Middle Ages Doctors

Middle Ages Doctors - How did Doctors of the Middle Ages tend to their Patients?
How did Doctors of the Middle Ages tend to their Patients? The beliefs about the causes of illnesses were based on the ancient teachings of Aristotle and Hippocrates. The Middle Ages doctors paid attention to a patients bodily fluids, which were called Humours, or body fluids. The body of the patient was viewed as a part of the universe. There were four  humours which directly related to the four elements and in turn the human body. Physicians diagnosed their patients by close examination of their blood, urine and stools, and determined their complexion or balance of humours. Middle Ages doctors related the Humors to the condition or illness of the patient and treated them accordingly:

Humours

Element - Body Fluid

Fire - Yellow Bile
Earth - Black Bile
Air - Blood
Water - Phlegm

The Middle Ages doctors tried to ensure that the four humors were properly balanced - this led to the practice of bleeding the patient or applying leeches to suck the blood of a patient. An extract from a manuscript from the 1200's stated the following:

"Several kinds of medicine may be good such as diet, drink, hot bath (whence sweat is growing), with purging, vomiting and letting blood. These taken in due time, not overflowing each malady
and infection is withstood."

The astrological signs of the zodiac were also thought to be associated with certain humours. 

What types of doctors were there in the Middle Ages?
What types of doctors were there in the Middle Ages? To qualify as a Doctor of Medicine took ten years  so the numbers of such fully qualified physicians remained comparatively small during the Middle Ages and there were not enough qualified doctors to treat the numbers of people. Medicine was administered by different people during the Middle Ages. The type of doctor depended on the class and whether money was available to pay the fee.

• Middle Ages Physicians
  Only the very wealthy would receive the ministrations of a Middle Ages Physician who would have received an education at one of the Universities

• Middle Ages Surgeons
  Inferior to Physicians these had a similar reputation to the barbers with whom they associated and belonged to the Company of Barber Surgeons

• Middle Ages Barbers
  The Barbers were inferior to the Surgeons, although they also belonged to the Company of Barber Surgeons. They were only allowed to pull teeth or let blood

• Middle Ages Apothocary
  The usual route that most people took was to visit the apothecary, or dispenser of drugs. The Apothocaries belonged to the Grocer's Guild and sold sweets, cosmetics and perfumes as well as drugs

• Middle Ages 'Wise Woman'
  The local 'wise woman' was often the first person contacted by poor people who used various herbs to produce home made medicines and potions

The church played an important role in the lives of Medieval men and women. It was assumed that diseases of the body resulted from sins of the soul. Many people did not bother with Middle Ages doctors instead they sought relief from their ailments through meditation, prayer and pilgrimages.

Important Doctors in the Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, the title of doctor, or of master, which corresponded to it, was comparable to a noble title. Physicians were recognized as a professional class in 1215 and they soon began to form their own guilds. A Middle Ages doctor, or Master was entitled to teach and give lectures at university. A Middle Ages doctor was also entitles to a coat-of-arms and tax exemptions. Important Middle Ages doctors:

Important Doctors in the Middle Ages

Name - Information about the Medieval doctor

Ibn Zuhr aka Avenzoar - Spanish doctor who graduated from Cordova Medical University
Abraham of Aragon - Abraham of Aragon was a Jewish physician specializing in diseases of the eye
Joannes Zacharias Actuarius  - Joannes Zacharias Actuarius was a Byzantine doctor in Constantinople
Arnaldus de Villa Nova - Famous Spanish doctor
Ferrarius - Ferrarius was a Sicilian physician
Moshe ben Maimon - Moshe ben Maimon was a Jewish physician

Women Doctors in the Middle Ages
There were some women doctors in the Middle Ages, although they were not officially qualified. The development of university faculties of medicine excluded women from the profession in the later Middle Ages. But Medieval women doctors were necessary due to the shortage of male doctors, especially during the frequent outbreaks of the Black Death. The names of the women doctors of the Middle Ages have been lost. However any learned women who wrote books were remembered for their contribution to medicine. The  Abbess Hildegard of Bingen wrote the Liber simplicis medicinae (Simple Book of Medicine) in 1160. Another famous woman doctor of the Middle Ages, who wrote about the ailments of women, was an Italian woman known as Trotula - who was referred to as Dame Trot in England.

Middle Ages Doctors
Each section of this Middle Ages website addresses all topics and provides interesting facts and information about these great people and events in bygone Medieval times including Middle Ages Doctors. The Sitemap provides full details of all of the information and facts provided about the fascinating subject of the Middle Ages!