The Medical Renaissance, c1500-c1700 (Edexcel GCSE History: The Thematic & Historic Environment (Paper 1))

The role of the Church in medicine increased. More people listened to and had to follow their ideas out of fear of going to Hell.

The role of the Church remained the same. People were as religious as they had been in the medieval period.

The role of the Church in medicine decreased. The printing press meant that monks no longer wrote all medical textbooks.

The role of the Church in medicine decreased. The Renaissance saw a rapid decline in people’s belief in God.

The work of Thomas Sydenham on the skeletal structure of the human body.

The work of Andreas Vesalius on the anatomy of the human body.

The work of Galen on the anatomy of the human body.

The development of X-rays so bones and muscles could be seen.

People understood the Theory of Opposites. They did not embrace change in medicine as quickly as scientists and physicians.

People embraced the change in medical knowledge and wanted physicians to use these new theories to diagnose their humoural imbalance.

By the end of the period, physicians still believed in the Theory of Opposites.

The role of the Church in medicine grew in strength so people continued to believe in the Theory of Opposites.

Harvey’s discovery had a significant impact on medical treatments in the Renaissance.

Soon after Harvey’s discovery, universities began to include his work in medical textbooks to educate physicians.

Harvey’s work did not influence Renaissance medicine. Physicians continued to believe Galen’s work on anatomy.

Harvey encouraged other scientists to use dissection to make more progress in understanding the human body.

People continued to use humoural treatments such as blood-letting.

Some people continued to treat the plague using flagellation.

People continued to use herbal remedies from the apothecary.

The majority of people used transference to treat the Great Plague.

There had been much scientific progress in the Renaissance to do with the prevention of disease. People understood how to prevent catching the Great Plague.

Plague doctors developed during the Great Plague. This showed progress in prevention because the covering of the face and the body stopped them from catching the plague.

The local governments and king did nothing to prevent the Great Plague from spreading whereas they acted to prevent the Black Death.

People continued to believe that the plague was a punishment from God. Similar to the Black Death, people prayed to God in an attempt to stop them from becoming sick.

Sydenham’s methods and ideas revolutionised the approach to disease diagnosis. People now understood that a patient's symptoms indicated the disease they had rather than a patient’s diet, star sign and/or humours.

Sydenham had no impact on the diagnosis of diseases. His discoveries centred on iatrochemistry (using metals to find chemical cures for disease).

Sydenham discovered that a physician did not need to observe every patient. A physician’s medical knowledge would be able to determine the disease without observation.

Sydenham discovered that there were fewer diseases than previous physicians thought that they were. He discovered that scarlet fever and measles were the same disease.

The Royal Society had no significance for the understanding of disease. It was a collection of royalty who discussed medical issues. They had no medical training or understanding of diseases.

The Royal Society was significant for the understanding of disease. They had the backing of Charles II.

The Royal Society was significant for the understanding of disease. The organisation allowed scientists from across Europe to share discoveries and discuss new ideas, making their ideas about disease better developed.

The Royal Society had no significance for the understanding of disease. People did not listen to their ideas because they had little power and influence in society.

People did not listen to logical ideas. Even ideas like miasma, which had some logical basis for the theory, were not influential in the Renaissance period.

Bathing was very unpopular during the medieval and Renaissance periods. If people were not cleaning themselves, diseases spread more rapidly.

In times of plague, people used scientific methods rather than superstitions such as praying. This meant the prevention of disease could not progress.

Without an understanding of germs, people did not know how to avoid catching diseases. As a result, there could be very little progress in the prevention of disease.

They were organised into guild systems.

They had a better understanding of anatomy through dissection and fugitive sheets.

They required a license to practise medicine.

They had more theoretical training rather than practical, hands-on experience.