Medical Ethics And Etiquette In The Early Middle Ages: The Persistence Of Hippocratic Ideals *

This chapter explains that both Greek and Medieval physicians were subjected to two somewhat divergent influences, one of which was idealistic, the other practical; in other words, ethics and etiquette. So far as ethics are concerned, the early medieval writers seem to have combined Hippocratic and Christian ideals without any apparent feeling of conflict or inconsistency. With regard to the Middle Ages, much has been done to correct the historical astigmatism of tradition, but it has been confined almost entirely to the later medieval centuries, and especially to the supposed influence of Salerno, reputed center of a revived Hippocratic idealism and scientific Greek practice. The Salernitan treatise repeats some of the early medieval idealism that stemmed from both Christian and Classical sources; notably the invoking of God's aid and the Hippocratic warning against immorality. But the treatise is more concerned with a hitherto unimportant factor, the materialistic side of medical practice.