The Renaissance Flashcards
c1500 - 1700
At the start of the Renaissance, how influential was the Church?
The Catholic Church still had huge power and influence.
Did the power of the Catholic Church change in the Renaissance?
Eventually, yes.
What were two things that decreased the influence of the Church in the Renaissance?
- It suffered a challenge from people called Protestants who were unsatisfied with its power and organisation.
- People gradually proved ideas they said were “unchallengeable” wrong, the Church’s authority declined.
Did rational ideas become more influential in the Renaissance?
Yes - Scientists + philosophers gradually came up with ideas that challenged the accepted old ideas (eg. Galen)
What did Paracelsus theorise about the cause of disease?
In 1526, Paracelsus theorised that disease was caused by problems with chemicals inside the body.
What did Fracastoro theorise about the cause of disease?
In 1546, Fracastoro wrote On Contagion, which suggested disease was caused by seeds in the air.
What did Thomas Sydenham theorise about the cause of disease?
In 1676, he published Observations Medicae which theorised disease was separate from the patient.
Why was Observations Medicae significant?
It laid the foundations for the ending belief in the Theory of the Four Humours.
What did Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek develop and when?
By 1683, with funding from the Royal Society, Developed microscopes that were powerful enough to see tiny “animalcules” in plaque scraped from teeth.
Did people still believe that God caused disease in the Renaissance?
Yes- the wider population of Britain held on to superstitious beliefs longer. God’s role was particularly still seen in times of epidemic diseases like Plague.
What were the other theories about the causes of disease that people still believed in the Renaissance?
- The Theory of the Four Humours - although by 1700 it had been discredited, it was still believed by the wider population of Britain who were poorly educated.
- Miasma
Treatments from Middle Ages that people continued to use in Renaissance, without changing them
- 4 Humors Theory treatments, most notably bleeding, sweating and purging, stayed popular due to a strong continued belief in someone’s constitution (linking to the Four Humors).
- Avoidance- never having too much of things and having them in moderation.
How were herbal remedies developed from Medieval times?
- They remained popular, but people began to think more deeply about certain remedies that might help certain illnesses.
- They became more exotic due to England’s global exploration at the time.
What completely new methods of prevention/treatment were there in the Renaissance?
- Experimenting with medical chemistry (particularly in the 17th century)
- Homeowners fined for not cleaning up the streets outside their house- this was seen as a cause of Miasma
- People began avoiding very dirty areas altogether.
What did Paracelsus theorise about methods of treatment for disease?
1500s: argued that cures needed to be developed that could attack disease. He experimented with early chemical cures such as arsenic, antimony, and mercury.
Exact examples of herbal treatments
- Colour treatments
- Cinchona bark from Peru to treat Malaria.
(actually worked for a time if it was continually taken) - People experimented with the new arrival of coffee.
Exact examples of ‘colour treatments’
- Yellow herbs such as saffron to treat jaundice.
- Drinking red wine and wearing red clothes to cure smallpox.
When was the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis published and what were its contents?
- 1618
- Included details on 122 chemical treatments including mercury and antimony, which was shown to cool the body down if given in small doses.
What was the role of physicians in the Renaissance?
They were contracted to hospitals were they would visit patients and even prescribe cures.
How did the role of physicians change from Medieval times to the Renaissance?
In medieval times they would have diagnosed patients but not prescribed treatments.
Were physicians well-educated in the Renaissance?
Yes:
- Retrieved better training in universities
- More detailed textbooks covering detailed descriptions of human body + new forms of treatments such as medical chemistry.
- From the 17th century onwards, learning became more hands on and less about learning from ancient books.
Define iatrochemistry
Medical chemistry
How did Apothecaries change from Medieval times to the Renaissance?
- Became more professionalised
- Exploration of the New World + growth of iatrochemistry meant new ingredients were introduced into the stores of apothecaries.
Did hospitals provide good care in the Renaissance?
- Offered patients a good diet
- Offered a visit from a physicians
- Offered medicine with a remedy put together by an apothecary.
What happened in 1536?
Dissolution of the monasteries reduced the amount of hospitals in England. The oldest hospital in England, St. Barts, only survived because Henry VIII re-opened it himself in 1546.
What was a consequence of the event of 1536?
Put massive pressure on hospitals, as most hospitals were operated and supervised by monks and nuns. It took a long time for hospital care to recover.
Did hospitals in the Renaissance accept contagious patients?
No - they sent them to pest houses, individualised hospitals that looked after people suffering from one disease.
Did the role of women in care in the home change?
No, they still played a massive role in care at home.
What was the book that Andreas Vesalius published and when was it published?
1543, he published “The Fabric of the Human Body”, which demonstrated the correct assembly of the body’s skeletal, muscle and ligament structure.
Why was Andreas Vesalius so significant?
Key Renaissance man in terms of disproving many ancient ideas like those of Galen; laid foundations for future medical progress.
Which of Galen’s ideas were disproved/corrected by Andreas Vesalius?
- The human jaw was in one part not two.
- Men did not have one fewer pair of ribs than women.
- The human liver did not have five separate lobes.
- The human breastbone was in three parts not seven.
What did William Harvey prove?
- Arteries and veins were linked into one system.
- Theorised blood passed from arteries to veins through tiny passages (now known as capillaries).
- The heart acted as a pump just as new mechanical fire pumps did.
What old ideas did William Harvey disprove?
- Disproved that that blood flowed from one side of the heart to the other through invisible holes in the walls of the ventricles.
- Disproved that veins carried the ‘soul’ along with blood- they only carry blood.
- Disproved the theory that the liver digested food to make blood.
Why were William Harvey and Andreas Vesalius so significant?
- New theories that disproved ancient ones
- Laid groundwork for far more rapid medical progress - Further studies based on accurate foundations of human anatomy + how body worked
What did the success of Vesalius and Harvey show?
The importance of study and questioning old ideas in order to get to ever more correct answers.
What was the attitude of the government towards public health in the Renaissance?
Still largely ineffective, local government took some steps to improve things at a local level though.
Who were responsible for the improvements in public health?
Individuals and their projects were most responsible for improving the public health situation.
Factor that influenced changes in public health in the Renaissance
- The Great Plague 1665.
- Individuals such as Edmund Colthurst and Hugh Myddleton
What did Edmund Colthurst do?
1602- Suggested construction of artificial river to bring water to London over 38 miles from River Lee. Managed 2 miles before quitting due to lack of finance.
What did Hugh Myddleton do?
1609- Revived Colthurst’s project
How did Myddleton complete the artificial waterway project and when?
1613- King James I supported the project with official royal backing.
What was the Great Plague and when was it?
A serious outbreak of Plague caused by fleas; 1665.
How many people died of the Great Plague?
- One in five people in London died during the outbreak.
What rational ideas were there about the cause of the Great Plague?
- Contagion; a popular hunch, but it could not be proved.
- Miasma- most common theory at the time.
- Dunghills, a feature of city life made a plague vapour that stayed in the soil in cold weather and was released when it got warm.
- Spread by pets such as cats and dogs.
What supernatural ideas were there about the causes of the Great Plague 1665?
- An unusual alignment of Mars and Saturn.
- God’s punishment for sins of man + declining power of church.
How did people think the plague could be treated?
- Strap a live chicken to a bubo.
- Lance a bubo with a chicken feather.
- Exotic spices such as nutmeg (which had arrived from the New World)
- Quack doctors, offering fake advice for money
How did people think catching the plague could be prevented?
- Prayer and repentance; overall penitence
- Quarantining the sick
- Carry a pomander (charm) as perfume to drive away the miasma
How did the government try to prevent the Great Plague from spreading?
- All public gatherings of large people banned by Royal decree.
- 40,000 dogs and 200,000 cats killed- ordered by Royal Decree (K. Charles II)
- Searchers/wardens sent to look for houses where disease was present; these houses were quarantined for 28 days, and the sick were sent to plague houses.
When was the creation of the Royal Society and why was it so significant?
- 1660
- Funding made available that supported research into technological breakthroughs such as Van Leeuwenhoek’s microscope.
What did the Royal Society publish?
It began publishing a scientific journal called Philosophical Transactions in 1665 promoting greater rational and scientific thinking. It published the first images of animalcules in 1702.
Who supported the Royal Society?
The Society received royal approval from King Charles II in 1662 and represented the support of the government for new scientific ideas.
When was the printing press invented and by who?
- 1440
- Johannes Gutenberg
Why was the invention of the printing press so significant?
Took book copying out of the hands of the Church and made it impossible for the Church to prevent ideas that they disapproved of being made public.
Why was the invention of the printing press significant for individuals like Vesalius and Harvey?
More people were able to be introduced to the precise findings of their work quicker, so the influence of science and rational thinking increased dramatically.
