Renaissance period

• 5 changes from Medieval period to Renaissance period -

  • more realistic artwork - saw the rebirth of dissections and understanding of muscles in the body
  • new ideas
  • early microscope
  • printing press
  • human body after dissection - unbanned and people understood human anatomy - dissected criminals
• Thomas Sydenham -1624 - 1869

  • believed that each disease was different and should be treated differently according to symptoms
  • He encouraged that doctors look at patients history and full range of symptoms
  • he was called 'English Hippocrates' as he was a firm believer of observation and recording
  • he was the first to document scarlet fever
  • instead of traditional bleeding and purging, he recommended a good meal - roast chicken and a bottle of wine
• Royal Society -

  • set up in 1662
  • meeting for scientists and pioneers
  • first experiment was a blood transfusion in 1665
• Andreas Vesalius - 1514 - 1564

  • he dissected bodies
  • book - Fabric of the Human Body
  • helped - lift on ban of human body, printing press, realistic artwork, microscope
  • his book was first read in 1560, Cambridge university

  3 Anatomical errors from Galen that he discovered -

  • human jaw - 1 bone not 2
  • breastbone has 3 parts not 7
  • heart did not have holed in Septum
• William Harvey - 1578 - 1657

  • Book - The anatomical account of the motion of the heart and blood
  • theory - heart was a pump for blood around the body
  • proved - blood circulated in a one-way system by trying to pump liquid past valves and into veins but failed
  • microscopes allowed him to look more in depth

  3 main parts of Galen's theory -

  • blood was made in liver to replace burned up blood
  • veins carried blood and air around the body
  • holes in the septum, which blood passed through
• Causes in Renaissance period - 


  • 4 humours
  • astrology
  • miasma
  • contagion
  • God's punishment
• Treatments in Renaissance period - 


  • purging
  • blood-letting
  • purifying air
  • herbal remedies
  • barber-surgeons
• Prevention methods in renaissance period - 


  • diet
  • exercise
  • purging
  • herbs
  • flowers
• Great Plague Renaissance period - 1665

  continuity from Black Death -

  • rakers
  • apothercaries
  • balance the humours
  • contagion
  • astrology
  • miasma
  • red cross on door of infected
  • religious charms
  • public prayer
• Great Plague Renaissance period - 1665

  Change from Black Death -

  • killed dogs and cats
  • closed public spaces
  • nurses determine cause of death by going in houses
  • more government help
• Physicians in Renaissance Period -

  • before 1600 - trained on books of Galen
  • after 1600 - trained in hospital wards, studied Vesalius on anatomy
  • importance of taking a more scientific approach
  • could dissect human bodies
  • new equipment was discovered such as microscopes and thermometers
• Lady Grace Mildray -

  • 1552 - 1620
  • wealthy lady
  • read Galen and 'A new Herbal'
  • dedicated life to helping local patients
  • kept patient records
  • noted treatments she used
• King's Evil - Scrofula


  If the King touched you, you would be cured