Use this GCSE lesson plan to give students an idea of the level of knowledge about medicine in the medieval period. You’ll be putting them in the shoes of physicians at the time using primary source material…
As part of the GCSE medicine course in history, because little progress is made in the western world, the medieval period could be glossed over fairly quickly.
Yet this is a fascinating era with some great primary source materials.
This lesson aims to help students gain a practical understanding of the levels of medical knowledge in the medieval period. They’ll find out about levels of change and development from what came before it and in the context of the time.
It could work either following learning about the bubonic plague or act as a precursor. It fits well as part of a series of learning sessions taking in a larger assessment of the effectiveness of different aspects of medieval medicine, following an initial introduction to some of the main concepts.
As they continue into the lesson, students will gain an understanding of which factors affected the development of their medical knowledge.
Medieval medicine GCSE learning objectives
- Take part in activities to help you understand the level of medical knowledge and training available to medieval physicians
- Understand levels of change and continuity in medieval medicine
- Understand which factors influenced medical knowledge and expertise in this period
- Be able to access and analyse primary source material
Starter activity
Set the scene and share this quote written by the Italian poet Petrarch (1304-74) who was writing to the Pope:
“I know that your bedside is besieged by doctors, and of course this fills me with fear. As Pliny said, in order to gain fame they buy it with our lives. They learn their art at our cost, and even our death brings them experience; only a doctor can kill without punishment.
Remember what it says on the gravestones: ‘I died of too many doctors’.”
What does this suggest about the knowledge, training and reputation of medieval physicians?
Explain to the class that it is their job to test out whether Petrarch is right to mistrust physicians. Explain that the class will become western medieval physicians and will have access to the latest medical knowledge in order to treat their patients.
Mel Jones is education manager at the Historical Association and a former history teacher.
