Renaissance period

• Why was there new ideas about the diseases

  • because after the reformation the power of the church declined
  • which lead to an increase in doctors and scientists challenging to old ideas and asking questions
  • society became more secular
• What were the ideas about the cause of disease and illnesses

  • an imbalance of the four humours
  • miasma
  • believed that factors outside of the body
• What was the impact of the printing press?

  • new ideas could be spread mor easily
  • since it was now easier to create books, there were now more of them, which people could access them
  • also the church had no control over what was written
  • so scientist and physicians were able to challenge Gallen
• What was the royal society

  • was founded in London and was to support scientists in carrying out experiments
  • where they were able to share there new discoveries
  • and publish scientific journals
• What did Andreas Vesalius discover?

  • was dissecting humans and discovered that some of Galen's discoveries were incorrect
  • Galen done his dissections on animals
  • blood does not flow through the heart through invisible holes in the septum but gets diffused through
  • the human breastbone had three parts and not seven
• What did Vesalius book lead to?

  • lead to an improved discovery of the body
  • was used to train physicians and encourage them to carry out their own dissections
• Who is William Harvey?

  • He proved Galen wrong, as he taught that blood was made in the liver and pumped around the heart
  • he discovered that veins have valves which allowed blood to flow through the heart in one direction
  • he done this my dissecting human corpses and Frogs as well
• How did the people try and stop the spread of the plague again?

  • isolation for 40 days (quarantine)
  • bonfires were lit to clean the air
  • animals were banned inside of the city
• How did they prevent the plague

  • place strong- smelling herbs over the doorway
  • holding poises to their noses
  • chew tobacco
• What were some new approaches to treatment 


  • alchemy- which was looking at medical cures rather than relying on herbal
  • hospitals- also focused on curing patients and also pest houses which only cared for plague or pox victims which meant refused the risk of infecting other people