Thee impact of the renaissance on Britain

What was the renaissance?

It mean ‘rebirth’ in Italian. It was a cultural movement that began in Florence, Italy, in the late 1400s.

What did the renaissance cause?

It caused a ‘rebirth’ of learning and a belief that being educated in art, music, science and literature could make life better for everyone.

What invention in 1451 made books cheap, accurate, and quick to produce?

The printing press.

Consequences of the Renaissance

• New lands-Explorers and merchants used more accurate maps, discovered the Americas and brought back new foods and medicines.

• New learning- A scientific approach to learning involving observation, hypothesis, experiment and questioning

• New inventions- Technology such as gunpowder caused new types of wounds

• Art-This showed the human body in realistic detail.

• Printing-New ideas spread quickly as well as those of the ancient world.

Who was Andreas Vesalius?

He was Belgian and studied in Paris where he learned Galen’s anatomy.

He was the professor of surgery at the university of Padua Italy, He began to question Galen’s opinions.

What was Vesalius’s work?

• He did dissections himself

• He said medical students should learn from dissections.

What book did Vesalius write and what were the contents of that book?

• The fabric of the human body(1543)

• It was beautifully illustrated, very accurate textbook based on dissection and observations of the human body

• Corrected Galen’s mistakes because he dissected animals

• Provided proof, for example, The breastbone had three parts not 7 like an ape.

What were reaction to Vesalius’s work?

• He was criticised for saying Galen was wrong.

• He had to leave his job in Padua and later became the doctor for the Emperor Charles V.

What were Vesalius’s contribution to medical progress in England?

* In 1545 Thomas Geminus copied Vesalius’ illustrations and put them in a manual for barber surgeons, called Compendiosa. It was very popular and had three editions published.

Which famous sixteenth century anatomists followed Vesalius’ approach?

Fabricus and Fallopius.

Who was Ambrosie Pare?

He was the most famous Renaissance surgeon in Europe, and published several books about his work. He made several discoveries.

How were injuries treated before Pares discoveries?

• Gunshot wounds were thought to be poisonous and were burned out using boiling oil.

• Wounds were cauterised to stop bleeding

What challenge was Pare faced with in 1537 that he has to improvise?

He ran out of hot oil for cauterisation so instead he improvised and used a cream of rose oil, egg white and turpentine.

Which of Galen’s methods did Pare use?

He used the method of tying blood vessels with ligatures or thread.

What did Pare invent to halt bleeding?

He invented the ‘crows beak clamp’.

What did Pare design for wounded soldiers?

False limbs

How did Pare’s patients react to the cream?

His patients wounds healed well

What did he include in his books?

Drawings of false limbs.

What book did Pare write in 1575?

Works on surgery

Who were Pare’s books widely read by?

English surgeons

Where did Pare’s books appear in 1591?

In the library of barber surgeons of London.

Who made Pare’s work well known?

Queen Elizabeth’s I’s surgeon William Clowes

Who was William Harvey?

He was an English doctor who challenged Galen by saying the blood circulated round the body.

What did Harvey prove?

He experimented by pumping liquid the wrong way through valves in the veins, proving that blood could only go round one way, disproving Galen’s theory that new blood was constantly made in the liver.

What did Harvey not know?

• Why the blood circulated

• Why there were different coloured blood in the arteries and veins.

• How the blood got from the arteries to the veins.

What were the reactions to Harvey’s discovery?

* Some doctors rejected his theory because he was contradicting Galen, or they did not believe his calculations.

Long term significance of Harvey’s discoveries?

Today, the understanding of the blood and its circulation is significant because it allows us to quickly test and diagnose illness, and to carry out advanced surgery like organ transplants.