus which
grew in fleas of infected black rats.
The disease was devastating.
 Signs and Symptoms of bubonic
plague were:
 Headache, shivering, vomiting,
abdominal pain, and delirium.
 Boils on the joints.
 If left untreated death could occur
in 5 days
 Pneumonic Plague affected the
lungs and caused death in 3
days.
 Septicemic Plague which was
caused by the direct injection of
the bacillus into the
bloodstream by infected fleas.
Death occurred in as little as 24
hours.
 Estimated that 1/3 of Europe’s population
died from Bubonic Plague
 There were 4 additional outbreaks before
the end of the 14th century
 Black death was enough to motivate
additional learning in medicine