WELCOME TO THE DARK

AGES

By: Jennifer Wong, Stephanie Vargas, Arlene

Dominguez and Anyelic Rosario

The epidemic in Europe

● From 1346 C.E -1353 C.E

● Widespread in Europe and Middle East

● 50% of population of Europe died

The Bubonic Plague/ Black Death

● Caused by Yersinia

Pestis

● Bubos

● Very contagious

symptoms

Pictures of the spread of Bubonic Plague and mode of

transportation

Medical ‘techniques’

● Bloodletting

● Non-scientific

treatments

● Plague Doctors

How did it end?

● Through practice of Hygiene.

● People build immunity.

● They burned corpses.

What about the rest of the world?

● Epidemic located in China on the Silk Road

● Increased interest in secular medicine

● 50% of world population died

Monasteries, Medicine, and Miracles

● Study of medicine was forbidden

● Disease was ‘cured’ through prayer & divine

intervention

● Past surgical procedures were lost &

replaced with cauterization

● Little to no experimentation

Monasteries, Medicine, and Miracles

● Used:o Prayer

o Laying of hands

o Exorcisms

o Amulets with sacred engravings

● Belief in Miracles

Astrology

● Guy de Chauliac believed stars played a role

in healing

● Configuration of the planets:o Saturn

o Mars

o Jupiter

The Four Humors

1. Yellow Bile

2. Black Bile

3. Blood

4. PhlegmIf there was an imbalance

in these bodily fluids, it

was believed that it was

the cause of health

problems.

Herbalism

● Medicinal use of more than 600

plants

● The original text of Dioscorides

was the basis of herbal

medicine

● Healing potions were used if

herbs didn’t work

Hospitals

● Easiest hospital built in 820, in the

Monastery of St. Gall

● Held 6 people

● Had its own garden for herbal medicine

● Very often, sick people being treated

grew sicker

● People believed that disease was spread by bad odors

● Diseases of the body resulted from sins of the soul

● An imbalance of either humors resulted in a change in personality and a build-up of one could be disposed of by sweat, feces, urine, sneezing and/or tears

● An increase in the population of

towns and cities worsened

hygienic conditions

● The church was very dominant

● Many people sought relief through

meditation, prayer, pilgrimages,

and herbs

● Medical treatment was available to

mainly the wealthy; doctors

practiced mostly in cities

● Treatments ranged from laxatives and

diuretics to fumigation, cauterization,

hot baths, and/or herbs

● Remedies were often herbal, but also

included ground earthworms, urine and

animal excrement

● Early surgery (last resort) was usually

done by Barbers without anesthesia

Diagnosis Diagnosis was influenced by:

● Uroscopy

● Blood Samples

● Pulse

● Astrology

● Physicians diagnosed their

patients by close

examination of their blood,

urine and stools, and

determined their

complexion or balance of

humours.

● Most treatments were given

and done by people outside

the medical field

● It took ten years to qualify as

a doctor in this time period

and there were not enough

qualified doctors to treat the

people of this time

● There were numerous types

of doctors; this depended on

class and money

Types of Doctors

● Elementary song-school:

○ Large church in a

town

○ Sing Latin hymns and

songs

○ Read and write (if

lucky)

● Monastic schools:

○ Taught by monks

○ Religious education

○ Worked as servants

in the monastery

● Grammar schools:

○ Cathedral or large church

○ Latin grammar, Logic (the art

of arguing), and Rhetoric

(the art of public speaking)

● Oxford and Cambridge:

○ Two main centres of learning

in England

○ Young as thirteen

○ Bachelor of Arts degree

○ Master of Arts degree extra

three years

○ Become teachers at the

university.

Michel de Nostradamus

● Told his patients to

drink only boiled water,

sleep in clean beds,

and leave infected

areas ASAP.

● The most known plague

doctor at that time.

Giovanni de Ventura

● The contract of a

Plague Doctor.

● Helped patients but

only if they paid him.

Charles de

Lorme

● Designer of the “Beak

Doctor” costume.

● Believed that the herbs

in the beak would purify

the air doctors inhaled so

they would not get

contaminated.

Thomas Vicary

● English Barber-Surgeon.

● Contributed in the teaching

of surgery.

● Was Sergeant-Surgeon to

Henry VIII

● 3rd author of the 1st

textbook of anatomy

published in English.

Matteo fu

Angelo

● Hired 4 times the

normal rate of a doctor.

● Performed autopsies.

● Doctors also served as

‘public servants’.

Paracelsus

● Physician and Alchemist.

● Practiced medicine and

was the first physician to

mention the clinical and

scientific use/need of the

unconscious.

LET’S TAKE A QUIZ (SORRY GUYS)

Q: WHY DID THE PLAGUE TRAVEL SO

FAST?

A: THEY DIDN’T PRACTICE GOOD HYGIENE

AND HAD NO MEDICAL TREATMENTS

Q: WHAT WERE SOME OF THE MEDICAL

TECHNIQUES THEY USED?

A: BLOODLETTING, INCISION AND

DRAINAGE, AND RELIGION

TRUE OR FALSE

1. If The Four Humors were balanced, people were

more likely to acquire health issues.

2. Dioscorides believed that astrology, the

configuration of the planets Saturn, Mars, and

Jupiter, played a role in healing.

1. Nostradamus F.

2. Charles de Lorme E.

3. Paracelsus B.

4. Giovanni de Ventura D.

5. Matteo fu Angelo C.

6. Thomas Vicary A.

A. Served the king

B. 1st to mention need of the

unconscious

C. The contract of a plague

doctor

D. Only worked for money

E. Creator of the “Beak

Doctor”

F. Known for his great advice

to people

Fill in the blank:

The practice and knowledge of medicine was forbidden

because the was more dominant and

believed that were the true causes of the

illness.

Multiple Choice: D. Yay

What are some ways illnesses were diagnosed?

A) Stool, Body fluids, Smell C) Astrology,

Hair, Skin

B) Uroscopy, Astrology, Blood Samples D) All of

the above

References1. Lyons, Albert S. "Medieval Medicine: The Dark Ages." Medieval Medicine:

The Dark Ages. World Health Organization, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

2. Goldiner, Sigrid. "Medicine in the Middle Ages". In Heilbrunn Timeline of

Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–.

3. "Medicine in the Middle Ages." Medicine in the Middle Ages. History

Learning Site, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

4. "Nostradamus Was Most Famous Plague Doctor during Black Death

Years." English Pravda.ru. N.p., 09 Sept. 2009. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

5. "The Middle Ages and Health." The Middle Ages. Annenberg Foundation,

n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

6. Thomas, Dr. Duncan P. "Footnotes." National Center for Biotechnology

Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 01 Apr. 2006. Web. 23 Oct.

2014