renaissance medicines Flashcards
who was Vesalius?
Challenged the work of Galen after conducting
dissections and published work on anatomy.
who was Harvey?
Discovered the that the heart worked as a pump
and that blood circulated round the body.
who was pare?
“Battlefield” surgeon. Found alternative to cauterisation
by chance and developed ligatures/prosthetic legs.
who was Jenner?
Developed a smallpox vaccine but could not explain why
it worked. Was supported by the government.
who was hunter?
Collector of specimens who opened a museum to
educate the people on medicine.
what was the renaissance era famous for?
people starting to question beliefs and commonly thought ideas.
what happened at the start of the renaissance?
New lands were discovered, doctors tried new treatments and people began to
question the role of God in their lives. The invention of the printing press in 1451 allowed new ideas to be shared.
what happened to change peoples perspective of galen?
After dissecting human bodies, Vesalius realised that the work of
Galen was incorrect. E.g. the Human breast bone has three parts, not seven as Galen had claimed. Lots of people criticised
Vesalius for challenging Galen, however over time Vesalius’ work became popular and inspired British surgeons.
what invention led to the forceful discovery of new treatments?
Guns changed the types of surgery being carried out. Cauterisation was used to seal wounds until Pare found a new method
of treatment, running out of oil and using a cream to soothe the wounds instead.
what did pare do to help discovery’s spread faster?
Pare translated Vesalius’ work into French
making it easier for English surgeons to read. Queen Elizabeth I’s surgeon followed Pares methods.
what was Harveys main contribution to medicine?
Harvey improved understanding of blood and the heart. After dissecting human hearts, he published the idea that blood
circulated around the body although he struggled to fully explain why this happened. Some people said that Harvey was
mad and accused him of being a quack.
what was the main factor for treatments you could get?
wealth. Advice was given by a range of different people including
Barber-surgeons, Apothecaries, Wise women (who used plants and herbs) and Quacks. Many people also came to London
to be healed by the King’s touch. Explorers brought back natural medicines such as Opium used as an anaesthetic.
what was the great plague?
The Great Plague arrived in Britain in 1665 and killed 100,000 people in London. People still believed that it was a
punishment from God and also blamed the movement of planets and poisonous air.
what did people do about it?
Some people left London to avoid the
plague; victims were quarantined and stopped from leaving their house. Animals were also banned from the streets. bodys were also moved at night to avoid the plague spreading.
how did the plague stop?
Eventually, rats gained a resistance to the plague and lived longer which meant that their fleas stopped
jumping onto humans.
