Medieval Medical Practices Of Medieval Medicine In The Middle Ages

Just as medieval doctors used alcohol and plants to put people to sleep, doctors in the Middle Ages had many fascinating ways of identifying disease. Medieval doctors used many philosophies and theories on the causes of disease, as did many of their ancestors. Such as the "humor" theory and the thought that imbalance was the cause of disease. Medieval medical practitioners did not differ from their classical predecessors on the causes of disease. These medical practices were passed down from generation to generation and influenced much of the medicine of the Middle Ages. Methods in medicine, such as how to diagnose a patient, in medieval times were noticeably influenced by past doctors from Asia, the Mediterranean, and Europe. The identification

History teacher Sims King gives us an account of the kinds of ideas and treatments that medieval doctors used on their patients. "Some believed it was a punishment from God; some believed that foreigners or those who followed a different religion had poisoned the wells; some thought that bad air was responsible; some thought the position of the planets had caused the plague." As we can see, at the time of the Black Death, or the Plague, many of the theories for what caused the plague were rooted in religious tradition. Another cause that people thought of was that people from other religions poisoned their wells. This leaves us to infer that the people of this time were very territorial and self-centered. Blaming other people for their misfortune was a common problem among people in the Middle Ages and before. This shows us that not only were religious medical practices inherited from their predecessors, but behavioral diagnostics such as blame also come from the past. Joshua Mark, a 20th-century scholar and historian, also describes the religious impact on medicine in the Middle Ages. "One's health could also be affected by astrological alignment and, of course, by supernatural agencies such as God, Satan, diverse demons, and the "witchcraft" of marginalized peoples such as gypsies, Jews, and others considered "outsiders" who were thought to possess knowledge of the black arts." As we can see, many methods to diagnose a patient came from ancient predecessors, such as the Egyptians. For example, both the Egyptians and medieval doctors used gods and supernatural beings as causes of illness and included these beings in their diagnoses. For example, during the Black Death, doctors known as "witch doctors''