Phishfood

A quote from A Short History of Medicine (or via: amazon.co.uk) by Erwin Ackernecht, M.D

"The great religious movement of the sixth century B.C, based on the teachings of Buddha, had a powerful influence on medicine. It brought about the founding of hospitals in India many centuries before Christianity produced the same effect in the West"

The book itself is a brief read, and I highly recommend it. There isn't much of an extensive bibliography, though, so I couldn't really do anything to provide a source for his information other than listing the books he recommends as further reading for each chapter.

Phishfood

Monastic monks recorded and translated medical texts, but didn't really put them into practice per se. They had their own theory of medicine; illness was either the result of sin or possession, or witchcraft. Therapy consisted of prayer, penitence, and assisstance of saints. Every cure was basically regarded as a miracle. Monk doctors like Hrabamus Maurus and Strabo, rather than deny the connection of sin to disease, tried to compromise. According to St. Hildegard of Bilgen, a 12th C. abbess, it was important to strengthen the body physically to withstand the attacks of the devil. Monastic medicine came to a close in 1130 at the Council of Clermont, which forbade medical practice by monks because it was too disruptive an occupation for a monk. The new era of medicine after this is known as Scholastic medicine, and is heavily influenced by Arab science. Medicine thereafter would be tought in schools or universities for the first time.

Again, from A Brief History of Medicine. A synopsis, not a quotation. Other references could be given, if interested.

Ray Moscow

Yes, more references would be interesting.

I understand that Ibn Sina's books were translated into Latin by a monk, but where were these ideas applied -- or resisted?

By this period (ca 13th century) it seems that medicine was pretty much a secular activity, but what was church policy to this sort of "pagan medicine"?

Ray

aa5874

Antipope Innocent II, in order to be called a 'Saint' in the RCC, even today, performing miracles is a fundamental criteria. It should be obvious that miraculous events were prominent features of the Medieval Church and this, in effect, would stiffle advancement by science.

So whenever you see Sainthood attached to any one's name, you can be reasonable sure that such a person represents the advancement of miracles according to the Scriptures.

Phishfood

One good one would be David Riesman's The Story of Medicine in the Middle Ages (or via: amazon.co.uk). An oldie, but a goodie.

To James Hannam you could find many references to pre-christian hospitals in the book by Ackerknecht.

Also, in regard to the taboo against dissection, there really wasn't one. Dissection and autopsies, and some surgeries were practiced by Egyptians, Babylonians, and Aztecs (non-exclusively). Even during the late Middle Ages dissections occurred, and occurred increasingly after the 13th century in Florence, Montpellier and Avignon during the Black Death (1349, and at the express wish of the pope). The problem was that the strict adherence to tradition and authority, including poor medical knowledge all-around, prevented any new knowledge to be gained. The autopsies/dissections were carried out under a physician's supervision, and a student would do the carving while the physician read from the anatomy text(almost assuredly Galen's) and pointed out the five-lobed liver and other gross (meaning macro, not unsightly) anatomical organs. There just wasn't that much to see or know.

Clivedurdle

Glastonbury Abbey has a fascinating kitchen and discusses the fact that ill monks got fed properly, and how the monk's refectory ended up in the hospital! (Maybe hospitality is the real contribution of the church!)

Friar Tuck is probably the main contribution of the church to medicine!

You would have thought God would have left a tiny clue somewhere about soap and washing hands!

Gawen

One wonders at the Romans with their advances (heavily borrowed from the Greeks) in medicine, surgery, drugs and water/wastewater infrastructure (which helped keep at least water-borne disease down). How this is all forgotten during the dark ages is beyond me.

Clivedurdle

These were of course very common throughout the Dark Ages!

http://fascinatinghistory.blogspot.c...s-in-rome.html

Steven Carr

Galen regarded 'animal spirits' as working in the body.

Spirit, of course, being an element - a material substance that was ethereal.

Christians later came to take spirit as being an immaterial entity.

I'm not sure if that held back medical progress or not.

Clivedurdle

That change of definition - from material to immaterial spirits - sounds like it might be very important in the evolution of xianity and the kata disussions.