Medicine is a field that is constantly changing at a pace that is hard to keep up with. Today, hospitals and offices a filled with doctors who depend on the hard facts of science to treat their patients; but it was not always that way. A physician’s life in the middle ages was based on years of training and knowledge combined with the mystical aspects of astrology and religion. Geoffrey Chaucer uses a physician as an accurate description of a doctor in the middle ages in his book The Canterbury Tales.

During the middle ages there existed a hierarchy of medical practitioners. As Bryon Grigsby states, “On the top of the hierarchy is the learned doctor who deals with specific congenital malformations and complexion imbalances. The surgeon stands in the middle and deals with major trauma, while the barber in on the bottom and performs minor surgery . . . “ (4) This hierarchy existed to keep each of the different fields out of the others. Each class had their own specific tasks that they were trained to perform and were not supposed to interfere in the fields of the others. This however, did not stop a barber or physician from performing a complex surgery, or a surgeon from pr

escribing drugs for a fever. The hierarchy simply allowed the people to know what each person specialized in so they could decide whom to request for help. (Grigsby 4) The most common of these classes was the barber surgeon. This would be a normal barber who would perform such tasks as bloodletting or cauterization (Grigsby 4). These barbers had no degree and were also the cheapest to have simple surgery or other practices performed by (Burns 207). The trained surgeon was the rarest of the three and did not usually treat the lower class people. Surgeons were appointed by kings and nobility for personal use and were extremely well off as long as their lord stayed alive and healthy. If the surgeon failed in an operation his patient would normally die and there would be no one to pay him and it would also damage his future chances of finding employment. (Grigsby 2)

As seen by Chaucer’s description, the doctors of the time relied heavily on superstitions and not much and scientific knowledge, but still thought they were doing what was scientifically accurate. As stated by Chester Burns, “The medieval physician, although he lacked skill and knowledge in the art and practice of medicine, in his humanity toward his patients and his desire to do the utmost to help them, was equal to the best of our medical men today.” (204) This is not the case with the physician in the tale. According to lines 444 – 45 and 428 of the general prologue, it seem that the physician was more concerned on making money than the welfare of his patients.

The physician was also heavy into the study of the humors and astrology as was common to doctors of the day. Chaucer states in line 419 – 21, “He knew the cause of every malady were it of hot or cold or moist or dry and where engendered and of what humor.” This goes back to the common belief of the humors and that deisease was caused by an upset in the balance of the humors, such as the changes in temperature or moisture of the body. In the area of astrology Chaucer’s physician was also an expert. He is stated as, “grounded in astronomy” in line 414 of the general prologue. He also would use the stars to determine when would be the best time to treat his patient and administer drugs as seen in lines 415 – 18.

The physicians of the middle ages had a

Some topics in this essay:
Maggie Krzywicka, Bryon Grigsby, Gatesden Gilbertine”, Canterbury Tales, Chester Burns, Ages Medicine, Geoffrey Chaucer, middle ages, chaucer’s physician, Esculapius Dioscorides, canterbury tales, chaucer’s physician canterbury, doctor middle ages, physician canterbury tales, drugs seen, grigsby 4, top hierarchy, doctors day, doctor middle, humors remained, astrology chaucer’s physician, astrology common,