Islam and medieval medicine
Although there was limited progress in Western Europe in medieval times, there were new discoveries and developments in medicine in the Islamic kingdoms. The work of people like Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (Rhazes) and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) would eventually spread and influence medicine in England.
Islamic ideas
The 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍The sacred book in Islam, it is believed that it contains the word of God, dictated by Angel Jibril and written in Arabic. tells Muslims they have a duty to care for people who are sick. As part of pracising their faith, Muslims also have a duty to give money to charity. In medieval times, some of this money was used to pay for hospitals to be built.
Their faith also encouraged Muslim doctors to develop new ideas and treatments. This means that Islamic medicine at this time is seen as having been more advanced than medicine in England. This was partly because in England, the Catholic ChurchThe institution of Catholic Christianity headed by the Pope. All of western Europe belonged to the Catholic Church until the Reformation, when Protestants broke away. limited how much doctors could challenge the work of GalenA Roman doctor who lived from AD129 to approximately AD203. He revived Hippocrates' ideas and encouraged bloodletting as a treatment, after learning about anatomy from treating injured gladiators.
Key individuals
The work of key Islamic doctors such as Al-Razi (Rhazes) and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) was translated into LatinLatin is a language that was originally spoken by the Romans and spread throughout the Roman Empire. This meant that it could be read and their ideas shared with doctors in other countries, such as England.
Al-Razi (Rhazes)
- Al-Razi was a doctor who helped to plan the building of a hospital in Baghdad, in modern-day Iraq. This was the first documented general hospital in the world and it opened in AD805.
- He hung meat in different parts of the city and the hospital was built in the area where the meat took the longest amount of time to rot.
- Like Galen, he believed in the importance of observation and seeking natural causes of illnesses.
- Al-Razi was the first person to work out the difference between smallpoxSerious illness caused by a virus. Smallpox gets its name from the pus-filled blisters (or pocks) that form during the illness. and measlesAn infectious disease of the respiratory system caused by a virus.
- He wrote over 200 books, which were translated into Latin and used to teach in many universities across Europe.
Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
- Ibn Sina was a doctor and astronomerA person who studies the position and movement of the stars and planets.
- He wrote many books, the most well-known of which was The Canon of Medicine, completed in 1025.
- The Canon of Medicine explored ideas about anatomyThe science dealing with the structure of animals and plants. and human development, and it encouraged natural treatments.
- He is known for being one of the first doctors to build on the works of Galen and not just copy them.
Communicating ideas
During the medieval period, there were wars over control of the Holy LandThe land sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims in what was ancient Palestine (now Israel, Palestine and Jordan). These were called the CrusadesA series of wars in the 11th to 13th centuries fought by European Christians against Muslims in the Holy Land. They believed that it was possible for them to 'reclaim' the Holy Land. Muslims who lived in the Holy Land regarded the arrival of these Christian soldiers as an invasion. As a result of the Crusades, doctors frequently travelled to the Holy Land with the Crusaders and learned new ideas from Islamic kingdoms. This is an example of war helping medical ideas to progress.