Hello, I'm Mr. Marchant, and thank you for joining me for today's history lesson.

I'll be guiding you through all of our resources today.

And my top aim is to make sure that by the end of the lesson, you can successfully meet our learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on mediaeval medicine and health.

Well, we're asking ourselves, how much was known about medicine and health? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe what ideas were used to explain the causes of illness and disease during the mediaeval period.

There are three keywords which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are supernatural, astrology, and zodiac science.

Something that's supernatural is a thing that cannot be explained by our knowledge of science or nature.

Astrology is the study of the positions and movements of stars and planets to say how they might influence people's lives.

And zodiac signs are 12 signs representing both groups of stars and when people are born.

Today's lesson will be split into free parts, and we'll begin by focusing on religious and supernatural ideas.

The mediaeval period lasted from roughly 500 CE to 1500 CE.

During this period, illnesses and disease posed a major threat to people's lives in Britain and other mediaeval societies.

There were many different mediaeval ideas about what caused illnesses and disease.

In mediaeval society, there was widespread belief that supernatural forces affected the world.

As a result, supernatural forces were frequently linked to ill health.

In particular, many people believed that illness and disease could be explained by religion and by astrology.

So, let's reflect on what we've just heard.

I want you to write the missing keyword from the following sentence.

Religion and astrology were both blank explanations for the causes of illness and disease.

So what's the missing word? Pause a video here, and press Play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing key word was supernatural.

Religion and astrology were both supernatural explanations for the causes of illness and disease.

Christianity was the dominant religion in mediaeval Britain and Europe and influenced many aspects of people's lives.

Christians accepted that their God was all-powerful, and because of this, Christians also accepted that God must be responsible for illnesses and disease.

Therefore, in mediaeval society, the most common explanation for ill health was that it came from God.

The mediaeval church taught that godsend illness and disease as a form of punishment for sinful behaviour.

Many examples which seem to prove this could be found in the Bible, the Christian holy book.

For example, one part of the Bible states that some people suffer because of their crimes and immoral behaviour.

They draw near unto the gates of death.

When larger outbreaks of disease occurred, it was often explained that this must be a collective punishment for the sinful behaviour and culture of whole communities.

Christians also believed that God might allow disease to affect those who had not sinned.

The biblical story of Job suggested disease could be a test of faith.

Job, who had been faithful to God and lived a life without sin, suffered a series of misfortunes, including developing a painful illness.

In the story, Job refused to criticise God and was eventually returned to full health by God, who explained that His plans were beyond human understanding.

As a result, mediaeval Christians were also taught by the church that they should accept disease or illness as part of God's plan and not question it any further.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of everything that we've just heard.

Who did most mediaeval Christians believe was responsible for illness and disease? Was it the Devil, God, or non-Christians? Pause a video here, and press Play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

Most mediaeval Christians believed that God was responsible for illness and disease.

And let's try another question.

What did many mediaeval Christians believe disease was a punishment for? Pause video here, and press Play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was sin.

Many mediaeval Christians believed that disease was a punishment for sin.

For example, one part of the Bible had stated people suffered because of their crimes and immoral behaviour.

And let's check our understanding a little bit further.

This time, we have a statement, which says, "According to the Bible, Job rejected God because of the illness he suffered." But is that statement true or false? Pause the video here, and press Play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So why is it that that original statement was false? Pause the video here, and press Play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said, "Job accepted that his illness was part of God's plan, which he could not understand." This story encouraged mediaeval Christians not to challenge God or to question Him when they suffered from illness and disease.

Astrology was also an important supernatural explanation for disease in the mediaeval period, particularly amongst more educated groups.

Astrology was based on the study of the stars, planets, and other objects such as comets which might appear in the sky.

It was believed that the relative position of these objects had an effect on the Earth and on the health of different people living there.

For instance, Guy de Chauliac, a leading medical authority in both mediaeval France and England, argued that some diseases were under the rule of the Sun, whilst others were under the rule of the Moon.

Similarly, it was often believed that people were influenced by different constellations, that means groups of stars, depending on when they were born.

As a result, health problems were often explained partly by considering an individual's zodiac sign and how this related to the location of different constellations.

So, let's make sure we've understood that clearly.

Guy de Chauliac claimed that many diseases were under the rule of what? Was it God and the Devil, man and God, the Sun and the Moon, or the Devil and the Sun? Pause the video here, and press Play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

Guy de Chauliac, who was a leading medical authority in both mediaeval France and England, argued that many diseases were under the rule of the Sun and the Moon, showing that he was a believer in astrology and how it could affect people's health.

So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge of religious and supernatural ideas into practise.

I want you to study the four statements below.

They say planets were sometimes blamed for disease.

Christians believed only sinners could become ill.

Most ordinary people blamed the stars for disease.

And the story of Job encouraged Christians to accept illness.

Firstly, I want you to identify whether each of those statements is true or false, and then I want you to correct any statements which are false.

You should provide extra details to support any corrections you make.

Pause a video here, and press Play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So, firstly, I asked you to identify whether each statement was true or false.

You should have said that our first statement was true, that our second statement was false, that our third statement was also false, and that our fourth statement was true.

So well done you got all of those identified correctly.

And then I asked you to correct any statements which were false and to provide extra details to support those corrections.

So your answers may have included that Christians believed illness might be used to punish sinners, but that God might also allow non sinners to become ill to test their faith, and that most ordinary people in the mediaeval period believed that God was responsible for disease.

So well done if your own responses look something similar to those model answers we've just seen.

And now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson for today, where we are going to focus on rational ideas.

Not all mediaeval explanations for disease were based on supernatural ideas.

Some ideas about what caused disease and illness were based on logical explanations and observations.

Historians have described these types of explanations for illness and disease as rational ideas.

So let's just check our understanding of what we've just heard.

How were rational explanations for illness and disease developed? Was it that they were based on beliefs about zodiac signs, that they were based on logic and observations, or that they were based on stories in the Bible? Pause the video here, and press Play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

Rational explanations for illness and disease were based on logic and observations.

Although rational ideas were developed through logic and observation, this did not mean that they were always accurate.

Rational ideas were not scientifically proven and were often inaccurate in the mediaeval period.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, I want you to change one word to correct the following sentence.

In the mediaeval period, many people explain the causes of disease and illness through rational ideas which had scientific proof.

So consider which word in the sentence appears to be incorrect and what should it be changed to? Pause the video here, and press Play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that had should have been changed to lacked.

In the mediaeval period, many people explained the causes of disease and illness through rational ideas which lacked scientific proof.

The theory of miasma was an important rational explanation for illness and disease accepted in the mediaeval period.

Miasma means bad air.

In the mediaeval period, it was believed that bad air, especially that created by rotting and decomposing substances, could be responsible for spreading disease.

So let's check our understanding.

How did people in the mediaeval period believe miasma spread disease? Was it through bad air, through bad food, or through bad water? Pause the video here, and press Play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A.

In the mediaeval period, people believed that miasma spread disease through bad air.

Miasma seemed to be a logical theory.

It was noted that for various reasons, mediaeval towns were often worse smelling than the countryside.

It was also noted that towns tended to suffer from outbreaks of disease worse than the countryside.

Therefore, miasma incorrectly suggested that this difference was due to the worse air, or miasma, found in towns.

So, let's make sure we've understood what we just heard.

How did miasma explain why outbreaks of disease were worse in towns than in the countryside? Was it that towns often had dirtier water, making people ill, that towns usually smell worse, so had more bad air, or that towns were larger, so disease could spread easily? Pause the video here, and press Play when you are ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

Miasma explained outbreaks of disease being worse in towns than the countryside by highlighting how towns usually smell worse than the countryside, and this meant they had more bad air, or miasma, which seemed to be responsible for those outbreaks of disease.

In truth, this explanation, whilst logical, was incorrect.

So, we are now in a good position to put all of our knowledge of rational ideas into practise.

I want you to answer the following question.

How was the theory of miasma used to explain the cause of illness and disease in the mediaeval period? As part of your answer, I want you to include the following terms, towns, inaccurate, and air.

So pause video here, and press Play when you are ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you, how was the theory of miasma used to explain the cause of illness and disease in the mediaeval period? And your answer may have included, "The theory of miasma claim that disease was caused and spread by bad air.

This bad air was often thought to be created by rotting or decomposing substances and was associated with foul smells.

For this reason, miasma seemed to explain why mediaeval towns, which smelled worse, tended to suffer from diseases worse than communities in the countryside, where the air was considered cleaner.

However, the theory was actually inaccurate." So well done if your own response look something like that model, which we've just seen.

And that means we are ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today, where we are going to focus on ancient influences on mediaeval ideas about the causes of illness and disease.

Some ideas about the causes of illness and disease accepted in the mediaeval period were actually much older.

Miasma was an idea first developed in Ancient Greece.

Other theories first developed in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome also continued to influence mediaeval medicine, particularly the theory of the four humours.

So let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads, "The theory of the four humours was developed in mediaeval England." But is that statement true or false? Pause video here, and press Play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So why is it that that statement was incorrect? Pause the video here, and press Play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said, "The theory of the four humours was accepted in mediaeval England, but developed in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome." The theory of the four humours was first developed by Hippocrates, a physician who lived in Ancient Greece during the 5th and 4th centuries BCE.

Hippocrates believed that the human body contained four important liquids, which he called humours.

According to Hippocrates, these four humours were blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile, and each possessed its own particular characteristics.

Blood was hot and wet, phlegm was wet and cold, black bile was dry and cold, and yellow bile was dry and hot.

According to Hippocrates' theory, illness and disease occurred when these four humours in the body were out of balance.

For instance, someone with a high temperature who sweated a lot would be hot and wet, indicating they were ill because they had too much blood.

in the 2nd century CE, the theory at the four humours was also supported by Galen, a physician and surgeon in Ancient Rome.

As Galen's works on surgery proves central to mediaeval understanding of the human body.

His support for the theory at the four humours also gave credibility to that theory.

In fact, after religion, the theory at the four humours was the next most influential idea for explaining the cause of illness and disease in the mediaeval period, accepted widely by both doctors and ordinary people.

So let's check our knowledge of everything that we've just heard.

I want you to identify the four humours.

So pause video here, and press Play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the four humours were blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.

And let's try another question.

This time, I want you to write the missing word from the following sentence.

The theory of the four humours explained that people would become ill if their humours were out of blank.

So what's the missing word? Pause the video here, and press Play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was balance.

The theory of the four humours explained that people would become ill if their humours, so blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile, were out of balance.

Different ideas for explaining disease was sometimes combined in the mediaeval period.

For example, miasma was sometimes blamed for creating imbalances in the humours, which made people ill.

And similarly, it was believed that a person's zodiac signs affected the humoural imbalances they were most likely to experience.

So depending when someone was born in their zodiac sign, they might be more likely to have an excess of phlegm or blood or yellow bile or black bile to make them ill.

If we look at the image we can see on the screen, which is a medical diagram for the mediaeval period, we can see how some of these different ideas were combined.

For example, the diagram, which shows a person, is split into four parts, and these four parts refer to the four humours.

So we can see it talking about the idea of someone being phlegmatic, that's someone who's got too much phlegm, as well as the diagram being split into four parts that relate to the four humours.

We can also see 12 symbols around the person.

These are the different zodiac signs, and this refers to astrology and shows how certain zodiac signs linked to astrology were also associated with particular humours.

So we can see astrology and the ancient theory of the four humours being combined here to help people understand medicine in the mediaeval period.

So, let's check our understanding.

I want you to study the medical diagram shown on the right.

Which two types of ideas does it suggest we use to explain people's health? Is it astrology, miasma, religion, or the theory of the four humours? Remember, you're looking out for two answers to this question.

So pause the video here, and press Play when you're ready to see the right answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answers were A, astrology, and D, the theory of the four humours.

we can tell that because in the diagram, we can see it split into four parts, with labels like phlegmatic, which link to the different humours, and also we can see different zodiac signs around the person in the diagram, which shows that astrology was also being used to understand people's health.

So, we are now in a good position to put all of our knowledge into practise.

I want you to study Sam's view.

Sam says that the only way people in the mediaeval period were able to explain illness and disease was through religion.

But how accurate is Sam's view? I want you to write one paragraph to explain your answer.

So pause the video here, and press Play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So I asked you, how accurate was Sam's view? And your answer may have included, "Sam is correct to suggest that religion was very important for how most people explained the causes of illness and disease in the mediaeval period.

For example, it was a widespread belief amongst Christians that illness was sent by God to punish people for their sins.

However, Sam's view is inaccurate because there were also many other ideas which helped explain ill health.

These included miasma, astrology, and the theory of the four humours.

For instance, it was commonly accepted that illness could be caused by an imbalance in the humours within a person's body, such as excess of blood." So well done if your own response looks something like that model, which we've just seen.

And that means we've now reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about mediaeval ideas about the causes of illness and disease.

We've seen that many mediaeval Christians believed illness and disease was sent by God, both as a punishment for sins and as a test of their faith.

Many non-religious ideas were also used to explain disease and illness, including miasma and astrology.

Mediaeval ideas lacked scientific proof, and even rational ideas like miasma were inaccurate.

And the theory at the four humours was the most popular non-religious explanation for ill health, blaming it on imbalances between liquids like blood and phlegm in the body.

So thank you for all of your effort and hard work during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you through our resources, and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we continue to think about mediaeval health and medicine.