The Life of a Medieval Doctor

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A physician in medieval times lived a stressful existence, contending with the diseases and illnesses of mankind. They were not solely based on physical and mental disorders. Illnesses of the day were as likely to have been caused by spiritual entities as by physical complaints. The doctor of the day had to battle with demons, witchcraft, the signs of the zodiac, other astronomical events, a vengeful God, and earthly enemies. Germs and bacteria were unknown. Viruses were beyond the knowledge and imagination of the man of medicine. Sin presented as a great a cause of human illness as any other, according to the learned of the day.
Many years later, the French wit Voltaire would comment that “the art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease”. The remark describes medieval medicine except that many of the medical practices were far from amusing. Torturing a patient to d***h was a common, though presumably unintended, practice of doctors. It was inevitable in a world in which exorcism was an accepted means of medical treatment. Here are some examples of the world of medieval medicine and the healing arts.
1. The Hippocratic Corpus created the basis of all medicine

Hippocrates, the famed Greek physician from whom the science of medicine stemmed, was in actuality likely more than one person who assembled what is known as the Hippocratic Corpus. This includes the admonition to “Do No Harm”. Under the Hippocratic Corpus, the human body contained four “humors”. These properties reflect those of nature; fire, water, earth, and air. In the body they are hot, cold, dry, and moist. Maintaining a natural balance of the four humors became the key to good health. Unfortunately for mere mortals, the humors were subject to influences from a wide variety of external factors, some of which a person had little control over.

2. Pagan medical practices dominated much of Europe at the beginning of the medieval period

Though the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians all included religious practices as a part of the healing arts – the Greek god Asclepius was a physician, meditation in temples in his name would result in healing dreams – throughout Western Europe pagan practices dominated. It was from pagan beliefs that the healing properties of various roots, berries, and plants emerged, and with them the belief in the mystical powers of some vegetation. Medicine, such as it was, focused on curing illness and physical disorders, there was little interest in prevention. The onset of Christianity absorbed many of the pagan and folk traditions in Europe.

3. The emergence of the Christian Monks as healers and medical specialists

As Christianity took hold across formerly pagan Europe, monasteries established by the various Christian sects became the centers of scholarly study and medicine. The monks, who grew the plants, distilled the liquors, and copied and translated the ancient texts, became the leaders in medicine and the maintenance of health. Often isolated monasteries became the refuge of the residents of nearby farms and villages when illness struck, which was often. The combination of Christian belief and the emergence of philosophy led to the treatment of disease being a combination of secular and spiritual activities. Illnesses were treated with both medicinal nostrums derived from plants, and Christian prayer.

By the middle of the sixth century, ancient Greek texts which referenced the advances of the Hippocratic Corpus were translated into Latin – then the so-called universal language – and the monks also recorded advances in herbal medicines made on their own. As texts were exchanged between monasteries and abbeys herbal medicines available in isolated areas of Europe became known in others, where the necessary plants had been to up to then unknown. In the European monasteries the science of botany was born of the efforts of the monks and nuns. In the texts prepared, accurate drawings of many plants were included, as plants similar in appearance with less valued curative properties were identified and warned against.

4. Universal health care was prevalent throughout the medieval world

In the monasteries and abbeys, as well as the earliest hospitals dedicated to caring for the sick, the driving force behind the delivery of what is today called heath care was charity. In the days of the ancient Greeks and Romans clinics offering care for the sick and injured were established by local authorities, and care was offered regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. The health of the overall community was considered as paramount. The same philosophy was exhibited, though in a less charitable manner, by the removal of the highly contagious – such as lepers – into separate communities away from the general public.

The rise of surgery during the medieval period

Galen had been a surgeon of considerable skill, and his records describing his surgical techniques were a major influence during the medieval period. His skills had been honed in caring for the emperors, as well as gladiators who had been injured in the arena. Galen developed a surgical procedure for the removal of cataracts remarkably similar to the procedure used today. He also developed and practiced brain surgery, including the removal of tumors. By the medieval period surgeons used the surviving texts written by Galen and other practitioners from the ancient world as their guides. Surgery was thus developed based on the practices of individuals among the ancients, rather than standardized by any degree.

Surgeons grew in respect in Italy and France

Italy’s University of Padua gradually expanded its training of surgeons, including the performance of autopsies and dissections of cadavers in the twelfth and thirteenth century. It required its students to study not only anatomy, but diseases and general health. The language of medicine was Latin, meaning students needed to be well-versed in that language, and many of them also resorted to texts in the original Greek. Thus surgeons were among the most well-educated of the time.

Surgeons were limited in their practice in England by law

Despite the advances in surgical and medical training on the continent of Europe during the medieval period, surgeons were still often separate from doctors, and held in lower regard, particularly in England and the Germanic lands. Barber surgeons were far more common than trained surgeons, and they were limited, by law, to performing only specific treatments. Trained surgeons were also limited as to the treatments which they could offer, because surgery was seen for what it was at the time, risky, highly-dangerous, and a last resort (other than bloodletting, amputations, and so forth). The stitching of wounds was allowed, but surgery to remove an implanted arrowhead, for example, often was not.

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Thanks for sharing such an interesting article about medieval doctors.