Middle Ages: Causes of Disease (1 janv. 1250 – 1 janv. 1500)

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Causes of illness and disease:
Supernatural causes - many people believed that disease was a punishment from God for people's sins. Due to the huge influence of the Roman Catholic Church over medicine, they persuaded people that disease existed to show them the errors in their ways, and that they could be cured by praying to God and repenting your sins. This prevented people from trying to find effective causes for disease, and doctors were taught Galen's ideas under the Church.

Miasma - the miasma theory is the idea that bad air caused disease when breathed in. This bad air may come anything foul smelling: human refuse, abattoirs or dead bodies. Galen incorporated this idea into the Theory of the Four Humours, and it became extremely popular in medieval England, lasting until it was replaced by the Germ Theory in 1861. Although incorrect, it prompted people to be hygienic which did help prevent disease from spreading.

Astrology - this was the idea that the movements of the planets and stars were related to illness. Physicians used astrology to diagnose disease between 1100-1300.

While inaccurate, the Theory of the Four Humours and miasma theory were rational - they assumed that disease had a natural cause rather than a supernatural, which meant that people investigated cures for disease as they suggested that we weren't powerless against it.

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