2.1.1

The Renaissance & Vesalius

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The Renaissance

The Renaissance began in Florence, Italy in the late 15th century and lasted until the 18th century. It was a cultural movement that revived part of Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman culture.

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Writing and knowledge

  • Scholars were paid to restore old texts and fix the bad translations that had been published in the Middle Ages.
    • The theories proposed by Hippocrates, Galen and Avicenna became popular again.
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Humanism and science

  • There was an increased focus on the importance of human factors rather than supernatural things. This was called humanism.
  • There was also a focus on direct observation and experiments to explain things rather than blame them on something supernatural.
    • This led some people to question the Church.
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Communication and the printing press

  • Renaissance means rebirth. It was a time of rebirth in the arts and science. The printing press (created in 1440) was very important to share and spread ideas.
    • The printing press allowed knowledge to be shared with more people very cheaply.
  • Books and leaflets could be printed and sent across Europe whereas previously, a lot of information was only told person-to-person.
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Impact on medicine

  • The rediscovery of Galen, Hippocrates and Avicenna’s work meant that people began to see the importance of dissection and the anatomy.
  • The focus on humans and the increased spread of ideas all encouraged experimentation and the search for explanations.
  • People began to dissect human bodies (corpses) and there were illustrations in medical writings and books.

The Work of Vesalius

Andreas Vesalius was a physician who studied in Paris and Louvain. He then became a professor of surgery at the University of Padua.

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Dissections

  • Vesalius thought that surgery would only get better if people understood the body and the anatomy better.
    • He used dissections (of executed criminals) to show that Galen’s understanding of the human body was wrong.
  • He faced opposition for criticising Galen and had to leave his job at the university.
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Vesalius’ writings

  • Vesalius published his Six Anatomical Pictures in 1538 and then published On The Fabric of the Human Body in 1543.
    • On The Fabric of the Human Body had illustrations based on Vesalius’ dissections.
  • Copies of Vesalius’ work reached physicians in Britain.
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Inspiring anatomists

  • Doctors were encouraged to do dissections themselves after Vesalius’ work.
    • Vesalius is credited with inspiring other anatomists, such as Fabricus and Fallopius.

Jump to other topics

1Medicine Stands Still

2The Beginnings of Change

3A Revolution in Medicine

4Modern Medicine

5Themes in Public Health

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