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Medieval Medicine Facts & Worksheets

Medieval medical practices were mostly based on the ideas and work of the Greek physicians.

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Medieval medical practices were mostly based on the ideas and work of the Greek physicians, namely Galen, Hippocrates, and Aristotle. Unlike today, the quality of the healthcare system in medieval medicine was poor. Their unusual medical practices are now considered unsafe and unsanitary.

See the fact file below for more information on Medieval Medicine or alternatively, you can download our 32-page Medieval Medicine worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Medieval Age

  • The medieval age is known as a time of darkness during modern civilization.
  • The basis of medical practice was Greek tradition.
  • During this time, there were no available public health and education services, and communication was very limited.
  • The people were superstitious as they were not given the chance to attend school and learn how to read and write.
  • The monks were the only ones who were given the privilege of reading and writing.
  • Moreover, it was only in the monasteries that learning was possible and science was freely taught.
  • As years went by, learning started to be prioritized, but there were still problems relating to public health.
  • The Ancient Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians pursued further study and developed medical knowledge.
  • For some time, however, the medical field stopped developing and just started flourishing around the 17th/18th centuries.
  • While it became stagnant during the medieval age, the role of the church flourished in several areas.
  • Due to this, most of the medical knowledge was lost and forgotten.
  • The Roman Catholic belief states that diseases were punishments from God and that those who fell ill were sinners.
  • The church forbade corpses to be dissected and were just pushed to pray and follow the Church teachings.
  • In the hopes of finding cures for diseases, people believed that repentance and pilgrimages could help.
  • People replaced their spells with prayers and used them with herbal medicines.
  • Some monks began healing and even devoted their lives to this.

Study

  • Education provided for the medical field was limited during medieval times.
  • However, universities were established which accommodated students who wanted to study medicine.
  • One of the most famous medical schools built was the school of Salerno, in southern Italy.
  • Although this was founded by a Christian, an Arab, and a Jew, it was free of clerical control.
  • Salerno also allowed women to study medicine. 
  • Another university that offered medicine courses was the University of Montpellier.
  • Anyone who had a medical license was allowed to teach there.

Doctors

  • During the medieval age, it was hard to meet with a doctor as most of them could only be found in large cities and their service was considered very expensive. 
  • Most people opted not to see doctors and just sought treatment from local people who had medical knowledge based on folk traditions and practices.
  • People often went to the local wise women, who were herb gardeners, for treatment.
  • These local women also helped with childbirth.
  • They even went to witches and also barbers who perform dentistry and other operations.
  • The priests, monks, and nuns were also considered healers. 
  • The healing practices provided by these people include superstitions such as the use of stones and lucky charms, religion, and herbal treatment.
  • Eventually, regulations as to who could practice medicine were implemented.
  • Even the practices of pharmacy and medicine were separated.
  • The doctors could only prescribe treatment and give doses while the apothecary, or a pharmacist during the medieval age, had to do the rest.
  • The most famous and significant contributors in the field of medieval medicine were Hippocrates and Galen.
  • Nostradamus and Niall Ó Glacáin were among the most famous medieval plague doctors during the Black Death.
  • Nostradamus treated the victims and gave advice such as to not bleed patients, practice clean hygiene, and remove the infected corpses from the streets and also create a medicine made of rosehips that provided relief to infectees.

Hospitals

  • Hospitals during the medieval age catered for several kinds of people such as the sick, poor, orphans, pilgrims, unsheltered, and people with mental illnesses.
  • Monks and nuns ran monasteries as hospitals too.
  • In 937 CE, the first hospital in England was built by the Saxons.
  • After this, several hospitals were also established.
  • The public health needs of those in wars and the plague also influenced the building of more hospitals.

Treatment

  • Some treatments during the medieval period were mostly based on trial and error.
  • Some cures were harmless but others were considered harmful.
  • The theory of humors by Hippocrates, the father of medicine, was adopted and used to determine what disease the patient had.
  • The theory states that the human body is influenced by four bodily fluids or “humors”, namely yellow bile, phlegm, black bile, and blood.
  • The four humors correspond to the seasons and the elements of the universe and it was believed that they must always stay balanced to avoid being physically and mentally sick.
  • People also believed that astrology, as well as the planets and the moon, played a role in the condition of their health.
  • Popular treatments in the medieval age included bloodletting, sweating, purging, and vomiting.
  • It was also believed that diet was important for treating illnesses.
  • Several different herbs were used as cures too, thus monasteries built wide herb gardens.
  • These herbs were prescribed based on the shape of the plant.
  • For instance, if a leaf was heart-shaped, the herb was taken as a medicine for the heart. 
  • Physicians also made developments in terms of surgical procedures.
  • Barber-surgeons were considered helpful during battles as they helped to treat wounded soldiers, such as by removing arrowheads and setting bones.
  • Antiseptics and anesthetics from plants were discovered by monks and herbalists. 
  • For treating wounds, ointments and cauterization were used.
  • Wines were a also used as antiseptics while mandrake roots, opium, the gall of boar, and hemlock were some anesthetics used by surgeons.
  • Trepanning, or a procedure where a hole is drilled in the skull, was done to cure neurological disorders.
  • Diseases in the medieval period, whether physical or mental, were believed to be caused by demons, while epidemics were believed to be created by a witch or cultural groups different from the usual and majority group.

The Black Death

  • People were not aware of the connection between health and hygiene so this was taken for granted until the Black Death happened.
  • Black Death was a plague epidemic that struck Europe around 1347-1352 CE with an estimated 30 million deaths.
  • It was said to be caused by the bacterium Yersinia Pestis which was carried by fleas on rats and was rampant in dirty, unhygienic places.
  • When infected, a person usually experienced fever, chills, headache, and painful lymph nodes or “buboes” which spread to other parts of the body when not treated. 
  • As doctors did not have knowledge of the bubonic plague, they tried various cures, but the plague killed many people and spread further.
  • For the church, the epidemic was a punishment for humans, thus many people engaged in repentance and self-flagellation.
  • Some turned to witchcraft when the treatments did not work.
  • Other treatments included drinking mercury, arsenic, vinegar, and eating crushed minerals; staying close to a fire for fevers to subside and purifying the air by putting a lot of herbs in houses; aromatherapy; rubbing onions and herbs; animal cures; and doctors also tried bursting the buboes.
  • After some time, quarantine and social distancing were accomplished which decreased the number of infected.
  • A law that required the people to clean the rivers and streets was also implemented.

The Start of the New Medical Era

  • As most causes for diseases before were not known, most treatments were hard to determine.
  • The medieval age was a period of firsts for public health.
  • Medical practices were outdated, inaccurate, and even harmful, which resulted in high mortality rates.
  • However, the mistakes made by the medieval age physicians paved the way for the development of modern medicine that followed.

Medieval Medicine Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Medieval Medicine across 32 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Medieval Medicine which was mostly based on the ideas and work of the Greek physicians.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Medieval Medicine Facts
  • Fill in the Box
  • Matching Type
  • Truth and Lie
  • Medieval Age
  • Medical Practice
  • Infographic
  • Few Lines
  • Health Care
  • Theory of Humours
  • Herbs

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Link will appear as Medieval Medicine Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, November 11, 2021

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.