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The medical Renaissance in England, c.1500-c.1700 - EdexcelCare and treatment in the early modern period

Medicine in Renaissance England changed little in terms of everyday practice. However, the development of science, new learning and new technology led to new ideas about the human body.

Part of HistoryMedicine in Britain, c.1250 to the present day

Care and treatment in the early modern period

Despite the innovations and discoveries of people such as Andreas Vesalius and Thomas Sydenham, some ideas from the medieval period about the causes of disease and illness continued to be accepted. This meant that there was a continuation in the methods generally used to care for and treat the sick.

Training of physicians

For most of the Renaissance, doctors continued to learn from the books of Galen and Hippocrates at university. However, the printing press meant different ideas were starting to become available in more accessible printed books. Towards the end of the Renaissance, there were changes as the ideas of Galen were challenged by individuals such as Vesalius, Sydenham and William Harvey.

  • The training of took a more scientific approach, encouraging observation and experimentation. Doctors had the opportunity to bodies and learn using new technology, such as the

Care of the sick

Rich people continued to pay for a doctor or nurse to look after them at home. However, most people continued to seek cheaper remedies from an and women continued to play an important role in the care of the sick. The first person to treat sickness was normally the patient鈥檚 wife or mother. In some villages, wealthy women provided charity and care for families.

Many medieval hospitals had been attached to or After the when Henry VIII closed the monasteries, the hospitals were taken over by local authorities. Hospitals were now funded by charity and run by physicians. In London, St Bartholomew鈥檚 was kept open in this way. Some hospitals were beginning to concentrate on treating the sick, aiming to deal with patients鈥 symptoms and illnesses. However, most hospitals continued to provide care in the form of food and warmth rather than medical cures.

Treatment of illness

There was very little change in the ways illness was treated during the Renaissance:

  • and were still common treatments used to balance the four humours.
  • Herbal remedies were still used. An increase in travel brought new ingredients to England, such as rhubarb and tobacco, that were used to treat the sick.
  • Superstition and religious beliefs remained. For example, it was believed that being touched by the monarch could cure a skin disease called scrofula (also known as the 鈥榢ing鈥檚 evil鈥). The monarch was seen as God鈥檚 representative on Earth, so being touched by them was the closest people could get to being touched by God.