Tue barber surgeons

« Summery The Middle Ages were entirely crossed by competition between barber-surgeons who had traditional practical know-how and doctors from the Church who claimed to have a learned knowledge of medicine but disdained the experience of the field which was, moreover, frowned upon by the Church. The organization of the profession of surgeon into corporations and into schools gradually revived this opposition while granting opposition even within the practitioners of surgery. The plague was a particularly revealing event since he saw certain medical scholars fleeing the sick while certain surgeons risked their lives to try to provide them with care. Questions 1) Which professions were involved in surgery in the Middle Ages? 2) Did the barber-surgeons have learned medical training? 3) Which part of society did the doctors come from in the Middle Ages? 4) Did these physician-scholars have experience in surgical practice? 5) Was the Church favorable to the development of the know-how of surgical practice? 6) What event allowed Guy Chauliac to assert the need for complementarity between theoretical knowledge and practical experience? Answers 1) Barbers performed surgery in the Middle Ages. 2) The barber-surgeons had no scholarly medical training. 3) Doctors in the Middle Ages came from the Church. 4) These physician-scholars had almost no experience of surgical practice. 5) The Church was absolutely against the development of the skill of surgical practice. 6) The fact that he succeeded in treating many people of the plague enabled Guy Chauliac to assert the need for complementarity between theoretical knowledge and practical experience. Bibliography : 1)ENGLISH MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS, 1340-1530 Robert S.

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