Renaissance (1500-1700) Flashcards
What were some of the treatments for disease during the renaissance period
Continuity:
-Blood-letting and purging (4 humours still popular)
-Religious superstition (the king was thought to be descendent from god so people thought that the kind’s royal touch would heal any diseases)
-Supernatural treatements (such as cutting of hair)
Change:
-Chemical cures
-Transference (e.g. rubbing an onion on wart would transfer the wart to the onion - superstitious)
-Herbal remedies became much more popular as the exploration of the ‘new world’ brought new spices and herbs back to Europe
What were some of the ideas about the cause of disease
-4 humours theory was still popular - although it was rejected by Thomas Sydenham
-With the declining power of the church it brought new scientific thinking and fewer people belived in the supernatural causes of disease
-Miasma theory continued
-Religious beliefs and causes
-Despite huge improvements in anatomical knowledge, physicians were still trained on Galen’s ideas about disease
What were some of the ideas about Prevention of disease
-Sweet-smelling herbs
-More effort to remove miasma (removing sewage and cleaning rubbish from the streets)
-Idea of moderation (avoiding exhaustion, fatty foods, drinking too much) - introduced the idea of a healthier lifestyle
When was the Plague
1666
What percentage of Londoners died
15% or 100,000
What was treatment and prevention like during the Plague
Treatment
-Blood-letting
-praying
-pigeons, snakes, chickens (superstition)
Prevention
-Smoking tobacco
-Woman searchers - identified people who had the plague, by marking their houses with a white ‘X’
-Plague victims were quaratined
-People were ordered to clean the streets
-large crowds and public gatherings banned
How many dogs and cats were killed to prevent the spread of the plague
40,000 dogs
200,000 cats
What was the royal society
An organisation set up for scientists to discuss new experiments and discoveries (king-funded) using technology such as microscopes
When was the royal society formed by King Charles II
1660
What was the name of the first scientific journal from the royal society
‘Philosophical transcations’ (1665)
Which Royal society member did the first experimental blood transfusion
Richard Lower (1665)
Which Royal society member studied and drew small animals with a microscope
Robert Hooke (1665)
Who was Andreas Vesalius
An anatomist who was a grave robber who openly challenged Galen’s ideas of anatomy, which had never been done before
When was ‘Fabric of the human body’ published (vesalius’ book based on the dissection of humans in which he corrected over 300 of Galen’s mistakes (e.g. human jaw bone and blood isn’t passed through invisible tubes but veins)
1543
When was ‘Six anatomical tables’ published (Vesalius’ book that showed detailed drawings of the human body and its anatomy. Written in 4 different languages and was used to train physicians)
1537
