Ancient and Medieval Medicine in Malta [before 1600 AD]

Book excerpt: This book is an account of the history of medicine in its widest sense as practiced in the Maltese islands during the Prehistoric and classical periods, when medical practice was primarily based on superstition, religion and magic. While superstition and magic prevailed in the subsequent centuries, the late Classical period saw the introduction of a philosophical type of medical thought looking at disease as a disorder in the basic humors making up the body. This concept set the stage for the eventual scientific advances initiated during the Renaissance.