Do you usually associate a renaissance with medical advances? As a rule, when we talk about the Renaissance, we are talking about an explosion of learning and creativity. From pictures to music, it was a great time for art in particular. However, the Renaissance, which lasted from the mid-1400s to the 1700s, was also characterized by important events in European medicine. Here are some of the important facts related to the Renaissance and medicine:
1. New knowledge and interventions improved medicine
A flurry of new knowledge and interventions helped quickly advance medicine in the Renaissance. There were no tools to observe the bacteria, and therefore create the need for cheap urban bushes. However, the diagrams of the human body and the printing press had a huge impact on the world of medicine. Thus, doctors had a better understanding of how the human body functioned than during the previous era in Europe.
2. Galen was no longer king
In the previous Middle Ages, the medical world considered the works of Galen to be unmistakable. Galen was an ancient Greek living in Rome who developed the “Father of Medicine” concept of Hippocrates.
However, in the Renaissance, doctors took a more practical and academic approach to learning in their profession. Medical students studied books with realistic diagrams of people. In addition to the best books, doctors in training also gained access to more of them, thanks to the invention of the printing press. In fact, universities even allowed students to dissect people by the end of the Renaissance. Previously, this practice was limited to animals.
3. Science began to replace spirituality.
At the time of the Renaissance, people still adhered to some spiritual reasoning about diseases. For example, people did not know that the bacteria escaped and could spread from person to person. However, logic became king, thanks to the new wealth of available knowledge and an effective way of spreading it faster — to the printing press. In addition, training in surgical procedures has improved significantly. Students learn surgical techniques from an active surgeon. Interestingly, the universities themselves could not provide doctors with these skills. However, improvements in textbooks on human anatomy have significantly increased the complexity of operations performed by doctors.
4. Many did not take medical advances.
While the Renaissance has opened a new era of medical knowledge and skills, not everyone was impressed. In the Renaissance, home remedies remained a vital aspect of treatment, for many people. In fact, some people still considered treatment from a local shaman who had no formal training in the medical profession. In addition, many old school doctors and the Catholic Church still adhered to the teachings of Galen. However, over time, medical advances in the Renaissance would revolutionize the whole professional.
The Renaissance was clearly the era of enlightenment and events. Besides the fantastic result in art, medicine flourished as well. While the doctors still did not know about bacteria or the need to wear scrubs during operations, they still studied. In fact, since the Renaissance, spiritual doctors became scientific doctors!
