2Illustrate patterns of change in Health and Medicine
How Significant were Developments in Renaissance Medicine?
Medicine in the Middle Ages – What do these sources tell you about ideas on medicine in the Middle Ages? (See p. 69)
LSource 1 Many of the ideas on medicine in the Middle Ages were based on the teachings of
Galen, a doctor in Ancient Rome. ● ●Galen accepted the Greek theory of the four humours or bodily fluids as the cause of diseases.
p. 258 ❱
●●He thought that muscles attach to the bone in the same way in humans and in dogs. ●●He thought that blood was created in the liver. ● ●He thought the human jaw-bone was made up of two bones, like a dog’s. (Adapted from Medieval Medical Knowledge, www.bbc.co.uk/schools)
LSource 2
Galen, a doctor in Ancient Rome, dissecting a pig, taken from his Collected Works published in the 16th century
LSource 3 The most deadly plague arrived, either because of the movements of the planets, or because our sinful deeds had made God so angry he decided to punish us. (A 14th century Florentine writer)
KEY WORD
●●Anatomy is the study of the human body
Why was the work of Vesalius significant? Vesalius was a Belgian-born doctor. He was Professor of Anatomy in the University of Padua. Even though the Catholic Church was opposed to dissecting human bodies because they were regarded as sacred (holy), Vesalius got permission from his university to dissect the bodies of executed criminals. He published his findings in On The Fabric of the Human Body in 1543. Here he used evidence from dissections to prove Galen was wrong. In this way Vesalius made a significant contribution to Renaissance medicine.
