Renaissance medicine 1500-1700

• There was much continuity during these centuries regarding popular beliefs about the causes of disease and illness
• For most people, the methods of prevention of disease and treatments for those who were sick remained very similar
• Causes of disease and illness believed by most people

  • An imbalance of the four humours
  • Bad air, or miasma
• The theory of the four humours had been discredited by c.1700, but most people still believed in the idea
• New medical ideas and discoveries

  • Small seeds spread in the air were observed using newly invented microscopes
  • Factors outside the human body (eg temperature), rather than the four humours inside the body
  • 'Animalcules'- tiny animals that could only be seen using a microscope
• These new ideas had little impact, the general public continued to believe that illness was caused by an imbalance of the four humours
• The invention of the printing press in the 15th century meant that books could be printed rather than written out by hand, and new ideas could be spread more easily
• The printing press also meant the Church no longer had control over what was written in books, so physicians and scientists were able to publish ideas that challenged people like Galen
• The Royal Society


  • Founded in 1660 in London to support scientists in carrying out experiments, debating new ideas and sharing new discoveries
  • Supported by Charles II, which increased its popularity and credibility
  • Began issuing its scientific journal in 1665
  • Continues to publish scientific journals and carry out its mission across the UK and globally in the 21st century
• Andreas Vesalius


  The most famous anatomist of the Renaissance, who improved the existing understanding of anatomy
• Dissection had previously been viewed as extremely indecent and blasphemous, but it was no longer banned because the power of the Church was decreasing
• Vesalius was able to carry out a large number of dissections because a local magistrate allowed him to use the bodies of executed criminals
• Vesalius' discoveries


  • The human jaw has one bone, not two
  • The human breastbone has three parts, not seven
  • Blood does not flow into the heart through invisible holes in the septum (the wall dividing the ventricles of the heart) but is 'diffused' through it
• Vesalius' discoveries led to an improved understanding of the human body and his book was used to train physicians across Europe, including in England
• Doctors were encouraged to carry out dissections themselves and carefully observe the human body rather than relying on old books
• Humanism


  A new way of thinking that recognised the importance of the individual in discovering the truth around them, and rejected the religious idea that God controlled everything
• Thomas Sydenham


  • Encouraged physicians to move away from the classical ideas of Galen and Hippocrates towards the new scientific ideas of observation
  • Believed that to diagnose a patient's illness, a doctor needed to closely observe the symptoms and treat the disease that was causing them
  • Refused to rely solely on medical books
  • Encouraged his students to observe a patient carefully, record a description of their symptoms, and prescribe a remedy that would treat the disease
• Sydenham became known as the 'English Hippocrates' because of how important he believed it was for doctors to observe their patients
• Sydenham's work led to a more scientific approach to medicine after the 18th century
• Despite the innovations and discoveries of people such as Andreas Vesalius and Thomas Sydenham, some ideas from the medieval period about the causes of disease and illness continued to be accepted
• For most of the Renaissance, doctors continued to learn from the books of Galen and Hippocrates at university, but the printing press meant different ideas were starting to become available in more accessible printed books
• Towards the end of the Renaissance, the ideas of Galen were challenged by individuals such as Vesalius, Sydenham and William Harvey
• The training of physicians took a more scientific approach, encouraging observation and experimentation, and doctors had the opportunity to dissect bodies and learn using new technology, such as the microscope
• Rich people continued to pay for a doctor or nurse to look after them at home, but most people continued to seek cheaper remedies from an apothecary, and women continued to play an important role in the care of the sick
• The first person to treat sickness was normally the patient's wife or mother, and in some villages, wealthy women provided charity and care for families
• Many medieval hospitals had been attached to monasteries or convents, but after the Reformation, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the hospitals lost their religious connections
• Care of the sick

  • Rich people continued to pay for a doctor or nurse to look after them at home
  • Most people continued to seek cheaper remedies from an apothecary
  • Women continued to play an important role in the care of the sick
  • The first person to treat sickness was normally the patient's wife or mother
  • In some villages, wealthy women provided charity and care for families
• Many medieval hospitals had been attached to monasteries or convents
• After the Reformation, when Henry VIII closed the monasteries, the hospitals were taken over by local authorities
• Hospitals were now funded by charity and run by physicians
• In London, St Bartholomew's was kept open in this way
• Some hospitals were beginning to concentrate on treating the sick, aiming to deal with patients' symptoms and illnesses
• Most hospitals continued to provide care in the form of food and warmth rather than medical cures
• Treatment of illness


  • Bloodletting and purging were still common treatments used to balance the four humours
  • Herbal remedies were still used
  • Increase in travel brought new ingredients to England, such as rhubarb and tobacco, that were used to treat the sick
  • Superstition and religious beliefs remained
• It was believed that being touched by the monarch could cure a skin disease called scrofula (also known as the 'king's evil')
• The monarch was seen as God's representative on Earth, so being touched by them was the closest people could get to being touched by God
• William Harvey


  • Studied medicine at the University of Cambridge and at a famous medical school in Padua, Italy, during the Renaissance
  • Became a lecturer in anatomy and was a doctor to Charles I
  • Interested in how blood flowed around the body
  • Proved Galen's ideas about blood flow were wrong
  • Proved Vesalius' theory that the veins of the body contained valves
  • Carried out scientific experiments including dissecting human corpses and cold-blooded animals
• Harvey discovered that the heart acts as a pump, moving blood around the body
• Mechanical water pumps used by firefighters in the 17th century may have given Harvey the idea that blood is pumped around the body by the heart
• Harvey was unable to explain how blood moves from the arteries to the veins