AFTER THE FALL OF ROME, Constantinople became the intellectual storehouse of civilization. From there, in Arabic translations, classic Greek and Roman texts made their way back through Europe. While the Church emphasized the healing powers of faith, medical arts and philosophy remained rooted in Aristotle and Galen. The rise of universities and medical schools in the Middle Ages heralded the explosive genius of dawning Renaissance.

						Medical Practice in the East The ancient teachings of Galen continued to inspire physicians in Constantinople, Cairo, Alexandria, Athens and Antioch in a time when magic spells and myths dominated the West. Islamic scholars translated Greek and Roman works, spreading knowledge west to Spain and east to Persia and Baghdad. Despite the Church's bias against science, Constantinople served as a vital crossroads in the preservation and dispersal of medical wisdom.

		Medieval Views of Disease Sin, Satan, astrology and the ancient Greek theory of the four bodily humors—blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile—were variously invoked to explain human illness. Uroscopy charts depicted shades and conditions of urine samples, and indicated what diseases might be the cause. Cancer continued to be explained as the result of an excess of black bile, curable only in its earliest stages.

		Death by Epidemic: The Black Plague In 1347 bubonic plague carried by infected Crusaders struck Italy and spread through Europe. Helpless, doctors could only watch as the plague claimed over 42 million lives, a quarter of the population, in six years. Jews were blamed for the plague and were hanged or burned alive. Despair, chaos and economic upheaval caused a profound loss of faith in society's institutions and accelerated the decline of feudalism.
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