Was There Progress in Renaissance Medicine?

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Was There Progress in Renaissance and 18th-19th Century Medicine?

There was a huge advancement in renaissance medicine. However, there were still some setbacks.

Progress - Vaccination

Edward Jenner’s discovery of vaccination against smallpox was an important individual discovery that helped reduce the number of people killed by smallpox.
Government support (£10,000 in 1802 and more money later) helped to encourage this. Parliament then made the vaccination compulsory in 1853.

Progress - Cleanliness

Florence Nightingale’s work in the Crimean War in 1854 showed a growing understanding that dirt caused or was associated with disease.
The response to the Great Plague in 1665 showed some recognition of the impact of dirt and dead bodies in spreading illness.
- Local governments were more organised with 6 foot deep burials and quarantines.

Progress – Information spread

The printing press (created in 1440) helped to spread the ideas of Vesalius, Pare, Harvey, Nightingale, Hunter and Galen.
Inoculation was first brought to the UK by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu who observed it in Turkey.
The printing press meant that more people could read the books published by the likes of Vesalius.
- This helped to spread best practice and make sure that more people benefited from it.

Progress – Government efforts and scientific approach

Local governments dealt with the Great Plague better than the Black Death. Quarantines, closed trade routes and deeper graves all contributed to this.
Parliament gave Edward Jenner funding to do more research into smallpox vaccines.
Rather than blaming things on supernatural causes, more individuals like John Hunter began to work out what caused different things.

Progress – Hospitals and professionalism

The Nightingale School of Nursing was set up in St Thomas’ Hospital in London and nursing became more of a profession.
The College of Physicians was set up in 1518. Most British doctors were trained here and they were still learning Galen’s works.
More hospitals and workhouses were built in the 18th century.

Was There Progress in Renaissance Medicine?

There was a huge advancement in renaissance medicine. However, there were still some setbacks.

Not much progress – Understanding illness

Physicians’ understanding of medicine and illness was still very limited.
Lots of people still believed in Galen’s theory of opposites.

Not much progress – Understanding illness

Edward Jenner could not explain why vaccination worked and this led to a lot of resistance to his ideas.
In the Great Plague, special suits helped to protect physicians, but they worked for the wrong reasons.

Not much progress – The supernatural

Lots of people were still religious and blamed God’s will for a lot of illnesses.

1Medicine Stands Still

1.1Ancient Egyptian Approaches to Medicine

1.1.1Ancient Egyptian Medicine

1.2Ancient Greek Medicine

1.2.1Hippocrates

1.2.2Galen & Ancient Rome

1.2.3End of Topic Test - Ideas About Disease

1.3Medieval Medicine

1.3.1The Fall of Rome

1.3.2The Medieval 'Doctor'

1.4Religion & Medicine

1.4.1Christianity & Medicine

1.4.2Islam & Medicine

1.4.3Medieval Surgery

1.5Public Health in the Middle Ages

1.5.1Towns & Monasteries

1.5.2The Black Death

1.5.3End of Topic Test - Medieval Medicine

1.5.4Grade 9 Medieval Medicine

2The Beginnings of Change

2.1The Impact of the Renaissance on Britain

2.1.1The Renaissance & Vesalius

2.1.2Paré & Harvey

2.1.3Institutions & Technology in the Renaissance

2.2Treating Illnesses in the Renaissance

2.2.1The Great Plague

2.2.2Physicians, Surgeons & Hospitals

2.2.3End of Topic Test - The Beginnings of Change