Medieval Medicine In The Middle Ages

When we hear the word medicine, doesn't that imply it is a remedy to cure a sickness or disease? Medicine is used to restore our faith, hope, and most importantly, our lives. For hundreds of years, medicine has been known to cure many people including those who had barely an ounce of life left. However, as the Middle Ages progressed, medieval medicine became popular among people even though it was killing them instead of healing them. One example is the Black Death. As this horrible disease was spreading rapidly in Central Asia and Europe in the 1320s, thousands of people were dying and were in need of help. Some practices of medieval medicine were Phlebotomy, or bloodletting; which consisted of leeching, cupping, and venesection. (Livingston) Although patients often died because of infections, the loss of consciousness, and cutting of arteries, which caused
"According to this theory, the human body had four humors: yellow bile, which was hot and dry; blood, which was hot and moist; black bile, which was cold and dry; and phlegm, which was cold and moist." (Corzine 59) These four humors were also linked with the four elements of the earth: fire, air, earth, and water. If someone was deeply ill, physicians believed that the humors in the body were imbalanced. If the humors were balanced, then the person would be perfectly healthy. Certain emotions were also used to distinguish people who had an excess of a certain humor. "An individual's temperament was determined by the predominance of one or more of the humors." (60) For example, for a person who had too much blood, they tended to act happily. If they were dull, they'd have too much phlegm and if they had too much black bile, physicians would "prescribe a hot and wet medicament." (Bruccoli 440) However, physicians often used Phlebotomy to cure these humor imbalances in a person but instead of curing, they were killing them