Healthcare During Medieval Times Research Paper

Healthcare and Physicians During Medieval Times Healthcare continued to develop throughout the medieval times. A majority of physicians based their work off of astrology and the Church. It was believed that the four elements found on planets were the same four elements found in the human body: earth, air, fire and water. These four elements each paired up with one bodily humor: yellow bile, black bile, blood and phlegm. 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

They were even considered to have a secondary role in reproduction; women only furnished the material needed for reproduction, therefore, they were material basis. During this time period, women were thought of to be incapable of practicing a profession or playing any serious role in society. They were not allowed to practice law or testify in court. It was believed that women should be prohibited from practicing medicine (Prioreschi 505). “Women were technically barred from practicing most forms of medicine since they could not attend the university and qualify for licenses to practice” (Siraisi 265). As a rule, women were not university graduates, they instead belonged to a group of practitioners without training that constituted the majority of healthcare. Another reason men did not want women to become licensed physicians was because the less competition they had, the more money they could charge (Prioreschi 509). Once women were licensed and could practice some forms of medicine, most of them could only preform or treat other women. Unfortunately, women were not the only group of minorities to have to fight for their right to work during the medieval

The microscope was not invented until the nineteenth century; this invention led to the known existence of microbes, and the ideas that they carried disease in the eighteenth century. However, it was not until the nineteenth century when this was accepted (Newman 244). Before the invention of the microscope, many ideas about disease where thought of such as that it was caused by sin, the configuration of planets and the contamination of water and air. These theories led to many different