originate from God, rather than through contagion. While these principles were not always consistently observed, they illustrate one of the many ways in which different societies, including those with interconnected cultural and religious traditions, responded to disease. 3.12.2 Religion and medical science
Because the Church controlled every aspect of education, the training received by medieval doctors had to be in accordance with religious teachings. All medical education carried out in universities was strictly in line with the beliefs of ancient physicians like Hippocrates and Galen. No new research was permitted because it was believed that the ancient teachings were complete and could not be contradicted. In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII prohibited the cutting up of corpses, so any attempt to study human anatomy was virtually impossible. This meant that even the most educated doctors had very little knowledge of human anatomy, making treatment of sickness difficult and any form of surgery almost impossible. SOURCE2 shows the limited understanding most doctors were working with. Doctors and priests Priests often took precedence over doctors, meaning that the doctor was permitted to assist only once the praying was finished. If the patient was important or wealthy, there might be a whole group of churchmen to offer prayers — depending on how advanced the disease was, the patient may be dead before the doctor was even allowed in the room. 3.12.3 Religious conflict
SOURCE2 This late thirteenth-century illustration of the human body was meant to display the flow of blood through the body.
By the beginning of the fourteenth century, virtually all of western Europe was Roman Catholic. The Arabic conquests during the seventh century and onwards, and the later expansion of the Ottoman Empire, meant that most of the Middle East and North Africa followed Islam. Christians and Muslims looked at each other with suspicion, largely as a result of the Crusades and the efforts of Spanish Christians to recapture Spain from Muslim control. Since both religions viewed illness as a form of divine punishment, the people of each religion blamed the other for the Black Death when it ravaged their people. Christians also believed the Jewish people were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. There were some unhelpful theories that Jewish people were less likely to catch the plague, and this led to accusations that they were poisoning the wells to make other people sick. This led to pogroms and massacres of Jewish communities (see SOURCE3 ). Despite Pope Clement issuing a decree declaring Jewish people innocent, the persecution continued from 1348 until the early 1350s throughout most of Europe.
86 Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator