1500-1700 Medical Renaissance - our correspondent reports Part 1 European Travels

in The People's Health 1250 - Present Day

Imagine a journalist can traverse Europe and interview all those who advanced medical knowledge at this time; Vesalius, Pare, Paracelsus and Leeuwenhoek. What would you ask about their discoveries? Did the developments in knowledge have a marked impact on the lives of the ordinary people of the time? What sort of medical treatments were available to ordinary English people based on their wealth? This and the next 2 podcasts will demonstrate that the advancements in medical knowledge surpassed the practice and prevention in Britain during the medical renaissance 1500-1700. What has changed? What impact does the Renaissance have on medical thinking? What other developments occurred and what other institutions had an influence on understanding. Continuity and change in explanations and understanding of the causes of disease. Looking back to the ancient beliefs of Hippocrates and Galen as all things ancient are 'fashionable'. New technologies like the printing press allowed old ideas and new ones to be spread and the Royal Society championed new discoveries. A Scientific Approach - Thomas Sydenham - improving diagnosis.