The Four Humors theory is an ancient medical concept that originated with the Greeks, particularly with Hippocrates, and was further developed by Galen. It was prevalent until the advent of modern medical science and it was still in use in the 1500s. This theory posited that the human body contained four basic substances, known as the "four humors". These were:

1. **Blood**: Associated with air, heat, and wetness, and was thought to engender a sanguine temperament, characterized by optimism, enthusiasm, and courage.
2. **Phlegm**: Associated with water, coldness, and wetness, and was thought to engender a phlegmatic temperament, characterized by calmness, unemotional behavior, and a lack of ambition.
3. **Yellow bile or Choler**: Associated with fire, heat, and dryness, and was thought to engender a choleric temperament, characterized by anger, irritability, and a quick temper.
4. **Black bile or Melancholy**: Associated with earth, coldness, and dryness, and was thought to engender a melancholic temperament, characterized by despondency, sleeplessness, and irritability.

It was believed that these four humors needed to be in balance for a person to remain healthy. Disease was thought to result from an imbalance in these humors. Different diseases and conditions were thought to result from an excess or deficit of the different humors.

Bloodletting, or the removal of some amount of blood from a patient, was a common practice in medicine for centuries, extending well into the 1500s. It was based on the theory of the four humors. The idea was to restore balance among the humors by reducing the amount of blood in the body. Blood was considered the dominant humor and the one that could most easily get out of balance. Bloodletting was used to treat a wide range of diseases and conditions, including fever, inflammation, and heart disease. The practice eventually fell out of favor as the theory of the four humors was replaced by more scientific understandings of disease and the human body.
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