Renaissance Medicine: healers and treatments Flashcards
Give three ways in which the training of doctors improved during the Renaissance
Any three from:
More training took place on hospital wards
Doctors could study the work of Vesalius and Harvey
Training took a scientific approach - observing symptoms and trying out treatments
More doctors could dissect bodies
More access to new equipment such as microscopes and thermometers
How much change was there in the role of the woman between medieval and Renaissance medicine?
Very little - they were still the first person to treat nearly all sicknesses
What happened to many hospitals in the 1530s and why?
They closed down - Henry VIII closed down the monasteries
Who took over more hospitals in the 16th century?
Town councils
What was the difference between nursing sisters and nursing helpers in a Renaissance hospital?
Nursing sisters would give herbal remedies to patients
Nursing helpers did the washing, cleaning and preparation of food (they had no medical training)
How much change was there in the role of the hospital between the medieval and Renaissance periods?
Little change - most hospitals still did not admit people with infectious diseases
How did the role of apothecaries change during the Renaissance period?
They began to use chemical cures (based on the new science of iatrochemistry) instead of relying on herbal remedies
What were pest houses in the Renaissance?
Hospitals specialised in treating people only with plague or pox
Give two examples of CONTINUITIES in prevention of disease between the medieval and Renaissance periods
Any two from:
People still believed a person’s ‘constitution’ helped explain why they were ill, related to their humours and personality
Physicians continued to write out a regimen sanitatis for their rich clients
People still believed in keeping the home and the body clean
Give two examples of CHANGES in preventions between the medieval and Renaissance periods
People believed that you could avoid becoming ill by moving away from an area with disease
Bathhouses were closed down in the 16th century to prevent syphilis
Minor criminals were punished by making them pick up rubbish from the streets
How did treatments based on the Four Humours change during the Renaissance?
New ingredients were used to carry out purging, such as rhubarb to purge the bowels and ipecacuanha to make people vomit
How many people visited the King’s court between 1660 and 1682 to be touched by the King as a cure for scrofula?
Over 92,000
