Renaissance medicine

1. RENAISSANCE
MEDICINE

2. RENAISSANCE CIVILISATION
• From 1400 to 1700 CE (Common/Current Era)
• Is the period of progress in European medical knowledge, and a renewed interest in the
ancient ideas of the Greeks and Romans.
• During the 15th century Western civilisation experienced a process of profound change,
which historians call the Renaissance (meaning 'rebirth').

3. SIX KEY CHANGES
Government
The economy boomed and
trade prospered. People
could afford doctors.
New World
The discovery of America by
Columbus meant that new foods
and medicines were brought
back from the New World.
Printing Press
The invention of the printing
press allowed new ideas to
spread more quickly around
Europe.
In the 15th century AD, there was a 'rebirth' of European civilisation.

4. Revival of learning
Universities established
schools of medicine. The
Renaissance saw the
beginning of scientific method
New Weapons
(especially gunpowder) led to
soldiers getting different sorts
of wounds, which battlefield
doctors had to deal with.
Artists
(such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da
Vinci and Titian) revolutionized
painting
this led them to study the body in
more detail, and was connected to
improved knowledge of anatomy

5. GROWTH OF
KNOWLEDGE
• Although the Renaissance saw an improvement in
medical knowledge, particularly of anatomy and
physiology, many people rejected the new ideas.
• Further, doctors still did not manage to use their
discoveries to develop better cures for their patients,
because they had still not discovered the role
that germs play in causing disease.
15th-century manuscript
illumination of a public dissection
Anatomy Theatre inside Archiginnasio where the
first public dissection of a corpse took place in 1315
Bologna Italy

6. DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
• Methods of diagnosis in the Early Modern Age did
not change from the time of the Middle Ages.
• Doctors were utterly unable to cure infectious
disease, and were powerless in face of diseases
such as the plague and syphilis.
• They did get some new drugs (eg quinine for
malaria) from the New World, but generally
treatment was a mixture of superstition and
errors.
17th-century engraving by Paulus Furst, of a physician wearing protective
clothing, including a mask, to protect him against the plague

7. RENAISSANCE PUBLIC HEALTH
Rats, lice and fleas were a part of people's everyday lives in Early Modern
times, so the need for public health measures was great - but it took
the plague of 1665 to get the authorities moving.

8. Early Modern towns were similar to Medieval towns. They did not have
systems of sewers or water pipes.
Garbage and human waste was thrown into the streets.

9. Despite the generally casual attitude to dirt, during the 1665 plague London did nevertheless
establish some public health provisions.
 'Surgeons' were appointed, who examined the dead to establish the extent of the plague.
 Bills of Mortality were published, to publicize the course of the disease.
 'Examiners' and 'searchers' were appointed, who established whether members of a household had
contracted the plague.
 Constables were appointed, who made sure no one left such houses.
 Bodies were buried at night in huge pits, and mourners were not allowed to attend.
 'Pest houses' were set up, to quarintine sufferers.
 Householders were ordered to collect all waste, which was then removed by 'rakers'.
 Stray pigs, dogs, rabbits and cats were killed.
These measures unfortunately did not stop the spread of the plague,
which only ended when the weather turned cold

10. RENAISSANCE DOCTORS
Medicine in Early Modern times was making some progress - but most people's doctors had
little or no training.
Early physicians
The Early Modern Age saw advances in theory, but not
in practice.
The most advanced Early Modern physicians were usually
town-based, and also:
•were well educated and trained
•did 'scientific' research
•were prepared to contradict the accepted authority
•disseminated their findings
•relied on royal support
•had limited success

11. However, they charged very high fees and only the richest people could afford them.
The medicine available to ordinary people relied on the amount they could afford.
The people they turned to for medical advice included:
I. Country doctors -
lower fees than town doctors, but not well-trained
II. Barber-surgeons -
who were paid to perform small operations
III. Apothecaries (chemists) –
no medical training, but sold medicines and groceries
IV. Quacks -
travelling barbers, tooth-pullers, who sold medicines
which were supposed to cure everything
V. Wise women, neighbours and local 'witches' 16th-century woodcut, depicting (right)
medical treatment of a skin disease and
(left) blood letting, by barber surgeons in a
barber shop