Renaissance

• 27. How was technology changing during the Renaissance period?


  New weapons like muskets created new types of wounds. Anton van Leeuwenhoek discovered bacteria in 1683, using a single-lens microscope. He called them 'animalcules'. No one realised they caused disease.
• 28. How was education and communication changing during the Renaissance?

  New ideas started to flow around Europe and universities sprung up across the continent. People seemed slightly more willing to challenge old beliefs and scientific method emerged more strongly. The printing press meant that books could be mass-produced and was invented in Europe by Gutenburg in 1440.
• 29. How did transport and navigation impact medicine?

  New navigational technology was developed and people in Europe were connecting with North and South America which meant new ideas and medical ingredients. New ingredients were appearing from around the world. E.g Cinchona bark from South America was referred to as Jesuit's bark.
• 30. What contribution did Ambroise Pare make to surgery and anatomy?

  Introduced gentler and more effective methods for treating wounds; he ceased the use of boiling oil and developed new ointments. He improved surgical techniques, including the ligature of arteries during amputation instead of cauterization, reducing infection and pain. His book Works on Surgery was published in 1575
• 31. What contribution did Andreas Vesalius make to surgery and anatomy?

  "De humani corporis fabrica" (On the Fabric of the Human Body), published in 1543, which corrected numerous anatomical errors from Galen's texts by relying on direct human dissection. Examples of Galen's mistakes he corrected that the vena cava (main vein leading out the heart) did not lead to the liver, men did not have one fewer pair of ribs than women.
• 32. What contribution did William Harvey make to surgery and anatomy?

  He contributed to the understanding of circulatory system mechanics, demonstrating that blood circulates continuously around the body, pumped by the heart. An Anatomical Study of the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals), published in 1628, challenged Galen's ideas in a similar way to Vesalius.
• 33. Why was there opposition to the ideas of Vesalius and Harvey?

  They challenged the ideas of Galen which had dominated medicine for 1000+ years. The Church was suspicious of dissection and had endorsed Galen.
• 34. How were ideas about the cause of disease similar in the medieval period and the Renaissance period?


  The Theory of the Four Humours still remained the dominant way of understanding illness and most people continued to accept Galen's ideas. People still believed that ultimately, God controlled everything and that this included disease. Miasma continued to be a dominant explanation for disease and people thought that poor smelling people, material or places were causing disease. The idea that illness was caused by the stars persisted.
• 35. How were Renaissance treatments and preventions similar to the medieval period?

  Practice of medicine largely stays the same, even while ideas develop and progress. Humoural treatments (eg bleeding, purging) remain. The touch of the king was thought to cure some diseases (eg Charles II's touch was thought to cure scrofula). Most treated by local wise women or family remedies.
• 39. What were quack doctors?

  Quack doctors sold their own made-up treatments. The treatments often contained substances like alcohol or addictive ingredients.
• 40. How were approaches to the Great Plague in 1665 similar to the Black Death in 1348?

  Religious and supernatural explanations were still believed. Flagellation continued. Miasma continued to be believed as a cause and people continued to use sweet smelling things to prevent the disease e.g. plague masks. Treatments continued to be based on the Four Humours or miasma theory e.g. bleeding.
• 41. How were approaches to the Great Plague in 1665 different to the Black Death in 1348?

  There was an organised effort by the government to control the disease, including the establishment of plague hospitals and the Plague Orders issued by Charles II which dictated public health policy, whereas responses to the Black Death were more local and less systematic.
• 42. What change was there in the training and nature of medical practitioners during the Renaissance?

  In the 18th Century, more than 50% of practising 'doctors' had served an apprenticeship. Physicians were still trained at university, still mostly books instead of hands-on learning. Apothecaries were still training by apprenticeship, still mixing remedies, still cheaper than physicians. Surgeons and apothecaries were still largely training by apprenticeship, still largely performing simple operations, still cheaper than physicians.
• 43. What were hospitals like in the Renaissance period?

  Many hospitals were lost in the 1500s, because Henry VIII abolished monasteries (Dissolution of the Monasteries). Some survived like St Bartholomew's in London. Many wealthy people founded hospitals in the 1700s (e.g. Thomas Coram's 1741 foundling hospital). These new hospitals provided treatments and had physicians and apothecaries. Many hospitals continued to be places that were focused on 'care not cure' in a similar way to the medieval period.
• 44. Who was John Hunter and why was he important to the development of surgery?

  Hunter was a Scottish surgeon who became famous for pioneering a more scientific approach to surgery. In the 1780s, he was recognised as one of the leading surgical teachers in Europe.
• 45. What was inoculation and who made it famous in Britain?

  Inoculation involved giving someone a mild dose of smallpox in order to make them immune from the disease. Inoculations were made famous by Lady Mary Wortley Montague. It was dangerous and many people died. Doctors made a lot of money from inoculation clinics.
• 46. How was the smallpox vaccine developed? Developed in 1796. Edward Jenner noticed that milkmaids seemed not to catch smallpox and realised that cowpox was making them immune. He tested the approach on James Phillps. He set up vaccination clinics and became celebrated. Napoleon vaccinated half his army!
• 47. Why was there opposition to Jenner's vaccination?

  Jenner could not explain how the vaccination worked. Many people at the time were Christian and thought it was unnatural to put animal matter into the human body. Doctors had made a lot of money from the previous inoculation approach and were reluctant to embrace the new method.