The document summarizes medicine and treatments during the Dark Ages in Europe following the Black Death plague epidemic from 1346-1353 CE. Medical practices at the time were primitive and based on ancient humoral theory of balancing bodily fluids rather than science. Common treatments included bloodletting, herbal remedies, and prayer. The plague spread rapidly due to poor hygiene and sanitation practices and an estimated 50% of Europe's population died from the disease.

1. WELCOME TO THE DARK
AGES
By: Jennifer Wong, Stephanie Vargas, Arlene
Dominguez and Anyelic Rosario

2. The epidemic in Europe
● From 1346 C.E -1353 C.E
● Widespread in Europe and Middle East
● 50% of population of Europe died

3. The Bubonic Plague/ Black Death
● Caused by Yersinia
Pestis
● Bubos
● Very contagious
symptoms

4. Pictures of the spread of Bubonic Plague and mode of
transportation

5. Medical ‘techniques’
● Bloodletting
● Non-scientific
treatments
● Plague Doctors

6. How did it end?
● Through practice of Hygiene.
● People build immunity.
● They burned corpses.

7. 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

8. 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

9. Monasteries, Medicine, and Miracles
● Used:
o Prayer
o Laying of hands
o Exorcisms
o Amulets with sacred engravings
● Belief in Miracles

10. Astrology
● Guy de Chauliac believed stars played a role
in healing
● Configuration of the planets:
o Saturn
o Mars
o Jupiter

11. The Four Humors
1. Yellow Bile
2. Black Bile
3. Blood
4. Phlegm
If there was an imbalance
in these bodily fluids, it
was believed that it was
the cause of health
problems.

12. 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

13. 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

14. ● 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

15. ● 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

16. ● 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

17. 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.

18. ● 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

19. Types of Doctors

20. ● 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.

21. 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.

22. Giovanni de Ventura
● The contract of a
Plague Doctor.
● Helped patients but
only if they paid him.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. Matteo fu
Angelo
● Hired 4 times the
normal rate of a doctor.
● Performed autopsies.
● Doctors also served as
‘public servants’.

26. Paracelsus
● Physician and Alchemist.
● Practiced medicine and
was the first physician to
mention the clinical and
scientific use/need of the
unconscious.

27. 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

28. 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.

29. 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

30. 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

31. References
1. 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