Timeline

Discover the development of medicine during the medieval period, from groundbreaking texts to medical firsts

A thousand years of plagues, pestilence and potions

THE JUSTINIAN PLAGUE 25-50 MILLION

Number of estimated deaths across the empire

WRITING IT DOWN

Greek physician Paul of Aegina creates his seven-volume medical encyclopaedia, incorporating his own knowledge with that of the ancient Greeks and Romans – it would remain popular for the next 800 years.

DEATH OF A KING

King Richard I of England dies after the Siege of Châlus, following a botched attempt by a surgeon to remove an arrowhead from his shoulder, with the wound turning gangrenous.

ARRIVAL OF SURGERY

The surgical field emerges due to the establishment of the University of Paris, followed by other European universities such as the ones in Bologna and Oxford.

SPREADING THE KNOWLEDGE

Starting in the 12th century, numerous ancient texts on astrology are translated into Latin, not only influencing medical practice but becoming a staple of European medicine.

INFLUENCING MEDICINE

Avicenna completes his encyclopaedia, The Canon

of Medicine, one of the most famous medical treatises in Europe. In it he discusses the four humours, introducing it to medieval medicine from Grecoroman.

A NEW DIAGNOSIS

Gilbert the Englishman, a priest and physician, finishes his Compendium Medicinae, in which he offers the first diagnosis of leprosy. It is subsequently translated into several languages.

PRACTICAL TEACHING

The first recorded autopsy takes place in Cremona, Italy, with dissections eventually becoming an educational tool in medical universities, such as the one in Bologna, over the next few decades.

NATURAL MEDICINE

The Red Book of Hergest,a

Welsh Medieval manuscript, is created and it includes a collection of herbal remedies attributed to Rhiwallon Feddyg, the founder of the Physicians of

Myddfai.