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During the Renaissance many women in the medical profession were nuns.

Medicine: Medical Renaissance In The Early Modern Period

The Medical Renaissance brought new ideas, experiments, and detailed drawings of the body. This quiz explores how early modern medicine began to challenge medieval beliefs.

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Fascinating Fact:

Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci produced detailed anatomical drawings. These images helped create a more accurate picture of the human body.

In GCSE History, the Medical Renaissance in the early modern period is studied as a time when old medical ideas were tested and refined. Scholars revisited classical texts, physicians carried out dissections, and more accurate diagrams spread through the printing press. Although many medieval beliefs survived, careful observation and recording of the body began to push medicine towards a more scientific approach.

Key Terms

Renaissance: A period of rebirth in European art, learning, and science when scholars re-examined ideas from ancient Greece and Rome.
Anatomy: The study of the structure of the human body, often using diagrams and dissection to understand organs and bones.
Dissection: The careful cutting open of a body after death to study its internal structure and improve medical knowledge.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What was the Medical Renaissance in GCSE History?

The Medical Renaissance was a period from about 1500 when doctors and scholars questioned medieval ideas, used dissections more often, and produced detailed anatomical books that improved knowledge of the body.

How did the printing press help medicine in the Renaissance?

The printing press allowed medical books and diagrams to be copied quickly and accurately. This meant surgeons and physicians across Europe could share new discoveries and correct old mistakes.

Why was Vesalius important in the Medical Renaissance?

Vesalius carefully dissected human bodies and published accurate drawings in his book On the Fabric of the Human Body. His work challenged Galen and encouraged doctors to rely on observation rather than tradition.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Harvey became physician to two English kings. The list of monarchs below features one of them. Which one?

Henry VII

James I

Henry VIII

Charles II

Royal patronage was, for a surgeon or physician, truly a feather in his cap

2 .

Which Ancient Greek figure, famous for the oath taken by all qualifying doctors, was studied and admired during the Renaissance?

Hippocrates

Galen

Pericles

Socrates

In the oath, aspiring medics pledge that they will do everything possible to save life

3 .

Scrofula, a skin disease that was believed to be curable by contact with an anointed monarch, could be treated with more orthodox remedies if the "Royal Touch" failed. What was the usual alternative treatment?

Bandaging

Herbal remedies

Burning of the skin

Scraping the loose skin

This was a serious dermatological condition, for which traditional treatments continued to be used

4 .

What form of treatment for war wounds had Pare pioneered?

Cauterisation with boiling oil

Ligating arteries following amputation

Amputation followed by herbal remedies on the stump

Sucking the remaining gunpowder poison from the stump, then bandaging

Pare specialised in military medicine, particularly during the Italian Wars

5 .

To which group of medical practitioners did Pare belong?

The Guild of Medical Practitioners

The College of Physicians

The Royal Guild of Physicians

The Guild of Barber Surgeons

Pare was able to spread his discoveries through his membership of this community

6 .

It was very difficult for women to break into medicine, especially as universities were barred to them. What one role from this list of four could women undertake?

Midwife

Medical porter

Pharmacist

Almoner

Many women working in medicine were nuns, devoted to healing the sick

7 .

Quacks were a familiar feature of the Early Modern period. What alternative word was used to describe those who peddled doubtful medicines and treatment?

Fraudsters

Charlatans

Witch doctors

Dupers

These characters were unlikely to have gone to university

8 .

Edward Jenner, from Gloucestershire, noticed that girls working in a particular profession did not catch smallpox. Which group was this?

Shepherdesses

Grooms

Dairy maids

Cattle herds

Jenner was intrigued by their immunity to infection, and eventually he found out what caused it

9 .

Which medical researcher from the Low Countries studied at the University of Padua, and then became physician to the Emperor Charles V?

Pare

Vesalius

Harvey

Jenner

He was also keen on dissection, and left his carefully assembled skeleton to the University of Basel

10 .

William Harvey, famous for his discovery of the circulation of the blood, was associated with a major London teaching hospital when he had finished his university studies. Which hospital was this?

Guy's

St. Bartholomew's

St. Thomas's

Chelsea

Here Harvey conducted further research at the centre of government and patronage

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Changes in health and medicine, c.1340 to the present day

Author: Edward Towne