Keskilääketiede

Keskilääketiede, often translated as Middle Medicine or Medieval Medicine, refers to the medical practices and theories prevalent in Europe during the Middle Ages, roughly from the fall of the Western Roman Empire (5th century) to the beginning of the Renaissance (15th century). This period witnessed a blending of ancient knowledge, particularly from Greek and Roman physicians like Hippocrates and Galen, with influences from Arabic and Jewish scholars, as well as folk traditions and religious beliefs.

The dominant theoretical framework was humoralism, which posited that the human body contained four basic fluids or humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. Health was believed to be a state of balance among these humors, while disease resulted from an imbalance. Treatments, therefore, often aimed to restore this equilibrium through methods such as bloodletting, purging, and dietary adjustments.

Medical education was primarily associated with monasteries and, later, universities. Physicians, often trained in these institutions, relied heavily on established texts and empirical observation, though superstition and religious explanations for illness also played a role. Surgical practices, while present, were often performed by barbers or other less formally trained individuals, and were generally considered distinct from the practice of physicians.

Key developments during this era included the translation and dissemination of classical medical texts, the establishment of hospitals (often religiously affiliated), and the beginnings of anatomical study, though this was often hampered by restrictions on human dissection. Keskilääketiede laid the groundwork for later advancements in medicine, preserving and transmitting much of the medical knowledge of antiquity.