how far were Greek ideas about medicine accepted in the middle ages. Explain`your answer?

Question

this is a question for a history mock exam. i think it's also referring to advances in medicine in the arab world. any help much appreciated thanks xxx

Answer 1

Some monks in the Middle Ages were trained as herbalists and had a good understanding of natural medicine and, as such, were well in advance of the Greek ideas.

I don't think Greek ideas were necessarily that advanced, for instance Hippocrates recommended a blend of pigeon droppings, cumin, horseradish and nettles as a cure for baldness.

Medieval medicine I think revolved around the four "humours": blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm. This was certainly a concept that the Greeks held, so I think the Middle Ages accepted a lot of the Greek ideas about medicine.

Answer 2

After the collapse of the Western Roman empire knowledge of Greek medicine was fully preserved in both the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire and in the Islamic world. The basic concepts continued to be known in the Latin West and full knowledge was recovered during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. However different materia medica (medicinal plants and the like) and new diseases (like the plague) meant that doctors and medical thinkers in the West had to go beyond simply repeating what the ancients had said. In addition, while classical ideas gave a general guide to medicine it did not necessarily prescribe actual practice.

Answer 3

Galen's writings on anatomy were higly influential until the 16th century, when Vesalius started to compare his writings with the corpses he dissected.

Answer 4

probably throughout there empire as the greeks would have similar education in all parts of there empire they ruled.