1. BGS History
GCSE Revision Tests
The Middle Ages

2. 1) When did the Middle Ages take place?
400 – 1500 A.D.

3. 2) What key word is linked to the Middle Ages?
TRADITION

4. 3) Did medical understanding go up or down in the Middle Ages?

5. The link between dirt and disease
4) There was a key link which the Romans understood about health & medicine. This link was not understood in the Middle Ages. What was it? →
The link between dirt and disease

6. 5) What happened to the Roman Public Health system?It
collapsed!

7. 6) What was the Church’s attitude to dissection and what effect did this have on medicine?
It BANNED it (only 1 or 2 were allowed
per year).
So, knowledge of the
human anatomy was
very limited…

8. 7) The ideas of which Roman doctor dominated the Middle Ages?
GALEN!

9. 8) Give 2 reasons why his ideas dominated for so long. [2]
Galen spoke of a “Creator” so his ideas were accepted by the Church. No-one was allowed to criticise the Church. This was called HERESY, and you were burned alive if you did it.
His ideas were logical
and seemed to make
sense – 4 seasons in
the year, 4 humours
in the body.

10. 9) What was the name of the type of doctors that most people saw?
BARBER - SURGEONS

11. 10) Why was their knowledge of anatomy so weak?
They were not allowed to dissect humans
They just assumed all of Galen’s ideas were correct – he’d been dissecting pigs!!!

12. 11) What was their most popular cure?
BLOOD –
LETTING

13. 12) Some things did improve however. Where were medical schools opened?
PARIS
OXFORD

14. 13) The ideas of which doctors – and therefore which treatments – were taught in schools?
HIPPOCRATES – 4 Humours
Clinical Observation
GALEN – Four Humours
Treatment of the Opposites

15. 14) Although the Church in some ways held medicine back, what did it do to help the sick?
It ran monasteries
which cared for
the sick (good diet,
hygiene etc.).
They also understood the importance of clean water.

16. 15) Why was medicine so much better in the Arab world than in Europe
They did not just accept Galen’s ideas but continued to look for new ideas.
2) Good libraries of medical knowledge were built in cities, such as a Baghdad.

17. 16) The Black Death was the key disease of the Middle Ages
16) The Black Death was the key disease of the Middle Ages. When did it hit England?
1348

18. 17) What is the word beginning with “p” which is another word for the Black Death?
PLAGUE

19. 18) Give one supernatural explanation for the Black Death, and the cure that resulted from it.
Punishment from God
for sinfulness, so
people whipped
themselves to show
how sorry they were
(FLAGELLATION)

20. 19) Give one natural explanation, and the methods of preventing infection that came from it.
It was spread by pockets of bad air
or MIASMAS, so doctors
wore protective clothing,
including face masks
stuffed with herbs and
flowers to purify the air.