The Begginnings Of Change: The Impacts Of Renaissance

Question 1

What is Renaissance?

Answer 1

This is a period in history which flourished in late 1400s. It began in Florence, Italy, with wealthy businessmen and traders. Being interested in the world of the Ancient Greek and Romans and paid educated people to translate their work. At the same time the reformation was challenging accepted religious ideas.

Question 2

What did the renaissance lead to…

Answer 2

People were inspired by the Greeks love of learning but they also become critical of old texts. People no longer just accepted what they were told but began to ask questions, look for evidence and experiment with new ideas. People wanted to be educated in art, music, science and literature to improve their lives. Since people’s in ancient knowledge grew, the renaissance is considered a period of ‘rebirth’. For centuries people had accepted the ideas of the church but now wanted to find the answers for themselves.

Question 3

What did Vesalius discover?

Answer 3

A surgeon that carried out dissection on human bodies. He believed that anatomy was key to understanding how the human body worked.

Question 4

How did Vesalius challenge previous medical knowledge?

Answer 4

Proved animal anatomy was different from human beings which, challenged Galen’s original ideas.

Question 5

What did Edward Jenner discover?

Answer 5

Found that infecting a person with cowpox (mild form) vaccinated people against small pox which killed 30% of the people who were infected.

Question 6

How did Edward Jenner challenge previous medical knowledge?

Answer 6

Looked at preventing disease rather than caring for the sick. Challenging knowledge of disease and 4 Humours and God. They believed God caused diseases as repayment for sins.

Question 7

What did Paré discover?

Answer 7

He learned his skills in the army as a surgeon. He found using rose oil, egg white and turpentine instead of hot boiling oil to cauterise wounds. He found it worked better. He also used ligatures to stop bleeding.

Question 8

What did William Harvey discover?

Answer 8

He spent along time studying blood through dissection and experiments and found blood circulates the body and was driven by the heart.

Question 9

How did William Harvey challenge previous medical knowledge?

Answer 9

Dissected human bodies and challenged Galen’s idea that new blood was constantly created in the liver.

Question 10

What did John Hunter discover?

Answer 10

Made discoveries about the nature of diseases, infections, cancer and the blood circulation. He was one of the best surgeons of his time.

Question 11

How did John Hunter challenge previous knowledge?

Answer 11

Set up large practises and trained hundreds of doctors/surgeons including Edward Jenner. Dissected human bodies in order to understand them and study them.

Question 12

What is Thomas Guy’s Hospital and how did it challenge previous medical knowledge?

Answer 12

In early 18th century modern hospitals were set up which were funded and supported by private people.

It trained doctors rather than hire monks and priests and cured patients rather than care for them.

Question 13

How did the ‘new world’ affect renaissance?

Answer 13

Explorers, sailors, merchants used more accurate maps. The discovery of America in the Kate 1400s showed the value of new things and making discoveries rather than sticking to old ideas. New food and medicines were also brought back from the new world.

Question 14

How did science and technology affect the renaissance period?

Answer 14

• a new desire to show the human form in more realistic detail and led artists to study the body more carefully.
• a scientific method of learning begins which involved observation, hypothesis and experimentation. Much of started with doctors and scientists reading books from Ancient Greece and Rome. Soon scholars began to question old established beliefs.

Question 15

What was the printing press?

Answer 15

The printing press made in 1451 allowed new ideas to spread quickly around Europe and old and new books to be studied. It printed pages far more quickly and accurately than before. More people could now read ancient book as well as books on new discoveries.

Question 16

How did war affect renaissance?

Answer 16

New technology such as gun powder meant injured soldiers got new types of wounds. As a result doctors had to find new ways to deal with these wounds. Some used new scientific methods of learning to find out better ways to treat injuries.

Question 17

Who dominated medical knowledge in Medieval Europe before Vesalius?

Answer 17

Galen dominated medial knowledge before Vesalius and reigned over medical knowledge for over 15 centuries after his death.

Question 18

How/ where did Vesalius learn his medical knowledge?

Answer 18

He graduated at 23 with a high degree. He went to the university of of Padua in Italy.

Question 19

What did Vesalius dissect? And how was his teaching style different from medieval teaching?

Answer 19

Human bodies and some animals. He has illustrative teaching methods with a step by step instruction guide.

Question 20

Why was vesalius’ text book revolutionary?

Answer 20

His text book was called the ‘Fabrica’ and was revolutionary because his illustrations were so detailed.

Question 21

How did Vesalius hell medical development?

Answer 21

• through careful observation, he found that Galen’s findings were wrong because they were based on animal dissections.
• although his work did not lead to any medical cures, it was the basis for better treatment in the future.
• his dissections were popular. He promoted human dissection as a way to discover more about the body and as a way that students could learn about the body. Also dissected animals to show how Galen had gained his knowledge: the breastbone in a human has 3 parts, not 7 like an ape.

Question 22

What impact did Vesalius have in medicine?

Answer 22

• his work was soon appreciated in England. Within in 2 years of being published an Italian printer, Thomas Geminus published compendiosa , a book which used all all of Vesalius’ illustrations. It was used as a manual for barber surgeons in London to learn the trade.
• in the latter half of 16th century many copies of his book influenced and inspired many English surgeons.
• showed others how to do proper dissections and famous 16th century anatomists who followed his approach such as Fabricus, Cculumbo and Fallopius used dissections to find out more about specific body parts.

Question 23

What sort of opposition did Vesalius face?

Answer 23

• faces heavy criticism far daring to say Galen was wrong. He was correcting errors made by greatly respected anatomists and doctors whose ideas had been believed in for thousands of years. As a result he had to leave his job in Padua.
• when other doctors observed the same differences as Vesalius, they blamed that particular body they were dissecting or said human anatomy had changed since Galen’s time.

Question 24

How were gunshot wounds treated before paré and why?

Answer 24

Burning oil because they thought the wound was poisonous and it was the only way to prevent it spreading.

Question 25

Why did paré use something else to treat his patients and what did he use?

Answer 25

He had to use something else because they ran out of oil to treat gun shot wounds. Instead he used a concoction of egg white, Rose oil and turpentine.

Question 26

What were the results of paré new concoction to treat gunshot wounds?

Answer 26

Those who were treated with it made a full recovery and slept peacefully.

Question 27

How did surgeons before Paré stop bleeding and what did Paré use instead?

Answer 27

Before Paré they used hot iron to cauterise the wound. Paré used ligatures to tie of the blood vessels.

Question 28

What was the problem with using ligatures?

Answer 28

Surgeons did not know of germs in the air so wounds could get infected using this method. Also it was too slow of the battle field, cauterising iron was more effective and quicker in the field which was crucial. They could also introduce infection to the wound .

Question 29

What were some of Paré’s methods?

Answer 29

Paré challenged accepted practise based on observation and experimentation and wrote a book about treating wounds in new and better ways.
He was a French army surgeon who developed his surgical methods on the battle field.
He admired and learned from the work of Vesalius.

Question 30

What kind of work did Paré do with class limbs?

Answer 30

Due to the number of amputations he had to, he quickly moved on to designing and making false limbs for soldiers and included drawings of them in his book.

Question 31

How did Paré use ligatures?

Answer 31

• he used ligatures instead of cauterising because he felt it was cruel to cauterise a wound.
• he revived an old method to stop bleeding. Instead of cauterising a wound he used ligatures(string/thread). He did this by tying a ligature around individual blood vessels, recommended by Galen.

-

Question 32

Why was Paré rose oil concoction better than hot oil?

Answer 32

Patients treated with hot oil were in immense pain with inflamed wounds, Paré’s concoction didn’t have this negative affect.

Question 33

4 main ways Paré influenced the understanding of medicine in England?

Answer 33

• his book ‘Works on Surgery’ were widely read by English surgeons and an English hand-written one was given to the Library of Barber surgeons of London in 1591 long before it was printed in 1634.
• He translated Vesalius’ writings into French which, increased surgeons understanding as most surgeons were not taught in Latin. His books were circulated around Europe.
• In 16th Century England there was a number of surgeons who followed his renaissance approach to surgery: they observed, questioned, and experimented with new ideas.
• William Clowes, a surgeon of the queen admired him. He gained most his experience in the battle field and was talented at stopping bleeds and healing. In 1596 he acknowledged Paré as his source for treating burns using onions.

Question 34

What did Galen believe about blood and how is this different to what William Harvey believed about blood?

Answer 34

Galen believe blood was produced/created in the liver and was absorbed by the body.
William Harvey beloved blood was pumped around the body by the heart (circulates body) and flows through the heat and rest of the body through veins and capillaries.

Question 35

Why did many find William Harvey’s findings do controversial and how did many people react?

Answer 35

They proved Galen’s theories were wrong and so many doctors turned against him so he joined the barber surgeons. He lost his position as royal physician as many didn’t believe in his findings.

However, by the end of his life he was supported by a lot of students and taught anatomy lessons. His books were widely used.

Question 36

In the 16th century what other discoveries were made about blood and who made them:

Answer 36

• Renaldo Columbo said blood moved along veins and arteries.
• Fabricius proved there were valves in veins.

Harvey read what these anatomists at Padua university discovered and built upon their knowledge.

Question 37

What methods did Harvey used when testing his theories about blood?

Answer 37

• he built up his knowledge about the heart through dissection.
• Harvey was a careful scientist who drew conclusions from methodical observation and experimentations.
• he experimented by trying to pump liquid the wrong way through valves and veins, proving that blood could only go one way.
• he studied human hearts and also observed the slow beating hearts of cold blooded animals to understand how muscles worked.

Question 38

What sort of opposition did Harvey face and why?

Answer 38

• when Harvey first published his findings his critics said he was mad to suggest blood circulated and some ignored his ideas.
• Despite the criticism, his theories were accepted by many his in his lifetime but it took another 50 years for the university of Paris to teach it to its medical students.
• some doctors rejected his theory because it went against Galen.
• some were very hostile towards Harvey such as the anatomists Jean Riolan, at the university of Paris who called him a ‘circulator’: slang for travelling quack.

Question 39

What type of discoveries were made by William Harvey?

Answer 39

• Harvey was sure the blood circulated the body but they couldn’t explain why.
• he knew blood moved from the arteries to the veins but he couldn’t explain how. He suggested it was absorbed by veins.
• neither could Harvey explain why blood in the arteries was a different colour to the blood in the veins.

Question 40

What was the impact of Harvey’s work at the time of his discoveries?

Answer 40

His work challenged Galen’s idea, which many people opposed at the time as they had used Galen’s theories for over 10 centuries. As a result the medical community turned away from him.

Question 41

What was the impact of Harvey’s work later on in medicine?

Answer 41

Students started to pick up on his idea by the time he dies they believed he was right. Galen’s idea of flood letting and the 4 Humours were discredited.

Question 42

What effect did the king have on 17th and 18th century medicine?

Answer 42

People believed the royal touch could cure the disease scrofula also called the ‘kings evil’. An average of 3000 people arrived in London hoping to be cured by the kings touch.

Question 43

What effect did wise women have on 17th and 18th century medicine?

Answer 43

• there were many homely remedies that were passed down from generation to generation. Some worked e.g honey can kill bacteria and willow tree contains aspirin which dulls pain.
• Lady Johanna St John carried out a typical lady of the manor role in healing. She collected family remedies and compiled a recipe book of cures. E.g paper soaked in vinegar to cure a nose bleed.

Question 44

What effect did Quacks have on 17th and 18th century medicine?

Answer 44

At this time there was a lot of people inventing and selling medicines that quite simply did not work. These people were called ‘quacks’. E.g a famous cure ‘Daffy’s Elixir’ was invented by a Leicestershire clergyman in 1647. He claimed it cured convulsion fits, worms, gout and kidney stones, colic etc (common problems at the time)

Question 45

What effect did barber surgeons have on 17th and 18th century medicine?

Answer 45

Military surgeon John Woodall began using lemons and limes to treat scurvy.

Question 46

What effect did apothecaries have on 17th and 18th century medicine?

Answer 46

Nicolas Culpeper published ‘complete herbal’ in 1653. He wrote in English in attempt to help people access medicine without having to pay the inflated fees of physicians. He was an apprentice to an apothecary then set up his own shop. He treated people for free by talking to and examining his patients rather than examining their urine. He classified herbs and plants by their use. He also combined herbs with astrology.

The bark of the Cinchona tee from America contained quinine which helped treat malaria, opium from Turkey was used as an anaesthetic and Tabasco from North America was wrongly said to cure many conditions, from tooth ache to plague. Rhubarb was hailed as a wonder drug when it arrived from Asia and was used a a laxative.

Question 47

In what ways had medicine shown continuity between 1347-1665?

Answer 47

• many still believed in the 4 Humours.
• people still believed in Galen’s theories and opposed others, who went against them.
• they were still very religious and believed in the church.
• they still didn’t understand how diseases were spread.

Question 48

In what ways had medicine shown change between 1347-1665?

Answer 48

• people read books from Vesalius and some agreed with him. His illustrations of anatomy were linked.
• they never had books before the printing press was invented.
• house orders were ordered to sweep the streets outside their house.
• house owners were ordered to sweep the streets outside their home.
• people used microscopes to see things they couldn’t see with the naked eye.
• belief in Harvey’s theory.
• access to more medical textbooks.

Question 49

What did Thomas Sydenham believe about disease?

Answer 49

He developed a successful treatment for small pox that was the opposite to what physicians usually did. He devised a successful ‘cool therapy’ prescribing lots of fluids, moderate bleeding and keeping patients as cool as possible.

Question 50

What was life like before and after print press?

Answer 50

before:Writings and drawings had to be completed painstakingly by hand. Normally this was done by scribes who lived in monasteries.

After: German man named Getunberg realised if he could cut blocks within a machine, he could make the printing press a lot more easily.

Question 51

How many people died in the plague that hit London in 1665?

Answer 51

100,00 people died-25% of the population.

Question 52

What was the great plague?

Answer 52

Plague came often to major towns and cities such as in 1665 when it hit London.

Question 53

What did people believe caused the plague?

Answer 53

• Many people believed the plague was a punishment from God for their sins.
• some people blamed the plague on the movement of the planets or on the poisonous air.
• there is some evidence that people were beginning to make strong connection between dirt and disease. From studying the Bills of Mortality, people realised that the most deaths occurred in the poorest, dirtiest parts of the city where people lived in the worst housing.

Question 54

What were some of the treatments used for the Great Plague?

Answer 54

• some patients were bled with leeches.
• Animals such as frogs, snakes, scorpions, chickens and pigeons were used to ‘draw out the poison’.
• fires were lit to try and remove the poisons that were thought to be in the air.
• If you were rich enough, one of the simplest remedies was to move to the countryside to avoid catching it.
• people smoked to keep away the ‘poisoned’ air or sniffed a spiked soaked in vinegar.
• one apothecary recommended that when a victim was close to death they should try cutting up a puppy alive and applying it to the sores.

Question 55

How did plague doctors dress?

Answer 55

-wore a mask so he couldn’t breath in fumes this means he couldn’t catch it airborne.
-amulet warding of evil spirits.
-thick waxy gown to prevent dirt coming into contact with them.
-stout gloves. This way he could examine patients and touch them without his skin being in contact with them and therefore not catch the
plague.
-nose cone full of sweat smelling herbs as they believed this would keep away the bad smells supposedly causing the plague.

Question 56

How effective was appointing examiners to find out who was sick in preventing the plague?

Answer 56

If they found any sick or infected person the house would be shut up and marked with a Red Cross. A watch man would also be appointed to make sure no one went into an affected house.
This isolated sick people limiting the amount of people the disease could spread to.- quarantining people.

Question 57

How effective was appointing women as searchers in every parish to search the dead and report weather they had died of plague or not in preventing the spread of plague?

Answer 57

Records were kept which was useful, but the women who were in contact with the plagued dead were likely to catch the plague and die.

Question 58

How effective was the fact that burial took place either before sunrise or after sunset in preventing the spread of plague?

Answer 58

Less people were out at these hours so wouldn’t be in contact or near when burring the the dead.

Question 59

How effective was banning all games, bear baiting, singing of ballads or entertainment where large groups of people gathered together in preventing the plague?

Answer 59

It can’t spread to large groups of people and limits the amount of people it can spread to.

Question 60

How effective was the law that householders had to keep the street clean in front of their door in preventing disease?

Answer 60

Effective because rats carrying fleas were not attracted to the streets as they were clean.

Question 61

How effective was banning hogs, dogs, cats, pigeons and rabbits and killing stray pets in preventing the plague from spreading?

Answer 61

Limits the amounts of animals that carry diseases with fleas on them.

Question 62

How effective was closing all Ale houses in preventing the spread of diseases?

Answer 62

They were seen as ungodly places even though they did bit originate here which is what many believed it was effective because it stopped large amounts of people meeting in unhygienic places which would further spread the disease.