5.1.3
Religion & Superstition
Religion and Superstition
Religion and Superstition
Religion and supernatural beliefs played an important role in changes in medicine throughout the period.
Christianity
Christianity
- The Church forbade dissections unless they were on criminals that had been executed. This meant that Claudius Galen's mistaken beliefs about the anatomy (holes in the heart and blood being absorbed instead of circulated) could not be corrected. The same beliefs affected Islam.
- But, Christians also believed in creating hospitals with good hygiene to care for the sick.
- Conclusion: Christianity had both positive and negative effects on the development of medicine in Britain.
Islam
Islam
- The Quran's support for scientific discovering and learning benefited medicine.
- Muslim hospitals were better developed than Christian hospitals. After Abulcasis' work, surgery was much more effective.
- Conclusion: In the early part of the period, the Islamic Empire was particularly important for driving medical progress.
Supernatural beliefs
Supernatural beliefs
- In medieval times, beliefs that illnesses could have supernatural causes stemmed from Ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian ideas.
- Astrology, witches and God were all supposed supernatural causes of illness. This was common during the Black Death (1348).
- Subnatural beliefs were common until humanist thinkers such as Erasmus started to argue against them.
- Conclusion: As late as the 1800s, supernatural beliefs can be blamed for slowing progress within medicine.
1Medicine Stands Still
1.1Ancient Egyptian Approaches to Medicine
1.2Ancient Greek Medicine
1.3Medieval Medicine
1.4Religion & Medicine
1.5Public Health in the Middle Ages
2The Beginnings of Change
2.1The Impact of the Renaissance on Britain
2.2Treating Illnesses in the Renaissance
3A Revolution in Medicine
3.1The Development of Germ Theory & its Impact
3.2A Revolution in Surgery
4Modern Medicine
4.1Modern Treatment of Disease
4.2New Diseases & Treatments in the 20th Century
5Themes in Public Health
Jump to other topics
1Medicine Stands Still
1.1Ancient Egyptian Approaches to Medicine
1.2Ancient Greek Medicine
1.3Medieval Medicine
1.4Religion & Medicine
1.5Public Health in the Middle Ages
2The Beginnings of Change
2.1The Impact of the Renaissance on Britain
2.2Treating Illnesses in the Renaissance
3A Revolution in Medicine
3.1The Development of Germ Theory & its Impact
3.2A Revolution in Surgery
4Modern Medicine
4.1Modern Treatment of Disease
4.2New Diseases & Treatments in the 20th Century
5Themes in Public Health
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