C4 - The Impact of the Renaissance on Britain Flashcards
What was the Renaissance?
A cultural movement that began in Florence, Italy in the late 1400s. It began because wealthy businessmen paid scholars to investigate the writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. People were inspired to be critical of the old texts and experiment with new ideas. It made educated people want to find things out for themselves rather than just accept what the church told them. It caused a ‘rebirth’ of learning and a belief that being educated in science, art, music and literature could make life better for everyone.
How did the Renaissance spread?
Before the Renaissance, books were rare and expensive because they were copied out by hand. The invention of the printing press in 1451 made books cheap, accurate and quick to produce.
What were the consequences of the Renaissance?
New lands - explorers and merchants used more accurate maps, discovered the Americas and brought back new foods and medicines
Printing - new ideas spread quickly as well as those of the ancient world
Art - this showed the human body in more realistic detail
New inventions - technology such as gunpowder caused new types of wounds
New learning - a more scientific approach to learning involving observation, hypothesis, experiment and questioning.
What was dissection like before Vesalius?
- dissections were done to prove Galen right, not to challenge him
- Galen’s words were read while an assistant did the dissection
Who was Andreas Vesalius (1514-64)?
He was a Belgian who studies in Paris where he learned Galen’s anatomy. As professor of surgery at the University of Padua in Italy, he began to question Galen’s opinions.
What did Vesalius do?
He wrote a beautifully illustrated, very accurate textbook on anatomy based on dissections and observations of the human body called ‘The Fabric of the Human Body’ (1543). He corrected Galen’s mistakes as he also dissected animals. He provided proof of Galen’s mistakes, for example the breastbone in a human has three parts, not seven like the ape. Vesalius did dissections himself and he said that medical students should learn from dissection.
What were some criticisms of Vesalius?
- he was criticised for saying that Galen was wrong
- he had to leave his job in Padua and later became a doctor for the Emperor Charles V.
What was the impact of Vesalius’ work in England?
- in 1545 Thomas Geminus copied Vesalius’ illustrations and put them in a manual for barber surgeons, called ‘Compendiosa’.
- he added text from de Mondeville’s ‘Surgery’ (1312)
- Compendiosa was very popular in England and three editions were published between 1545 and 1559
What was the impact of Vesalius on medicine?
- his work overturned centuries of belief that Galen’s study of anatomy was correct
- he was a Renaissance approach because his work was based on examination of the human body itself
- Vesalius transformed anatomical knowledge
- although Vesalius’ work did not lead to any medical cures, it was the basis for better treatments in the future
- he showed others how to do proper dissections, and famous sixteenth century anatomists followed his approach e.g. Fabricius and Fallopius.
Who was Ambroise Paré (1510-1590)?
He was the most famous Renaissance surgeon in Europe, who published several books about his work.
What were treatments for gunshot wounds like before Paré?
Gunshot wounds were thought to be poisonous and were burned out using boiling oil, then a cream of rose oil, egg white and turpentine was applied.
What did Paré do that changed the way gunshot wounds were treated?
In 1537, Paré run out of hot oil when treating soldiers so he just used the cream. The patients’ wounds healed well - better than those who had had the oil as well. He wrote a book about treating wounds (1545).
How was bleeding stopped before Paré?
Wounds were cauterised (burned using a hot iron) to stop bleeding
What method did Paré use to stop bleeding?
Paré used Galen’s method of tying blood vessels with ligatures or thread. He invented the ‘crow’s beak clamp’ to stop bleeding. The ligature was less painful than cauterisation, but it took longer and could introduce infection - it was also less effective in battlefield surgery, which needs to be as quick as possible.
What did Paré do to help amputees?
Paré did many amputations as he was a military surgeon. He designed false limbs for wounded soldiers and included drawings of these false limbs in his books.
