How far did medical ideas from the Ancient World continue to be used
in the Middle Ages?
Many ideas that were developed in the Ancient World continued to be used
in the Middle Ages. The works of Galen and Hippocrates were translated
from Arabic into Latin and taught at the few universities that existed.
Students at these universities were encouraged to explore the works and,
in some cases, to challenge them. Whilst some changes were made the majority
of ideas were transmitted through the Roman Catholic church and became
the bedrock of ‘taught’ medicine. In the main, these ideas were those
put forward by Galen and Hippocrates. The reason why these teachings were
not challenged more frequently is partly due to the way in which the church
was viewed at the time. Unlike the modern world where an idea can be challenged,
in the Middle Ages it was considered to be heresy to challenge the authority
of the church and so few people chose to criticise teachings and most
simply accepted what the church said as being right.
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Title: The survival of Galen’s ideas
Duration: 02:06
Description: Galen wrote over 250 books in Greek, which spread through
the Roman empire. In 410 the empire collapsed. The separation of the old
empire into Latin west and Greek east meant his ideas weren’t studied
in the west, but did survive in the east to be read by Arabic nations.
The west would not read his works again for over 200 years.
External
links to BBC Class Clips.
See this page on Hippocrates’
work and the theory of the four
humours.
See this page on Galen’s work.
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Title: Christianity and the re-emergence of Galen’s ideas
Duration: 04:15
Description: A monk known as Constantine the African, in the Monte Cassino
monastery, Southern Italy, spent his life translating Arabic texts he’d
discovered as a Muslim trader, prior to his conversion to Christianity.
One book was by Galen, which Constantine translated into Latin so western
scholars could read it. The Christian church liked his ideas which promoted
the human body as the best design, as this fitted beliefs that God’s creation
was perfect. The church passed Galen’s ideas to universities, leading
to a resurgence of Galen’s work.
External
link to BBC Class Clips.
