Research On The Concept Of Health In Western European Society In The Middle Ages

Health is a significant theme concerned by individuals and society.The health of the body is the basic condition for individuals to participate in social activities,and individual health is an important driving force for the sustainable development of society.In modern society,the understanding of health has formed a systematic and scientific system,and includes the related theories of biology and nutrition,which makes the public’s understanding of health more concrete and has rules to follow.In the process of inheriting the tradition of classical medicine and absorbing the achievements of Arab medical theory,the Middle Ages,as an important stage in the development of western history,also explored the health problems to a certain extent.The understanding of health in Western Europe during the Middle Ages not only reflected the development of medieval society,but also showed the development of medicine with the theme of health.The concept of health in medieval Western Europe was deeply influenced by the classical Greco-Roman medicine and Arab medicine,has developed the related theory of Galenism to a great extent.As far as ancient Greco-Rome medicine is concerned,the medical theory of Hippocrates and Galen still has strong vitality in the Middle Ages,especially the Galenism medicine which was synthesized by later generations on the basis of Galen’s medical theory;and in the middle and late Middle Ages,the powerful influence of Arab-Islamic medicine could not be ignored,and it has saved and organized a number of classical medical books,including the works of the medical scientists such as Hippocrates,Galen and Dioscorides,and sent them back to Europe under the wave of the " Hundred Years’ Translation Movement" which provides an important theoretical support for the development of the medical science at that time.On the basis of the study of relevant original data,this paper systematically discusses the concept of health in medieval Western Europe.Given the particularity of the Middle Ages,known as the "Age of Faith," the development of medicine was also divided into religious medicine and secular medicine,the former focusing on keeping the soul pure and the latter focusing on secular human suffering.Their understanding of health constituted the whole health concept of Western Europe in the Middle Ages.Medieval doctors believed that health was a state of balance of physical complexion and a natural state of the human body,in which the natural functions of the body could work in a perfect manner.In this sense,health is a relative concept.In Christian medicine,health was the harmonious unity of body health and soul purity,and soul health took the first place,it is the precondition for the recovery of body health.Generally speaking,these two kinds of cognition coexist in the western European society,but do not present the state of mutual exclusion,but merge with each other.Maintaining and restoring health is an important theme of medicine in the development of medicine.Based on the systematic understanding of health,the medieval Western European society developed a unique literature of health preservation,namely,the "Six Non-naturals" as the theoretical support of the regimen.Whether it is to maintain or restore health,the regimen seeks to regulate people’s way of life in many ways in order to achieve the goal of physical health.As far as practical treatment is concerned,since the disease is caused by a physical imbalance,adjusting the rebalancing of humor is the treatment principle that doctors have always followed,and the regimen,drug intervention,and surgery were the main treatment methods and procedures.It is undoubtedly deeply influenced by Galen medicine and Arab medicine.The health concept of Western Europe in the Middle Ages promoted the formation of the health principles of modern science.It emphasizes the harmony between human body and its surroundings,conditions and so on,and it is not confined to the interior of body.The principle still has vitality today.And the way of adjusting non-naturals to achieve the goal of maintaining and restoring health also has a great similarity to the way of pursuing health in modern society.Although the persistent pursuit of humor theory is still unabated at this time,the development of medicine in the late Middle Ages indicates that many achievements of modern medicine have deep medieval origins.