History & Classics
Document Type
Poster Presentation
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Subject Area
History & Classics
Start Date
11-4-2014 12:00 PM
End Date
11-4-2014 1:00 PM
Sponsor
Vivian Deno (Butler University)
Description
Medical history has recently been growing as a field of study because of the strong advancements occurring in medicine. Many have studied the progression of modern medicine from Ancient History through to the Renaissance, but little attention has been given to the true effectiveness of medicine right before it was transformed within the 16th and 17th centuries. In analyzing the success of European medieval medicine on the patient, we can start to understand the evolution of healing since the first recitings of the Hippocratic Oath. Through the use of popular texts like Stere Htt Well, The Mirror of Jaume Roig, and The Medieval Women's Guide to Health, this research will try to decipher whether the learned physicians or the common healers in the medieval ages had the most effective practices towards healing. The thoughts of other historians are split between whether or not the practices (religion, astrology, humorism, and midwifery) were actually helpful for the ill. It is through the documented opinions of the patient for us to find the truth. Although it is difficult to know whether or not the judgments from patients have been altered by bias, there are still efforts being made to find the true opinions hidden in the contracts that still survive. Sadly, many of these voices cannot be recaptured. With the Bolognese contracts used in this argument along with the texts mentioned above, I propose that both the learned and the common healers had effective practices for healing the sick.
Charms, Prayers, Concoctions, and Pilgrimages: The Effectiveness of Learned Medicine versus Common Medicine During the Medieval Ages
Indianapolis, IN
Medical history has recently been growing as a field of study because of the strong advancements occurring in medicine. Many have studied the progression of modern medicine from Ancient History through to the Renaissance, but little attention has been given to the true effectiveness of medicine right before it was transformed within the 16th and 17th centuries. In analyzing the success of European medieval medicine on the patient, we can start to understand the evolution of healing since the first recitings of the Hippocratic Oath. Through the use of popular texts like Stere Htt Well, The Mirror of Jaume Roig, and The Medieval Women's Guide to Health, this research will try to decipher whether the learned physicians or the common healers in the medieval ages had the most effective practices towards healing. The thoughts of other historians are split between whether or not the practices (religion, astrology, humorism, and midwifery) were actually helpful for the ill. It is through the documented opinions of the patient for us to find the truth. Although it is difficult to know whether or not the judgments from patients have been altered by bias, there are still efforts being made to find the true opinions hidden in the contracts that still survive. Sadly, many of these voices cannot be recaptured. With the Bolognese contracts used in this argument along with the texts mentioned above, I propose that both the learned and the common healers had effective practices for healing the sick.