How far was the progress made in medicine by the Romans continued in the Middle Ages?

  

Progress in the fields of medicine and public health during the Roman period included Galen’s anatomical research; the building of Baths, Aqueducts, Toilets and Sewers; the maintenance of libraries which stored the texts of Hippocrates and the Theory of Opposites. However, progress was still made in the medieval period; the building of hospitals and a  more formal training of doctors in universities was introduced; new methods of diagnosis were also invented, for example urine chart analysis. Nevertheless, there was very little progress in the scientific areas of medicine and this led to stagnation in most areas.

Progress did continue after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5^th century. Hospitals were built by monks and nuns in order to care for the sick, old and weak. The largest of these Hospitals was the Hotel Dieu in Paris. These Hospitals gave a basic standard of care which could be given to anyone in need of it. Monks and Nuns provided a warm bed for patients in addition for hot food and water. As Hospitals were institutions funded by the church supernatural healing also played a large role in the care of patients. A formal training of physicians was introduced. The training took place at a university and consisted of reading texts featuring Galen’s experiments; however, the training was very costly and women were not allowed to study. The introduction of formal training for doctors and the building of Hospitals were fundamental in providing a basis of care for patients, which is still used today; therefore some progress did continue in the Middle Ages.

However, there was evidence of stagnation. The same ideas about the causes of disease and illness along with treatments changed little. During the Roman era doctors thought that illness was caused due to an imbalance of the 4 humours (phlegm, black bile, yellow bile and blood). Galen then further developed these ideas and came up with the theory of opposites which was a way of restoring the balance of the humours, for example bleeding or purging. These ideas were still widely used during the medieval period as Galen’s ideas were widely accepted by the church, as they thought he was an early Christian, who controlled all education during the time. These theories show an element of continuity among the transition of medicine from roman to medieval, and therefore highlight that medicine did not progress much during the Middle Ages.

Following on from the stagnation of progress, there was evidence of deterioration in some areas of care and public health. The public health system built up by the romans which consisted of Baths, Aqueducts, Toilets and Sewers fell into disrepair due to the wars that were being fought and that taxes were used to build defences and armies rather than improve and maintain these valuable structures. Although rulers were fining townsfolk for dumping waste in the streets and affecting the overall cleanliness of the city, these measures were not very successful and many people rather paid the fine than take any consideration on the idea of waste disposal. The fact that education was now controlled by the church meant that new ideas were not accepted and supernatural healing was further encouraged. Anyone who tried to disprove Galen was removed and their work banned, the Church did not allow human dissection as it was classed as desecration and therefore did not allow advances in anatomy. The fact that progress did not continue and that some elements actually deteriorated was highlighted by the church’s control and the lack of consideration by rulers on their part about maintenance of public health systems.

In conclusion, there was very little progress during the middle ages, and most areas seemed to remain stagnant while others became worse. Building of hospitals and formal training of doctors show some progress, while the continuation of ideas used by Galen and Hippocrates show stagnation. In addition, the disappearance of public health structures and the censorship of the church meant that progress and new ideas were not allowed to mature. Therefore, I believe that very little progress was made in comparison to the roman era and that most areas did not change.