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Medicine in Britain, c1250–present

Ideas about the cause of disease and illness, c1250–c1500

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

Illness as God's punishment or test, the Devil, astrology in diagnosis, supernatural and rational explanations, the Theory of the Four Humours and Hippocrates, Galen's Theory of Opposites, miasma, and why Galen's authority lasted so long.

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Key term

Besides God, which supernatural being was blamed for illness in the Middle Ages?

Key term

What is the difference between a supernatural and a rational explanation of disease?

Key term

What did the Theory of the Four Humours say caused illness?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What did most people in medieval England think God was doing when he sent an illness?

    Model answer

    Punishing them for their sins, or testing the strength of their faith.

  2. 2

    Besides God, which supernatural being was blamed for illness in the Middle Ages?

    Model answer

    The Devil, who was thought to send disease or take possession of a person, especially in cases of mental illness.

  3. 3

    How was astrology used when a medieval physician made a diagnosis?

    Model answer

    He checked the position of the planets at the moment the patient was born or fell ill to decide what was wrong and when to treat it.

  4. 4

    What is the difference between a supernatural and a rational explanation of disease?

    Model answer

    A supernatural explanation blames God, the Devil or the stars, while a rational one looks for a cause in the body or the surroundings.

  5. 5

    What did the Theory of the Four Humours say caused illness?

    Model answer

    Illness came when the four fluids of the body fell out of their proper balance.

  6. 6

    Name the four humours.

    Model answer

    Blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile.

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