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Galen's Four Humors During The Elizabethan Era

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He was able to compile all significant medical thoughts from Greece and Rome, too. In addition to that, he also incorporated his own discoveries and theories, foremost of which to Hippocrates’ work on the humoral basis of disease. This illness was thought to be the result of an imbalance of the four humors known as blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile (Hajar, 2012). Galen was the one who best endorsed the four humors. He referred these specific qualities to temperament or temperature. These qualities are thought to affect temperament such that the term is defined as the mixture of moisture and heat according to Galen. Moreover, in Galen’s treatise of On temperaments, he presented an optimal temperature in which all the four qualities …show more content…

Such behaviors does not only simply preoccupied the highest class of the societies or the elites. Shakespeare also made references to Galen in the fictional character named Falstaff. He referred to Galen in Henry IV, I. ii. 133, one of Shakespeare’s five references to Galen. These explicit references proved how this Galenic doctrine played an absolutely dominant role in the popular understanding of the human body during the Elizabethan era. Along with Shakespeare, Chaucer also made explicit use of the four humors. He related this doctrine to astrological lore for many components of characterization. This includes a person’s appearance physically, one’s goals and motivations, social position and profession and particularly one’s behavior under stress. The Galenic doctrine had become a rather primary metaphor in order to understand human life (Draper, …show more content…

Imagine the fame of Galen even into the most celebrated persons across different civilizations who also made big impacts on medicine. He was the source of breakthroughs which renders a ripple effect to other people who would also bring great breakthroughs until today. Some of them are also inspired by his works that they also surpassed his standards. With this thought, we then proceed to another chapter in which another contribution of Galen made another impact. This is now his contribution regarding the circulation of

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Galen who was an ancient Greek physician who believed that food from the alimentary canal was converted into blood in and by the portal veins. “If a man take no other food for a prolonged period he will have blood in closed in his veins.” (Document 5) Later, Robert Boyle noticed that Valves in the Veins gave free passage to the Blood towards the heart, but opposed passage to the venal blood the contrary way. Robert Boyle’s discovery proved that Galen’s theory was incorrect which proves science is not always right.

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Galen used elements to explain illnesses and diseases. He said that your blood/air was hot and wet, yellow bile/fire was hot and dry, black bile/earth was dry and cold, and that phlegm/water was cold and wet. Galen called these ‘humors’, he said when you have a proper balance you were considered to be healthy and when you had an improper balance it was suspected that there was a disease present. In 1668 a man named Hermann Boerhaave was born.

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It also affirms the Muslims’ aspiration towards better lives for themselves, describing how the Arab leaders wanted their illnesses treated by competent doctors, not by random citizens. This prompted the establishment of a medical examination for potential doctors, which definitely had a positive effect on the Muslim medical field, based on the incredible medical advances made during this time. All of these advances also resulted in the creation of many new medical books. Document 3 describes a multi-volume medical encyclopedia, The Canon of Medicine, that was particularly influential. These books, once translated into European languages and passed onto the doctors of Europe, was the standard for medical knowledge in schools until the 18th century, proving how advanced the Arab’s medical discoveries were for their time.

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Vesalius’s discoveries were the basis of human anatomy, he was the first to specifically and accurately explain the human body, which is crucial to current medical and anatomical understanding. Vesalius has proven Galen wrong numerous times as “Vesalius discovered that the skull’s mandible consists of bone which contradicts Galen’s predictions that the mandible was two separate bones in the head” [Source 11] and “The sternum has three parts, not seven as Galen claimed on the basis of ape dissections.” [Source 10] This indicates Vesalius was continuously trying to improve as he continuously corrected what Galen and people believed was correct.

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Many people do not realize how fortunate they are to have the medical advances and medical technology we easily have the right to use. People from many years ago did not have specialized doctors and medicine to cure their diseases that we easily have access to today. (Ramsey) Many civilizations used what they thought to be alleviating processes, but medical experts today know now were pointless and dangerous. Among these people were the Elizabethans.

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Logan Pieper Mrs. Lloyd English 4 21 February 2023 Entertainment of the Elizabethan Era Today children and adults can entertain themselves at the click of a button on televisions, phones, and computers. The technology of today was not available during the Elizabethan Era. The entertainment choices also changed according to one’s financial status. Compared to the lower class, the wealthy had many more opportunities. Due to the lack of modern technology, the upper class of the Elizabethan Era spent their free time playing cards, hosting meals, dancing, going to festivals, participating in tournaments, hunting, and other activities.

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The Galenic “non-naturals” in today’s world can be described as patients controlling: their food intake and what they drink, the amount of sleep they get and when they wake up, amount of exercise compared to rest, normal regularity, and their mental health/stability. All of these played a big role in how Galen produced his type of disease treatments. Most of these in that medical era became known as bleeding, purging, cupping, blistering, starving, and taking high doses of medicines. Galen thought that disease could be treated by bleeding patients out for several times a week, as this would rid them of the condition. He also felt that mixed drugs were an important part of treatment because then all of the ingredients are getting at the

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Imagine having to have leeches all over your body to cure a sickness, or having to look out your window and see dead bodies everywhere. This is highly unusual to happen nowadays since we have better medicine and doctors. However, people in the Elizabethan Era weren’t so fortunate. They depended on local doctors and herbs to help them survive any type of disease or illness. Theses two things however did little to help 25 million people survive the most notorious disease to ever hit the middle ages, the black death.

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In order for the human body to work properly, the element and humors must be in harmony. Physicians used theories from astrologist, beliefs from the Church, almanacs and charts to diagnose and treat patients. Christ was the first and most important physician. He was considered as a physician to heal sinners while priest

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It is often said that the downfall of a man is tied to the vastness of his ego. In William Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 1, it is evident that a character’s values can be uncovered through a psychoanalytical lens. This can be seen through the individuality and actions of the characters. Ultimately, the contrast between Prince Hal and Hotspur’s superegos reflects their moral standards and ideals.

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A Greek physician named Galen came up with the Humoral Theory. The Humoral Theory is the theory that good health relies on a balance of your blood, bile, phlegm, and black bile. Humors are influenced by what they eat or drink. Drinks reflect a combination of moisture, cold, hot, and heat.

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258 Words | 2 Pages

slamic medicine followed the system of humoral pathology developed by Hippocrates. This healing system envisions the body in terms of humors-blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile, corresponding to the elements of the natural world--fire, air, water, and earth. Each bodily humor possesses two natures. For example, blood is considered hot and moist, phlegm cold and moist, yellow bile hot and dry, and black bile cold and dry.

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The sardonic modulation in the speaker’s voice indicates that this poem can be read as a gently ironic poem about Jennings’s own poetic procedures, about the indecision depicted in many poems between meekness and commitment. The persona she creates is a feasible source for the unusual utterances she makes about the inept Persephone irresolutely moving between the two worlds, waiting for the precise “moment” when the symbol will combine form and meaning. She “would certainly hibernate if she could.” She would withdraw into the symbol, into the world of extreme aestheticism, but she knows that in order to write poetry, she must remain committed to the world of experience, the subject matter of her poetry. The inept Persephone could be considered as an avatar of the poet who knows that if the mind

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And many theories for the cause of disease and illness were heavily based on the four humours. These classical ideas were the basis of many medical students – everything they learnt typically linked to Galen or Hippocrates teachings one way or another, hindering their advances in medical training. However, I believe to a large extent that a number of individuals during the 16th and 17th century challenged these popularized beliefs and had a big impact on medical training.

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Physicians, and Medicine During the Elizabethan Time The Elizabethan time period was from 1558 through 1603 known as the Renaissance. During the Renaissance there was not any running water, so people would have to throw their waste in the streets. With people’s waste in the street came many illnesses including The Plague. Even a minor scrap could kill you in the next minute.

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