Humana Medicina

The Development of Rational Medicine Alongside Christian Theology and Folk Healing in Twelfth and Thirteenth-Century Europe.

Abstract

This paper focuses on the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and the concentrated effort to shift away from the teachings of the Catholic Church and towards a rational science rooted in scholastic thought which did not rely on Divine causes and cures for illness. By looking at the growth of the medical programs in Paris and Salerno, northern versus southern trends and attitudes, and the deep influence of not only Christian rituals, but also pagan popular culture, this essay aims to explore the exact nature of the relationship between religion and medicine, and the mediating role that superstition played between them.