Explain why there was little progress in medicine during the Medieval period

Explain why there was little progress in medicine during the Medieval period

1. The Church and religion

   • The Church let people believed that if they had a disease that God gave it to them as karma for their sins.
     • People then became Flagellants, these were people who went round whipping themselves so God will forgive them for their sins and cure them of their illnesses.
       • This made people worse as they cut themselves by the whipping. These cuts them got infected which then made them die of infection which hasn't been sorted out.
         • Meaning there was little progress as the church let people believe God gave them diseases.
   • The Church ran the libraries.
     • This meant that they controlled who read the books and learn about the teachings of Galen and Hippocrates.
       • Only 1% of the population could read and write, this was due to the Church controlling who could learn.
         • The Church also made it so the monks were the ones that wrote the books. They wrote the books by hand meaning it would take months to complete a book.
           • Therefore slowing down the process of learning about medicine.

2. The King

   • The King went along with what the church was saying.
     • No one else came up with other ideas about how people got illnesses and how they was cured so he had to go along with it.
       • Because the King believed it other people did. They though that the King was Gods representative so they had to follow what he believed.
         • Because the King wouldn't change his mind neither did anyone else.
   • The King made it so that if anyone went against the ideas of Galen and Hippocrates then they would be imprisoned.
     • Rodger Bacon disagreed with Hippocrates and Galen and he was imprisoned for the rest of his life.
       • This stopped Galen's and Hippocrates' idea being developed and getting cures.

3. Public Health

   • The Hospitals
     • The Hospitals were set up in churches and were run by the church and monks.
       • They didn't give any medicinal treatment, it was all prayers and herbal remedies.
         • All these beds were packed next to each other so diseases were easily spread.
           • The workers in the hospital then also caught the diseases and died.
             • This meant that as doctors were working on the patients they caught the diseases and died so they couldn't record what they found out.,
   • Miasma
     • Some people believed that the bad smells were what caused the diseases.
       • In the streets there would be everyone's waste in piles in the middle of the streets and people though that the bad smells were what gave them diseases.
         • The germs would spread creating diseases but no one knew this as they hadn't discovered germs.
           • Therefore slowing down the progress of medicine in the medieval period.