soch111 history of healing from visions or divine authority, but are rooted in her experience...

SOCH111 – History of Healing

www.endeavour.edu.au

Session 14

European Medicine Part 1

Department of Social

Sciences

© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 2

Session Aims

o To chronicle the development of medicine

across medieval/early modern Europe, as well

as to understand what resisted development

o To understand the relationship between

religion, culture, disease and medicine in this

time

o To meet the key figures in science and

medicine from this time: Hildegard von Bingen,

Paracelsus, Vesalius, Louise Bourgeois,

Descartes, and Culpeper


Middle Ages in Europe

o Roughly from the fall of the

Roman empire in the late 5th

century to the start of the

Renaissance in the 16th century

o Part or all of this also referred to

as the Dark Ages and/or the

Medieval Period of history

o Seen as a period of regression

in human progress, with little

written records related to

medicine By Sir Gawain - Own work, CC

BY-SA 3.0,

https://commons.wikimedia.org

/w/index.php?curid=5042024

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5042024


Middle Ages in Europe

By Stolichanin - CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37384682



Major Historical Events

o 1054: break of the Christian church into the Roman

Catholic and Orthodox churches

o 1095 – 1291: the Crusades

o 1184 – 1230’s: Medieval Inquisition

o 1315 – 1317: Great Famine/Little Ice Age

o 1337 – 1453: Hundred Years’ War

o 1347 - 1350: Black Plague killed 1/3 of Europe’s

population (and periodically later in the Middle Ages)

o 1453: fall of the Byzantine Empire

o Late 15th century: Spanish Inquisition


Culture and Society

o Christianisation of Europe through the founding of

monasteries and abbeys, dispatch of missionaries

across Western and Northern Europe, and

proselytising

o The suppression of paganism, and conversion of

pagan temples to churches and pagan calendar and

ceremonies to Christian holidays and “traditions”

o Periods of persecution of Jews, with forced migration

of Jewish people from various places in Europe to

what is now Poland and Germany

o Long struggle between Christianity and Islam


Culture and Societyo Europe became the centre of trade and commerce in

the world

o An age of world exploration was launched, and the

start of the age of colonisation and empire building,

which fell mostly in the

later Renaissance

period

By Whole_world-land_and_oceans_12000.jpg: NASA/Goddard

Space Flight Centerderivative work: Splette (talk) - Public Domain,


o Exploration brought

things and people

from around the

world to Europe



Culture and Society

o Movement of the focal point of

education from the monasteries to

Cathedral schools in the high

period and then on to the

establishment of universities in

major cities

o Theology combined with study in

other disciplines and in the late

period, they clashed

o Secular and ecclesiastical laws

were studied and developedPublic Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/

w/index.php?curid=1824711



Culture and Society

o Societal structures shifted from primarily agrarian,

with small and isolated communities, to more

commercial and urban, though agriculture was still

predominant

o Population tripled from 800 – 1300 CE

o Agricultural revolution, originating in Frankish lands

and spreading slowly outward, was the driver of this

growth, as it resulted in a 50% increase in production

o Vast improvements in the diets of the peasant class,

who had previously had little in the way of protein or

iron sources


Diseases in the Middle Ages

o Pneumonia

o Tuberculosis

o Smallpox

o Typhoid

o Diphtheria

o Cholera

o Malaria

o Typhus

o Leprosy

o Anthrax

o Scarlet fever

o Measles

o Bubonic plague

o Trachoma

o Gonorrhoea

o Amoebiasis

o Influenza

o Nutritional

deficiencies


Hygiene

o Contagious miasma were considered responsible in

some places for the plague epidemics, and

quarantine and other efforts at limiting spread of the

illness were instituted in some Italian cities

o The Church had some impact on the prevalence of

bathing, especially public bathing, which was

considered unholy

o But there is ample evidence that people did wash,

particularly their hands before meals

o Soap making was established as a trade in this period


Medicine in the Middle Ages

o A period of greatly slowed

progress in the development

of medicine

o The Church influenced ideas

such as illnesses being the

result of punishment from

God for sins

o Galenic theory and the four

humours dominated medical

thought and practice for the

entirety of the Middle Ages

By Limbourg brothers - Own work, Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid

=108849



Arabic Scholarship – The Bridge

o Arabic scholarship and medical thought flourished

from ~600-1000 CE while European medicine was

stagnant

o Arabic scholars translated and preserved earlier

Greco-Roman texts and brought that knowledge into

Spain on an influx of physicians in the mid-700’s

o Arabic scholars kept to Galen’s theories and practices,

and there was no human dissection on religious

grounds, so little progress with anatomy

o Pharmacy and pharmacology were advanced by the

Arabic scholars beyond the work of Dioscorides


Medical Universities

o World’s first medical school

founded around 1000 CE at

Salerno, Italy

o Directed by the Catholic

Church, teachers were both

priests and secular scholars

o Very eclectic and liberal for

the times, with male and

female students, from

Greek, Jewish, Arabic, Latin

and European backgroundsPublic Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid

=354555



Formalisation of Medicine

o 1140: King Roger II of Sicily

declared that the practice of

medicine could not be undertaken

without formal qualifications,

including passing examinations set

by the university

o 1224: his grandson, King Frederick

II, ruled further that medical training

must consist of five years of formal

studies and a further year of

supervised practice to become

eligible to sit the qualifying exams By Matthias Süßen - Own work,

CC BY-SA 2.5,





Monks, Apothecaries

and Lay Healers

o People generally believed in both

magical/supernatural and physical

causes of illness

o Monasteries had extensive

medicinal herb gardens and monks

were educated to use them

o Apothecaries sold herbs and drugs

o Lay healers were generally local

“wise women” or “cunning men”

By Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia - CC0,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curi

d=27796634



Monastic Medicine

o In monasteries, herbal medicine developed and

evolved over time

o Monks were educated and engaged in basic

experimentation to determine best remedies for

different disease patterns

o They were also botanists, taking significant

time to care for medicinal herb gardens, and

cultivating non-local medicinal herbs


Hildegard von Bingen

o 1098 – 1179

o Rhineland, in modern Germany

o Christian mystic, Benedictine

Abbess, composer, poet, and

healer

o Prolific writer, including a

medical encyclopaedia,

Physica, and a medical

handbook, Causae et Curae

o Botanist and reknowned

herbalistBy Creator:Hildegard von Bingen, Public Domain,




Hildegard von Bingen

o Studied the folk medicine of her country and became

known as a healer with great power

o Stressed the power of prayer and belief in healing

o Her medicinal and scientific writings do not claim to

come from visions or divine authority, but are rooted

in her experience leading the medicinal herb garden

and infirmary at the monastery as well as reading

other sources

o Categorises nine sources of healing: Plants,

Elements, Trees, Stones, Fish, Birds, Animals,

Reptiles, and Metals, each group containing

medicinal components


Revision Questions

o What were the ways that the Church influenced the

evolution of scientific and medical thought in the

Middle Ages?

o What were the most important developments in

medicine during the Middle Ages?

Other food for thought:o How important were the developments in medical

theory and philosophy to the common person in the

Middle Ages?


The Renaissance and Early

Modern Periodo Roughly from the late 15th

through the 17th century

o Seen as a period of revisiting

and expanding on classical

thought, with great advances in

science and philosophy

o A huge revival of art and

literature and shifting of

education away from the church

o Humanism

By Leonardo da Vinci - Leonardo Da Vinci - Public Domain,




Europe in 1600

CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-

sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0


Major Historical Eventso 1534: Henry VIII declares Church of England separate

from the Roman Catholic Church

o 16th – 17th Century: Protestant Reformation and

Catholic Revival, Portuguese and Roman Inquisitions

o 16th Century: printing presses become widespread

through Europe, allowing spread of information faster

and more accurately than ever before

o 1612: East India Trading Company enters first treaty to

gain a presence in India

o 1618 - 1648: Thirty Years’ War, begun in Prague

o 1692: Salem witch trials (Massachusetts)


Scientific Revolution

o Spanned 16th and 17th Century

o Traditional natural philosophy

(from Aristotle and Plato)

merged with mathematics,

geometry, astronomy, optics,

geography, physics, alchemy

and “natural magic”

o Went hand-in-hand with the

humanist philosophy of

mastering the natural worldBy Paul van Somer (1576/1578–1622)

- Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index

.php?curid=19958108



Scientific Revolution

o Copernicus, Keppler and Galileo: heliocentric

model of the solar system

o Newton: law of gravitation and three universal

laws of motion; reflecting telescope

o Gilbert: theory of magnetism

o Gilbert, Boyle, von Guerick: first generation of

electricity

o Lippershey, Janssen and Metius: refracting

telescope

o Van Leeuwenhoek: single lens microscope


Art and Science

o Time of Leonardo da Vinci,

Michelangelo, Raphael and

many other luminary painters

and sculptors

o Balance, harmony and

perspective developed, as well

as a focus on observation of the

visible world and connection to

mathematics

o Da Vinci (1452 – 1519) was far

more than a painter and sculptorBy Francesco Melzi - Web Gallery of Art:

Image Info about artwork, Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.ph

p?curid=15498000



Art and Science

Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org

/w/index.php?curid=59576

By Leonardo da Vinci - Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index

.php?curid=42138639




Diseases of Early Modern Europe

By Bartholomäus Steber - Public

Domain,



o Plague recurred at least once

every generation through the early

1700’s, then disappeared

o Five lethal influenza epidemics

across the 16th & 17th centuries

o More virulent strain of smallpox

appeared in the mid-1500’s and

became more epidemic with higher

death rates

o Diphtheria, whooping cough,

scarlet and rheumatic fever,

syphilis, tuberculosis, typhus



Ravages of Colonialism

o Diseases endemic to Europe but previously

unknown to the rest of the world were spread via

exploration and colonialisation

o Indigenous populations worldwide, having never

been exposed to these diseases, had no immunity

and were consequently impacted with devastating

consequences for their populations

o Impact of disease played a major role in the

success of colonialism, allowing populations to be

more easily conquered


Ravages of Colonialism

o Native Caribbean island people were wiped out by

European diseases, initially influenza

o African slaves brought to the Caribbean to

replenish labour brought African diseases, further

decimated native populations, and the African

slaves would fall to European diseases

o On the American mainland, the initial disease

impact was from smallpox, later influenza

o In the Pacific, tuberculosis and venereal diseases

were the greatest killers initially


Renaissance Medicine

o Major developments in the 16th and 17th century

in the sciences, especially anatomy, physiology

and alchemy (the precursor to modern

chemistry) and loosening control of the Catholic

Church allowed a broader approach to medical

thought

o But very little change for the average person in

the practicalities of how medicine was practiced


Revision Questions

o How did changes in culture, society and religion

during this period impact medical thought and

philosophy?

o What was the continued influence of prior modes of

thinking, including “magical” and “scientific”?

Other food for thought:o What might the world be like today if not for human

exploration and migration of populations?


Paracelsuso 1493 – 1541

o Born Auroleus Phillipus Theophrastus

Bombastus von Hohenheim in what is

now Switzerland

o Father was a physician and chemist

and his early teachers were high clerics

with deep interests in alchemy, theology

and new technologies of the time

o Educated in a humanist framework,

which stressed the unity and

compatibility of truth across all

philosophical and theological systems

Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.or

g/w/index.php?curid=43352



Paracelsus

o First to conceptualise and talk of

specific active chemical constituents

in plants, called arcana, which were

hidden to him

o Also wrote extensively of spiritual

forces operating in the natural world,

the “light of nature”

o Highly interested in toxicology of

plants and other substances—a

famous dictum is attributed to him: the

“dose makes the poison”By Paracelsus - Chemical Heritage

Foundation, Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/in

dex.php?curid=39974969



Paracelsus

One belief was that all diseases are rooted in

one of five Entia:

o Ens Astrale: the influence of the luminaries

(astral bodies) on the body

o Ens Veneni: the influence of toxics in the body

o Ens Naturale: the physical constitution itself

o Ens Spirituale: the influence of spirits

o Ens Dei: the influence of God


Vesaliuso 1514 – 1564

o Considered the founder of

modern human anatomy

o Extensively engaged in human

dissection on executed criminals

and corrected errors that had

persisted since Galen

o 1543: Vesalius published his

treatise on anatomy

By Andreas Vesalius (author), Jan Stephan

van Calcar (illustrator) - Houghton Library

at Harvard University, Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php

?curid=35797054



Louise Bourgeois

o 1563 – 1636, French

o Reputed midwife selected to

attend King Henri IV and

Marie de Medici’s six births

o First midwife to write

extensively on the practice

o Much of her learning could

have been from her husband,

who was a barber-surgeon and

who studied with Ambrose

ParéBy Louise Bourgeois Boursier,

Achille Chereau - Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w

/index.php?curid=14810910



Descartes

o 1596 – 1650, French

o Father of Modern Philosophy

o Developed and promoted

mechanistic views of science

and applied those views to

plant, animal and human bodies

o Body of thought that covered

physical and metaphysical,

epistemological, religious and

moral issues as well as science

By After Frans Hals (1582/1583–1666) - André Hatala [e.a.]

(1997) De eeuw van Rembrandt, Bruxelles: Crédit communal

de Belgique, ISBN 2-908388-32-4., Public Domain,




Culpeper

o 1616 – 1654, English

botanist, herbalist,

astrologer and physician

o Historically one of the most

influential herbalists

o Popularised astrological

herbalism

o Published The English

Physician and the Complete

HerbalBy Richard Gaywood - British

Museum [1], Public Domain,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/i

ndex.php?curid=14674287



Other Major Contributors

o Ambroise Paré (1510 – 1590): French

surgeon and anatomist

o William Harvey (1578 – 1657): English

anatomist who finally stated the correct theory

in great detail for how the heart, arteries and

veins are involved in circulation of blood

o Pierre Gassendi (1592 – 1655): French

philosopher whose successors in the 1670’s

stated the first theory of gas exchange in the

lungs


Other Major Contributors

o Jean Baptiste van Helmont (1580 – 1644):

Flemish chemist, studied chemical

fermentation and made early explanations of

the nature of digestion

o Thomas Sydenham (1624 – 1689): prominent

English physician who believed that diseases

could be classified similarly to how Linnaeus

would later group plants


Revision Questions

o List the distinct contributions of the philosophers of

medicine during this historic time period.

o Identify three aspects of this historic time period that

have left an impact on your ideas of medicine in

history.

Other food for thought:o Why do you think there was difficulty translating new

scientific ideas into practical new diagnosis and

treatment practices in this period?


Referenceso DiStefano, V 2006, Holism and complementary medicine: origins and principles, Allen & Unwin,

Crows Nest, NSW. [ebook available]

o Dunn, PM, Louise Bourgeois (1563–1636): royal midwife of France, Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal

Ed 2004;89:F185-F187, viewed 24 May 2016, <http://fn.bmj.com/content/89/2/F185.full>.

o Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Renaissance: European History, viewed 19 May 2016,

<http://www.britannica.com/event/Renaissance>.

o Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, Europe, 1450 to 1789: Scientific revolution, viewed 19 May

2016, <http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Scientific_Revolutions.aspx>.

o Encyclopedia of World Biography, Hildegard of Bingen, viewed 19 May 2016,

<http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Hildegard_of_Bingen.aspx>.

o Grossinger, R 1995, Planet medicine: origins, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley.

o Internet encyclopedia of philosophy, viewed 24 May 2016, <http://www.iep.utm.edu>.

o Kelly, N et al 2002, Medicine through time, 2nd edn, Heinemann, Oxford.

o Kenneth F. Kiple (ed.) (1993). The Cambridge World History of Human Disease. [Online]. The

Cambridge World History of Human Disease. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

<http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521332866> [Accessed 16 May 2016].

o University of Virginia Historical Collections at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, Antiqua

medicina: from Homer to Vesalius, viewed 24 May 2016, <http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/antiqua/>.

o University of Virginia Historical Collections at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, A brief

history of herbalism, viewed 24 May 2016, <http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/herbs/brief-history/>.

http://fn.bmj.com/content/89/2/F185.full

http://www.britannica.com/event/Renaissance

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Hildegard_of_Bingen.aspx

http://www.iep.utm.edu/empedocl/

http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.endeavour.edu.au/10.1017/CHOL9780521332866

http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/antiqua/

http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/herbs/brief-history/

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