Medicine in the Middle Ages, P2

Shidonna Raven
Jul 23
2 min read

The Art of History

January 1, 2012

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In 65 A.D., Dioscorides, a Greek, wrote his Materia Medica (13.152.6). This was a practical text dealing with the medicinal use of more than 600 plants. In the second century, Galen synthesized much of what has been attributed to Hippocrates. To further his understanding of bodily functions, he performed animal and even human dissections and was able to demonstrate that the arteries carried blood rather than air. Galenic theories had great longevity, prevailing in western Europe until the sixteenth century.

The Arabs were the great translators and synthesizers of medical texts. Many Greek texts were translated first into Arabic and then into Hebrew. Consequently, Arabs and Jews were renowned for the practice of medicine, and Arabic and Jewish doctors were often employed by kings (for example, James II of Aragon [died 1327]).

One cannot overestimate the importance of medicinal plants in the Middle Ages. Although the original text of Dioscorides is lost, there are many surviving copies. His texts formed the basis of much of the herbal medicine practiced until 1500. Some plants were used for specific disorders, while others were credited with curing multiple diseases. In many cases, draughts were made up of many different herbs. No monastic garden would have been complete without medicinal plants, and it was to monasteries that the sick went to obtain such herbs. Additionally, people might have gone to the local witch or to the apothecary for healing potions.

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