Prevention of Disease in Medieval England (Edexcel GCSE History): Revision Note

Disease Prevention in Medieval Britain - Summary

• Most medieval people did not understand how disease spread, so they could not prevent illness

• The Church’s power blocked the progress of scientific and logical methods of prevention

  • Monks handwrote books for distribution

    • Books that disagreed with religious ideas were not published

• People trusted Galen or accepted that illness was God’s will

• Those who attempted to prevent illness used the same natural and supernatural ideas as causes and treatments

Natural prevention

Hygiene

• People believed looking after your body helped prevent illness

• Regimen Sanitatis was a loose set of instructions provided by a physician to help patients maintain a healthy life. These included

  • Exercising

  • Avoiding overeating

  • Sleeping well

  • Avoiding stress

• Regimen Sanitatis included less logical advice, such as:

  • Breathing eastern or northern air

  • Avoiding barking dogs

  • Staying on good terms with neighbours

Diet

• The Theory of the Four Humours linked health to digestion

• Physicians discouraged overeating

  • Rich diets caused diseases like dysentery, which killed King John in 1216.

• Some people purged regularly to avoid illness by:

  • Using laxatives

  • Vomiting

Purifying the Air

• To counteract miasma, people used:

  • Herbs such as lavender

  • Flowers such as posies

• A pomander was worn with similar sweet smells for protection

• Local authorities disposed of rotten bodies by removing them from the streets

Supernatural prevention

• Many believed that staying healthy was a matter of following God

  The Church encouraged:

  • Regular prayer

  • Confession

  • Leading a morally good life 

• By completing these actions, medieval people believed they would avoid illness