Erdi Aroko gizartea gaisotasunaren aurrean: erantzunak eta jarrerak

Abstract

The work we expose on the following article is divided into three different parts. In the firs part, three characteristic illnesses in the Middle Age are studied: epidemic, leprosy and the so-called “sacred fire”, describing both their clinical characteristics and their historical evolution. Going on, in the second part, medical resources at that time are described: the definition and evolution of the medical occupation, treatments and processes, and the organization of hospitals. Finally, in the last part, we mention some of the reacts and effects originated by illness, or, let’s say, by illness fear: the rejecting process suffered by the leprous, the punishers’ movement, relations between epidemics and the persecution of Jews (specially during the Black Epidemic) and the development of people’s devotion and superstition.