BY: CORRIN BOWMANPERIOD 6

Renaissance Medicine

Beginning of Medical Research

• During the Renaissance, Christians firmly believed that illness was God’s punishment for sins; thus, trying to heal illness was considered an unjust interference with God’s will.

• Meanwhile, Arabs steadily progressed in their medical research, publishing many informative books, allowing English physicians to study anatomy in a

broader, scientific way.• Building on knowledge of herbs and minerals taken from Arabic writings, Renaissance pharmacists experimented with new plants developing treatments for several diseases.• By relentless opposition, the Church began to lose its political and secular power that had for so long limited physicians in their medical research.

Corrin/ http://www.bandoli.no/knowledge.htm, http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dl.ket.org/webmuseum/wm/paint/auth/durer/doctors.jpg

Black Death

• Medical progress was spurred on by the appearance of the Black Death, a deadly plague that killed nearly a third of Europe’s population.

• The plague was unknown to even the most well-known pharmacists like Claudius Galen, forcing Renaissance doctors to experiment if they wanted to find treatments.

• They were unsuccessful in halting the Black Death, but a German physician, Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim discovered in 1503 that drinking mercury was an effective cure for syphilis, also a deadly disease.

Corrin/ Art and Civilization: The Renaissance, http://mistigwaetru.org/MistgigWebPage/black-death.jpg

Herbal Medicine

• Explorers like Christopher Columbus brought many new herbs and plants from distant lands for pharmacists to experiment with.

• Pharmacists used the bark of the Quina tree which contained an ingredient called quinine to treat malaria.• Laudanum, an opium-based painkiller, was prescribed for many disorders.• It was thought that the leaves of tobacco plants had medicinal properties, however pharmacists realized that they were in fact responsible for an enormous amount of deaths.• Aloe juice was considered good for wounds, for the stomach, and for preventing hair from falling out.

Corrin/ http://resources.schoolscience.co.uk/abpi/history/history7.html, http://www.eso-garden.com/index.php?/weblog/C38/

Human Anatomy

• The Church did not permit the dissection of “God fearing bodies,” so anatomists negotiated by using the bodies of criminals or “sinners”.• Leonardo da Vinci made remarkably accurate anatomical drawings based on dissection of human corpses by Anreas Vesalius.• In 1543, Anreas Vesalius published his book De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Structure of the Human Body) containing hundreds of observations he made while dissecting the human body. Vesalius’ book contradicted many of Galen’s earlier anatomical discoveries.• Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings and Anreas Vesalius’ observations allowed anatomists like Gabriel Fallopius and Michael Servetus to study more intimately certain parts of the body.

Corrin/ http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=216145,http://resources.schoolscience.co.uk/abpi/history/history7.html, http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.leonardo-da-vinci-biography.com/images/leonardo-da-vinci-anatomy.4.jpg, http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://mr_sedivy.tripod.com/davinci/anaw_10b.jpg

Surgery

• Most surgery performed was quite daring and could in fact be fatal.• During the Renaissance, some common surgical procedures included lancing a boil, setting a broken bone, dressing an ulcer or sore, blood-letting, cleaning and suturing a wound, rescuing a dislocated joint, and cautery (application of hot irons to various parts of the body creating ulcers that unwanted fluids could drain).• Each procedure was performed with the slightest amount of anesthetics or sedatives causing the patient extreme pain.• As seen in the picture to the right, the operation of removing a cataract included inserting a sharp instrument through the cornea and forcing the lens of the eye out of its capsule and down to the bottom of the eye.

Corrin/ http://students.ou.edu/Y/Jason.S.Yousif-1/episode_3_medieval.html,http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Augenoperation_1195.jpg

Menstruation

• Menstruation was often an uncomfortable topic for Renaissance physicians. Not only did regular menstruation indicate fertility, but if women's excess humors and buildup of bodily wastes were not flushed by regular monthly courses, the wastes would build up and cause illness.

• It was thought that the excess humors and wastes were able to  poison men, children, and others with whom one had come into contact with.

• Women who did not menstruate might have had a misplaced uterus, which could cause pain in other parts of the body and even cause shortage of breath. This was treated with drinks, steam-baths, and manual manipulation.

• Disorders of menstruation in young women were generally treated by marriage or sexual intercourse.

Corrin/ http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/WomenMed.html,http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/renaissancegirl-wendy-hill.jpg

Pregnancy

• Women played a prominent role in caring for each other during pregnancy. Physicians were consulted for a variety of advice, but midwives or maids were employed to do any manual examination.

• V-shaped chairs were sometimes used to support the legs while giving space for the maid to work.• Covering the belly and vulva, especially the perineum, with oils was practiced to reduce tearing. • Prolapsed uterus, hemorrhaging, and dead children retained in the womb were common complications.• Intentional abortion was illegal, however some doctors practiced it, warning women that the procedure was generally dangerous and ineffective.

Corrin/ http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/WomenMed.html

Hospitals

• Hospitals were beginning to multiply under the control of both laity and clergy. • In 1423, Venice transformed the island of Santa Maria di Nazaret into a

hospital to keep contagious persons from infecting others. This was the first institution of its kind known in Europe.• By the fifteenth century, Florence had thirty-five hospitals. Public and private donations helped support several of these hospitals and institutions. • Hospitals were notable for various reasons; some, like the Ospedale Maggiore, were known for its architecture while others were known for adorning their halls with inspiring works of art.

Corrin/ The Renaissance: The Story of Civilization V,http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bushywood.com/media/media_images/health_service_physician_in.jpg

Citations

Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. History of Medicine.5 Dec. 2009 <http://resources.schoolscience.co.uk/abpi/history/history7.html>.

Blackwell, Elizabeth. “Herbarium Blackwellianum.” No date. Online image. Ursi's Eso Garden. 6 Dec. 2009. <http://www.eso-garden.com/index.php?/weblog/C38/>.

Borsheim, R.L. Christianity and Knowledge.5 Dec. 2009 <http://www.bandoli.no/knowledge.htm>.

Da Vinci, Leonardo. “Dissection of the Arms and Shoulders.” No date. Online image.Leonardo Da Vinci Anatomy Drawing. 6 Dec. 2009. <http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.leonardo-da-vinci-biography.com/images/leonardo-da-vinci-anatomy.4.jpg>.

Da Vinci, Leonardo. “Dissection of the Principal Organs of a Woman.” 1510. Online image.The Life, Art, Inventions and Anatomical Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. 6 Dec. 2009.<http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://mr_sedivy.tripod.com/davinci/anaw_10b.jpg>.

Durant, Will. The Renaissance: The Story of Civilizations.New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1953.

Dürer, Albrecht. “Christ Among the Doctors.” 1519. Online image.Albrecht Dürer. 5 Dec. 2009. <http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dl.ket.org/webmuseum/wm/paint/auth/durer/doctors.jpg>.

Heise, Jennifer A. Women and Medicine in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.6 Dec. 2009 <http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/WomenMed.html>.

Hill, Wendy. “Renaissance Girl.” 6 Oct. 2008. Online image.Fineart America. 6 Dec. 2009. <http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://fineartamerica.com/images-medium/renaissancegirl-wendy-hill.jpg>.

Citations

Matthews, Rupert. Art and Civilization: The Renaissance.New York, NY: Peter Bedrick Books, 2000.

Rösslin, Eucharius. “Birthing Chair.” 1513. Online image.Women and Medicine in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. 6 Dec. 2009.<http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/WomenMed.html>.

Rösslin, Eucharius. “Childbirth.” 1513. Online image.Women and Medicine in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. 6 Dec. 2009.<http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/WomenMed.html>.

Toggenburg Bible. “Black Death.” 1411. Online image.Road to the Isle XIII: 1349: We’re Not Dead Yet. 6 Dec. 2009. <http://mistigwaetru.org/MistgigWebPage/black-death.jpg >.

Unknown artist. “A Physician Visiting the Sick in a Hospital.” 1682. Online image.Hospitals. 7 Dec. 2009.<http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bushywood.com/media/media_images/health_service_physician_in.jpg>.

Unknown artist. “Surgery Being Preformed on the Eye.” No date. Online image.Medicine Through Time. 6 Dec. 2009.<http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Augenoperation_1195.jpg>.

World Almanac Education Group. The History Channel.6 Dec. 2009 <http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=216145>.

Yousif, Jason. The Progress of Ancient Medicine.6 Dec. 2009 <http://students.ou.edu/Y/Jason.S.Yousif-1/episode_3_medieval.html>.