Medieval medicine of Western Europe
Medieval medicine in Western Europe was composed of a mixture of existing ideas from antiquity, spiritual influences and what Claude Lévi-Strauss identifies as the "shamanistic complex" and "social consensus."In the Early Middle Ages, following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, standard medical knowledge was based chiefly upon surviving Greek and Roman texts, preserved in monasteries and elsewhere. Many placed their hopes in the church and God to heal all their sicknesses. Ideas about the origin and cure of disease were not purely secular, but were based on a world view in which factors such as destiny and astral influences played as great a part as any physical cause; the efficacy of cures was bound in the beliefs of patient and doctor rather than empirical evidence, so that remedia physicalia were subordinate to spiritual intervention. The Western medical tradition traces its roots directly to the early Greek civilization, much like the foundation of all of Western society; the Greeks laid the foundation for Western medical practice but much more of Western medicine can be traced to the Middle East and Celtic cultures.
The Greek medical foundation comes from a collection of writings known today as the Hippocratic Corpus. Remnants of the Hippocratic Corpus survive in modern medicine in forms like the “Hippocratic Oath” as in to “Do No Harm.” The Hippocratic Corpus, popularly attributed to an ancient Greek medical practitioner known as Hippocrates, lays out the basic approach to health care. Greek philosophers viewed the human body as a system that reflects the workings of nature and Hippocrates applied this belief to medicine; the body, as a reflection of natural forces, contained four elemental properties expressed to the Greeks as the four humors. The humors represented fire, air and water through the properties of hot, cold and moist, respectively. Health in the human body relied on keeping these humors in balance within each person. Maintaining the balance of humors within a patient occurred in several ways. An initial examination took place as standard for a physician to properly evaluate the patient; the patient's home climate, their normal diet, astrological charts were regarded during consultation.
The heavens influenced each person in different ways by influencing elements connected to certain humors, important information in reaching a diagnosis. After the examination the physician could determine which humor was unbalanced in the patient and prescribe a new diet to restore that balance. Diet included not only food to eat or avoid but an exercise regimen and medication. Hippocratic medicine was written down within the Hippocratic Corpus, therefore medical practitioners were required to be literate; the written treatises within the Corpus are varied, incorporating medical doctrine from any source the Greeks came into contact with. At Alexandria in Egypt, the Greeks learned the art of surgery and dissection,; the early Hippocratic practitioner Herophilus engaged in dissection and added new knowledge to human anatomy in the realms of the human nervous system, the inner workings of the eye, differentiating arteries from veins, using pulses as a diagnostic tool in treatment. Surgery and dissection yielded much knowledge of the human body that Hippocratic physicians employed alongside their methods of balancing humors in patients.
The combination of knowledge in diet and medication formed the foundation of medical learning upon which Galen would build upon with his own works. The Greeks had been influenced by their Egyptian neighbors, in terms of medical practice in surgery and medication. However, the Greeks absorbed many folk healing practices, including incantations and dream healing. In Homer's Iliad and Odyssey the gods are implicated as the cause of plagues or widespread disease and that those maladies could be cured by praying to them; the religious side of Greek medical practice is manifested in the cult of Asclepius, whom Homer regarded as a great physician, was deified in the third and fourth century BC. Hundreds of temples devoted to Asclepius were founded throughout the Greek and Roman empire to which untold numbers of people flocked for cures. Healing visions and dreams formed the foundation for the curing process as the person seeking treatment from Asclepius slept in a special dormitory; the healing occurred either in the person's dream or advice from the dream could be used to seek out the proper treatment for their illness elsewhere.
Afterwards the visitor to the temple bathed, offered prayers and sacrifice, received other forms of treatment like medication, dietary restrictions, an exercise regiment, keeping with the Hippocratic tradition. Medicine in the Middle Ages had its roots in folk practices; this influence was highlighted by the interplay between Christian theologians who adopted aspects of pagan and folk practices and chronicled them in their own works. The practices adopted by Christian medical practitioners around the 2nd century, their attitudes toward pagan and folk traditions, reflected an understanding of these practices humoralism and herbalism; the practice of medicine in the early Middle Ages was pragmatic. It focused on curing disease rather than discovering the cause of diseases, it was believed the cause of disease was supernatural. Secular approaches to curing diseases existed. People in the Middle Ages understood medicine by adopting the ancient Greek medical theory of humors. Since it was clear that the fertility of the earth depended on the proper balance of the elements, it followed that the same w
Schola Medica Salernitana
The Schola Medica Salernitana was a Medieval medical school, the first and most important of its kind. Situated on the Tyrrhenian Sea in the south Italian city of Salerno, it was founded in the 9th century and rose to prominence in the 10th century, becoming the most important source of medical knowledge in Western Europe at the time. Arabic medical treatises, both those that were translations of Greek texts and those that were written in Arabic, had accumulated in the library of Montecassino, where they were translated into Latin; as a result, the medical practitioners of Salerno, both men and women, were unrivalled in the medieval Western Mediterranean for practical concerns. The school, which found its original base in the dispensary of a monastery founded in the 9th century, achieved its utmost splendour between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, from the last decades of Lombard power, during which its fame began to spread more than locally, to the fall of the Hohenstaufen; the arrival in Salerno of Constantine Africanus in 1077 marked the beginning of Salerno's classic period.
Through the encouragement of Alfano I, Archbishop of Salerno and translations of Constantine Africanus, Salerno gained the title of "Town of Hippocrates". People from all over the world flocked to the "Schola Salerni", both the sick, in the hope of recovering, students, to learn the art of medicine; the "School" was based on the synthesis of the Greek-Latin tradition supplemented by notions from Arab and Jewish cultures. The approach was based on the practice and culture of prevention rather than cure, thus opening the way for the empirical method in medicine; the foundation of the school is traditionally linked to an event narrated by a legend. It is reported that a Greek pilgrim named Pontus had stopped in the city of Salerno and found shelter for the night under the arches of the Arcino aqueduct. There was a thunderstorm and another Italian runner, named Salernus, wandered in the same place, he was hurt and the Greek, at first suspicious, approached to look at the dressings that the Latin practiced to his wound.
Meanwhile, two other travelers, the Jew Helinus and the Arab Abdela had come. They showed interest in the wound and at the end it was discovered that all four were dealing with medicine, they decided to create a partnership and to give birth to a school where their knowledge could be collected and disseminated. The origins of the "School" should date back to the 9th century, though the documentation for this first period is rather poor. Little is known about the nature, lay or monastic, of doctors who were part of it, it is unclear whether the "School" had an institutionalized organization. From the 9th century there was a great legal culture in Salerno as well as the existence of lay teachers and an ecclesiastical school. Alongside the masters of the law there were those who cared for the body and taught the dogmas of the art of health. By the 10th century the city of Salerno was very famous for its healthy climate and its doctors. We are told that "they were devoid of literary culture but provided with great experience and innate talent".
Indeed, during this period the nature of the teachings was practical and the notions were orally passed down. In 984, Adalberian of Laon went to Salerno to have himself cured by the famed Salerno physicians. Geographic location played a key role in the growth of the School: Salerno, a Mediterranean port, fused influences of Arab and Byzantine-Greek culture. Books of Avicenna and Averroes arrived by sea, the Carthaginian physician Constantine the African who arrived in the city for several years came to Salerno and translated many texts from Arabic: Aphorisma and Prognostica of Hippocrates and Megategni of Galen, Kitāb-al-malikī of Alī ibn'Abbās, the Viaticum of al-Jazzār, the Liber divisionum and the Liber experimentorum of Rhazes, the Liber dietorum, Liber urinarium and the Liber febrium of Isaac Israel the Old. Johannes and Matthaeus Plantearius, possible father and son, resided in Salerno at this time when they published their famous "Liber de Simplici Medicina", first recorded in Salerno under their name early in the 13th Century.
Subsequent incarnations — c.1480 now found in Brussels. Petersburg — bore the name "Livre des simples medecines". Facsimiles with commentary for both editions have been published by Opsomer and Stearn and by Moleiro. Under this cultural thrust are rediscovered the classical works long forgotten in the monasteries. Thanks to the "Medical School", medicine was the first science discipline to come out of the abbeys to confront again with the world and experimental practice. Monks of Salerno and of the nearby Badia di Cava were of great importance in Benedictine geography, for we note in the city in the eleventh century the presence of three important figures of this order: Pope Gregory VII, the Abbot of Montecassino Desiderio and bishop Alfano I. In this context, the "School" of Salerno grew until it became a point of attraction of both sick and students from all over Europe; the prestige of doctors in Salerno is witnessed by the chronicles of the time and the numerous manuscripts kept in the major European libraries.
In 1231, the authority of the school was sanctioned by Emperor Federi
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus Anglicized as Galen and better known as Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Arguably the most accomplished of all medical researchers of antiquity, Galen influenced the development of various scientific disciplines, including anatomy, pathology and neurology, as well as philosophy and logic; the son of Aelius Nicon, a wealthy architect with scholarly interests, Galen received a comprehensive education that prepared him for a successful career as a physician and philosopher. Born in Pergamon, Galen travelled extensively, exposing himself to a wide variety of medical theories and discoveries before settling in Rome, where he served prominent members of Roman society and was given the position of personal physician to several emperors. Galen's understanding of anatomy and medicine was principally influenced by the then-current theory of humorism, as advanced by ancient Greek physicians such as Hippocrates, his theories influenced Western medical science for more than 1,300 years.
His anatomical reports, based on dissection of monkeys the Barbary macaque, pigs, remained uncontested until 1543, when printed descriptions and illustrations of human dissections were published in the seminal work De humani corporis fabrica by Andreas Vesalius where Galen's physiological theory was accommodated to these new observations. Galen's theory of the physiology of the circulatory system remained unchallenged. 1242, when Ibn al-Nafis published his book Sharh tashrih al-qanun li’ Ibn Sina, in which he reported his discovery of the pulmonary circulation. Galen saw himself as both a physician and a philosopher, as he wrote in his treatise entitled That the Best Physician Is Also a Philosopher. Galen was interested in the debate between the rationalist and empiricist medical sects, his use of direct observation and vivisection represents a complex middle ground between the extremes of those two viewpoints. Many of his works have been preserved and/or translated from the original Greek, although many were destroyed and some credited to him are believed to be spurious.
Although there is some debate over the date of his death, he was no younger than seventy when he died. In medieval Europe, Galen's writings on anatomy became the mainstay of the medieval physician's university curriculum, but because of the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West they suffered from stasis and intellectual stagnation. However, in the Eastern Roman Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate they continued to be studied and followed; some of Galen's ideas were incorrect. Greek and Roman taboos had meant that dissection was banned in ancient times, but in Middle Ages it changed: medical teachers and students at Bologna began to open human bodies, Mondino de Luzzi produced the first known anatomy textbook based on human dissection. Galen's original Greek texts gained renewed prominence during the early modern period. In the 1530s, Belgian anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius took on a project to translate many of Galen's Greek texts into Latin. Vesalius's most famous work, De humani corporis fabrica, was influenced by Galenic writing and form.
Galen's name Γαληνός, Galēnos comes from the adjective "γαληνός", "calm". Galen describes his early life in On the affections of the mind, he was born in September AD 129. His father, Aelius Nicon, was a wealthy patrician, an architect and builder, with eclectic interests including philosophy, logic, astronomy and literature. Galen describes his father as a "highly amiable, just and benevolent man". At that time Pergamon was a major cultural and intellectual centre, noted for its library, second only to that in Alexandria, attracted both Stoic and Platonic philosophers, to whom Galen was exposed at age 14, his studies took in each of the principal philosophical systems of the time, including Aristotelian and Epicurean. His father had planned a traditional career for Galen in philosophy or politics and took care to expose him to literary and philosophical influences. However, Galen states that in around AD 145 his father had a dream in which the god Asclepius appeared and commanded Nicon to send his son to study medicine.
Again, no expense was spared, following his earlier liberal education, at 16 he began studies at the prestigious local sanctuary or Asclepieum dedicated to Asclepius, god of medicine, as a θεραπευτής for four years. There he came under the influence of men like Aeschrion of Pergamon and Satyrus. Asclepiea functioned as spas or sanitoria to which the sick would come to seek the ministrations of the priesthood. Romans frequented the temple at Pergamon in search of medical relief from disease, it was the haunt of notable people such as Claudius Charax the historian, Aelius Aristides the orator, Polemo the sophist, Cuspius Rufinus the Consul. Galen's father died in 148, leaving Galen independently wealthy at the age of 19, he followed the advice he found in Hippocrates' teaching and travelled and studied including such destinations as Smyrna, Crete, Cilicia and the great medical school of Alexandria, exposing himself to the various schools of thought in medicine. In 157, aged 28, he returned to Pergamon as physician to the gladiators of the High Priest of Asia, one of the most influential and wealt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital and largest city in the state of Thuringia, central Germany. Erfurt lies within the wide valley of the Gera river, it is located 100 km south-west of Leipzig, 300 km south-west of Berlin, 400 km north of Munich and 250 km north-east of Frankfurt. Together with neighbouring cities Weimar and Jena it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with 500,000 inhabitants. Erfurt's old town is one of the best preserved medieval city centres in Germany. Tourist attractions include the Krämerbrücke, the Old Synagogue, the ensemble of Erfurt Cathedral and Severikirche and Petersberg Citadel, one of the largest and best preserved town fortresses in Europe; the city's economy is based on agriculture and microelectronics. Its central location has led to it becoming a logistics hub for central Europe. Erfurt hosts the second-largest trade fair in eastern Germany as well as the public television children’s channel KiKa; the city is situated on a medieval trade and pilgrims' road network.
Modern day Erfurt is a hub for ICE high speed trains and other German and European transport networks. Erfurt was first mentioned in 742. Although the town did not belong to any of the Thuringian states politically, it became the economic centre of the region and it was a member of the Hanseatic League, it was part of the Electorate of Mainz during the Holy Roman Empire, became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1802. From 1949 until 1990 Erfurt was part of the German Democratic Republic; the University of Erfurt was founded in 1379, making it the first university to be established within the geographic area which constitutes modern-day Germany. It closed in 1816 and was re-established in 1994, with the main modern campus on what was a teachers' training college. Martin Luther was its most famous student, studying there from 1501 before entering St Augustine's Monastery in 1505. Other noted Erfurters include the medieval philosopher and mystic Meister Eckhart, the Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel and the sociologist Max Weber.
Erfurt is an old Germanic settlement. The earliest evidence of human settlement dates from the prehistoric era; the Melchendorf dig in the southern city part showed a settlement from the neolithic period. The Thuringii inhabited the Erfurt area ca. 480 and gave their name to Thuringia ca. 500. The town is first mentioned in 742 under the name of "Erphesfurt": in that year, Saint Boniface wrote to Pope Zachary to inform him that he had established three dioceses in central Germany, one of them "in a place called Erphesfurt, which for a long time has been inhabited by pagan natives." All three dioceses were confirmed by Zachary the next year, though in 755 Erfurt was brought into the diocese of Mainz. That the place was populous is borne out by archeological evidence, which includes 23 graves and six horse burials from the sixth and seventh centuries. Throughout the Middle Ages, Erfurt was an important trading town because of its location, near a ford across the Gera river. Together with the other five Thuringian woad towns of Gotha, Tennstedt and Langensalza it was the centre of the German woad trade, which made those cities wealthy.
Erfurt was the junction of important trade routes: the Via Regia was one of the most used east–west roads between France and Russia and another route in the north–south direction was the connection between the Baltic Sea ports and the potent upper Italian city-states like Venice and Milan. During the 10th and 11th centuries both the Emperor and the Electorate of Mainz held some privileges in Erfurt; the German kings had an important monastery on Petersberg hill and the Archbishops of Mainz collected taxes from the people. Around 1100, some people became free citizens by paying the annual "Freizins", which marks a first step in becoming an independent city. During the 12th century, as a sign of more and more independence, the citizens built a city wall around Erfurt. After 1200, independence was fulfilled and a city council was founded in 1217. In the following decades, the council bought a city-owned territory around Erfurt which consisted at its height of nearly 100 villages and castles and another small town.
Erfurt became an important regional power between the Landgraviate of Thuringia around, the Electorate of Mainz to the west and the Electorate of Saxony to the east. Between 1306 and 1481, Erfurt was allied with the two other major Thuringian cities in the Thuringian City Alliance and the three cities joined the Hanseatic League together in 1430. A peak in economic development was reached in the 15th century, when the city had a population of 20,000 making it one of the largest in Germany. Between 1432 and 1446, a second and higher city wall was established. In 1483, a first city fortress was built on Cyriaksburg hill in the southwestern part of the town; the Jewish community of Erfurt was founded in the 11th century and became, together with Mainz and Speyer, one of the most influential in Germany. Their Old Synagogue is still extant and a museum today, as is the mikveh at Gera river near Krämerbrücke. In 1349, during the wave of Black Death Jewish persecutions across Europe, the Jews of Erfurt were
Medical Renaissance
The Medical Renaissance, from 1400 to 1700 CE, is the period of progress in European medical knowledge, a renewed interest in the ideas of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Such medical discoveries during the Medical Renaissance are credited with paving the way for modern medicine; the Medical Renaissance began. Medical researchers continued their Renaissance-evoked practices into the late 1600s. Florence, Italy was credited by most historians for being an influential hub for medical research and communications of proven advancements in the field of medicine. Progress made during the Medical Renaissance depended on several factors. Printed books based on movable type, adopted in Europe from the middle of the 15th century, allowed the diffusion of medical ideas and anatomical diagrams. Linacre, Erasmus and Sylvius are among the list of the first scholars most credited for the starting of the Medical Renaissance. Following after is Andreas Vesalius's publication of De humani corporis fabrica in 1543.
Better knowledge of the original writings of Galen in particular, developed into the learned medicine tradition through the more open attitudes of Renaissance humanism. Church control of the teachings of the medical profession and universities diminished, dissection was more possible; the development of autopsy allowed society to use it for forensic and health purposes. In the early 1300s, Italian cities established a group of doctors to assist in investigating the cause of death in murder trials. In 1302, the death of Azzolino degli Onesti was investigated because it was suspected that he was poisoned. From the surgeon’s examination, they concluded that the cause of death was from a large amount of blood that gathered around the chilic vein and the veins of the liver. Doctors began doing autopsies on their private patients during the fifteenth century. In 1486, the Florentine patrician, Bartolomea Rinieri, was autopsied at her request so that her daughter could be treated for what caused her death.
The surgeons discovered a diseased womb. High-class members of society could request their own postmortem because they had the financial means. Craniotomies were used by surgeons to find the cause of death; this practice dates back to the thirteenth century. The Medicis, a powerful family in Florence during the Renaissance, had skulls that revealed craniotomies and autopsies had been performed; the procedure was done on illegitimate members of the family and children. Every skeleton of the Medici family shows signs of a practice only done for the elite; the surgeons of the era were categorized as a class system. They were acknowledged as master surgeons, “surgeons of the long robe,” or the lower class of barber surgeons, “surgeons of the short robe”. Leonardo da Vinci made many contributions in the fields of technology, his research centered around his desire to learn more about how the human brain processes visual and sensory information and how that connects to the soul. Though his artwork was observed before, some of his original research was not made public until the 20th century.
Some of da Vinci's research involved studying vision. He believed that visual information entered the body through the eye continued by sending nerve impulses through the optic nerve, reaching the soul. Da Vinci subscribed to the ancient notion, he did research on the role of the spinal cord in humans by studying frogs. He noted; this led him to believe that the spine is the basis for the sense of touch, cause of movement, the origin of nerves. As a result of his studies on the spinal cord, he came to the conclusion that all peripheral nerves begin from the spinal cord. Da Vinci did some research on the sense of smell, he is credited with being the first to define the olfactory nerve as one of the cranial nerves. Leonardo da Vinci made his anatomical sketches based on dissecting 30 cadavers, his sketches were detailed and included organs, muscles of superior extremity, the hand, the skull. Leonardo was well known for his three-dimensional drawings, his anatomical drawings were not found until 380 years after his death.
Paré was anatomist and an inventor of surgical instruments. He was a military surgeon during the French campaigns in Italy of 1533–36, it was here that, having run out of boiling oil, Paré turned to an ancient Roman remedy: turpentine, egg yolk and oil of roses. He found that it relieved pain and sealed the wound effectively. Paré introduced the ligatures of arteries; as antiseptics had not yet been invented this method led to an increased fatality rate and was abandoned by medical professionals of the time. Additionally, Paré designed artificial limbs. Vesalius was a Flemish-born anatomist whose dissections of the human body helped to rectify the misconceptions made in Ancient Times by Galen, able only to study animals such as dogs and monkeys, he wrote many books on anatomy from his observations. This book contained many different anatomic sketches that he made upon examining and dissecting cadavers; these sketches were a combination of Gothic art. Vesalius identified the anatomical errors in Galen's findings and c
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the Age of Pericles, considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is referred to as the "Father of Medicine" in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field as the founder of the Hippocratic School of Medicine; this intellectual school revolutionized medicine in ancient Greece, establishing it as a discipline distinct from other fields with which it had traditionally been associated, thus establishing medicine as a profession. However, the achievements of the writers of the Corpus, the practitioners of Hippocratic medicine and the actions of Hippocrates himself were commingled. Hippocrates is portrayed as the paragon of the ancient physician, credited with coining the Hippocratic Oath, still relevant and in use today, he is credited with advancing the systematic study of clinical medicine, summing up the medical knowledge of previous schools, prescribing practices for physicians through the Hippocratic Corpus and other works.
Historians agree. Soranus of Ephesus, a 2nd-century Greek physician, was Hippocrates' first biographer and is the source of most personal information about him. Biographies are in the Suda of the 10th century AD, in the works of John Tzetzes, Aristotle's "Politics", which date from the 4th century BC. Soranus wrote that Hippocrates' father was Heraclides, a physician, his mother was Praxitela, daughter of Tizane; the two sons of Hippocrates and Draco, his son-in-law, were his students. According to Galen, a physician, Polybus was Hippocrates' true successor, while Thessalus and Draco each had a son named Hippocrates. Soranus said that Hippocrates learned medicine from his father and grandfather, studied other subjects with Democritus and Gorgias. Hippocrates was trained at the asklepieion of Kos, took lessons from the Thracian physician Herodicus of Selymbria. Plato mentions Hippocrates in two of his dialogues: in Protagoras, Plato describes Hippocrates as "Hippocrates of Kos, the Asclepiad". Hippocrates taught and practiced medicine throughout his life, traveling at least as far as Thessaly and the Sea of Marmara.
Several different accounts of his death exist. He died in Larissa, at the age of 83, 85 or 90, though some say he lived to be well over 100. Hippocrates is credited with being the first person to believe that diseases were caused not because of superstition and gods. Hippocrates was credited by the disciples of Pythagoras of allying medicine, he separated the discipline of medicine from religion and arguing that disease was not a punishment inflicted by the gods but rather the product of environmental factors and living habits. Indeed there is not a single mention of a mystical illness in the entirety of the Hippocratic Corpus. However, Hippocrates did work with many convictions that were based on what is now known to be incorrect anatomy and physiology, such as Humorism. Ancient Greek schools of medicine were split on; the Knidian school of medicine focused on diagnosis. Medicine at the time of Hippocrates knew nothing of human anatomy and physiology because of the Greek taboo forbidding the dissection of humans.
The Knidian school failed to distinguish when one disease caused many possible series of symptoms. The Hippocratic school or Koan school achieved greater success by applying general diagnoses and passive treatments, its focus was on patient prognosis, not diagnosis. It could treat diseases and allowed for a great development in clinical practice. Hippocratic medicine and its philosophy are far removed from that of modern medicine. Now, the physician focuses on specific diagnosis and specialized treatment, both of which were espoused by the Knidian school; this shift in medical thought since Hippocrates' day has caused serious criticism over the past two millennia, with the passivity of Hippocratic treatment being the subject of strong denunciations. Another important concept in Hippocratic medicine was that of a crisis, a point in the progression of disease at which either the illness would begin to triumph and the patient would succumb to death, or the opposite would occur and natural processes would make the patient recover.
After a crisis, a relapse might follow, another deciding crisis. According to this doctrine, crises tend to occur on critical days, which were supposed to be a fixed time after the contraction of a disease. If a crisis occurred on a day far from a critical day, a relapse might be expected. Galen believed that this idea originated with Hippocrates, though it is possible that it predated him. Hippocratic medicine was passive; the therapeutic approach was based on "the healing power of nature". According to this doctrine, the body contains within itself the power to re-balance the four humours and heal itself. Hippocratic therapy focused on easing this natural process. To this end, Hippocrates believed "rest and immobilization
George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
George of Brandenburg-Ansbach, known as George the Pious, was a Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach from the House of Hohenzollern. He was born in Ansbach, the third of eight sons of Margrave Frederick the Elder and his wife Sophia of Poland, daughter of Casimir IV of Poland and Elisabeth of Habsburg. Through his mother, he was related to the royal court in Buda, he entered the service of his uncle, King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary, living at his court from 1506. The king received him as an adopted son, entrusted him in 1515 with the Duchy of Oppeln, in 1516 made him member of the tutelary government instituted for Hungary, tutor of his son Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia. In 1521 he pulled back from Hungary and Croatia. At the court of Hungary there were two parties arrayed against each other: the Magyar party under the leadership of Zápolyas and the German party under the leadership of George of Brandenburg, whose authority was increased by the acquisition of the duchies of Ratibor and Oppeln by hereditary treaties with their respective dukes and of the territories of Oderberg and Tarnowitz as pledges from the king of Bohemia, who could not redeem his debts.
By the further appropriation of the Duchy of Jägerndorf, George came into possession of all Upper Silesia. As the owner and mortgagee of these territories he prepared the way for the introduction of the Protestant Reformation, here as well as in his native Franconia. Earlier than any other German prince or any other member of the Hohenzollern line including his younger brother Albert, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, he turned his eyes and heart to the new faith proceeding from Wittenberg; the first reformatory writings began the work of winning him over to the evangelical cause. Martin Luther's powerful testimony of faith at the Diet of Worms in 1521 made an indelible impression upon his mind, the vigorous sermons of evangelical preachers in the pulpits of St. Lawrence and St. Sebald in Nuremberg, during the diet there in 1522, deepened the impression; the study of Luther's translation of the New Testament, which appeared in 1522, established his faith on personal conviction. Moreover, he entered into correspondence with Luther, discussing with him the most important problems of faith, in 1524 he met him during the negotiations concerning his brother Albert's secularization of the Teutonic Order's state of Prussia into the secular Duchy of Prussia.
After the accession of King Louis II, George was aided in his reforming efforts by Queen Maria, a sister of Charles V and Ferdinand I, favorably inclined toward the new doctrine. As the adviser of the young king, George advocated the cause of the new gospel against the influences and intrigues of his clerical opponents and prevented their violent measures, his relationship with Duke Frederick II of Liegnitz and Wohlau, with Duke Charles I of Münsterberg-Oels, who had both admitted the Reformation into their territories, contributed not a little to the expansion of the gospel in his own lands. But it was his own personal influence and practical spirit that introduced the new doctrine and founded a new evangelical and churchly life, he made efforts to secure preachers of the new gospel from Hungary and Franconia, tried to introduce the church order of Brandenburg-Nuremberg, which had found acceptance in the Franconian territories. In the hereditary lands Brandenburg-Ansbach in Franconia, where with his older brother Casimir of Brandenburg-Kulmbach he had assumed the regency in place of their father, he encountered greater difficulties, although the popular spirit was inclined toward the Reformation.
Owing to his marriage with a Bavarian princess and to his military command in the imperial service, his brother was allied more with the old church and resisted the new reforming efforts. But the pressure of the estates of the land soon compelled him to allow preaching according to Luther's doctrine, although he ensured retention of the old church ceremonies of those that were contrary to the new faith. George protested against such half-measures and showed his dissatisfaction with the half-hearted resolutions of the state assembly of October 1526, it was only after the death of his brother that as sole ruler he could undertake and carry out reformation in the Franconian territories, with the assistance of councillors such as Johann von Schwarzenberg and through the new resolutions of the state assembly of Brandenburg-Ansbach. At the same time George maintained his correspondence with Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, discussing such questions as the evangelization of monasteries, the use of monastic property for evangelical purposes, the foundation of lower schools for the people and of higher schools for the education of talented young men for the service of church and state.
He tried to gain, by his continued correspondence with Luther and other reformers such as Urbanus Rhegius, efficient men for the preaching of the gospel and for the organization of the evangelical church. Hand in hand with the Council of Nuremberg he worked for the institution of a church visitation on the model of that of the Electorate of Saxony, from which after repeated revisions and emendations the excellent church order of Brandenburg-Nuremberg of 1533 was developed. After its introduction in Nuremberg and his territories in Franconia, it was introduced in his dominions in Upper Silesia. George's influence manifested itself in the development of the German Reformation as a whole; when a union of the
