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18|CHAPTERI.HistoricalContexts
constellationofcelestialbodiesinfluencedearthlyaffairsaswellashuman
healthcondition.Forthisreason,astrologywaslinkedtomedicine,and
treatmentsbasedonastrologicalprinciplesgaverisetoiatromathematics21.
TheAristotelianconceptofthefourelementsandtheHippocratictheory
ofthefourbodilyfluidswereadoptedbyGalenofPergamon(130-200AD),
attachinghumourstotheelementsandassigningqualitiestothem.Warm
andmoistbloodwasequivalenttoair,warmanddrylightbile(red)correlated
withfire,coldandmoistmucusdisplayedalignmentwithwater,anddry
andcoldblackbilereflectedsoil.Galenarguedthathealthdependedonthe
balanceofthehumoursandtheirproperties,aswellasontheenvironment,
eatingtherightfood,drinking,working,resting,sleeping,defecating,as
wellasthefeelingsandpassionsofthesoul.Heclassifieddiseasesasper
theexcessofagivenliquid.Inflammationwasattributedtoanexcessof
blood,nodules,pustulesandrhinitisweretheresultofexcessivephlegm,
jaundicewascausedbytoomuchlightbile,andcancerandmelancholyby
blackbile.Heidentifiedacuteandchronicconditionsandbelievedthatthe
developmentofdiseasesdependedonenvironmentalfactorsaswellason
thepredispositionofindividualorganisms.Heemphasisedtheconnection
betweenbodyandsoulandtheinfluenceofreasoninunderstandinghow
thebodyfunctions.Herejectedallmagic,superstitionandmiraclesinthe
treatmentofdiseases.Galenunderstoodhealthasanaturalstateofthe
organism,associatedwiththepursuitofwell-being22.
TheRomanEmperorJuliantheApostate(331-363AD)stressedthe
usefulnessofmedicalknowledge“forbyitsmeanstheinfirmityofour
natureandthedisordersthatattackusarecorrected”23.
inRenaissanceMedicine,“JournaloftheWarburgandCourtauldInstitutes”
1958,Vol21,No.1/2,pp.119-133,L.Saif,TheArabictheoryofastralinfluences
inearlymodernmedicine,“RenaissanceStudies”2011,Vol.25,No.5,pp.609-
626,S.Konarska-Zimnicka,„Wenuspaniąroku,Marstowarzyszem…”Astrologia
wKrakowieXVipoczątkuXVIwieku,WydawnictwoUJKwKielcach,Kielce
2018,p.142.
21S.Konarska-Zimnicka,op.cit.,pp.137-207,T.Barton,AncientAstrology,
Routledge,London–NewYork2003,pp.26-27,43.
22A.Bednarczyk,Galen–głównekategoriesystemufilozoficzno-lekarskiego,Uniwer-
sytetWarszawski,WydziałFilozofiiiSocjologii,Warszawa1995,passim.
23JulianApostata,Listy,translatedbyW.Klinger,Ossolineum,Wrocław–War-
szawa–Kraków1962,p.28.
