MEDICINE IN RENAISSANCE
The Renaissance revolutionized medical thought as
it did all scientific, artistic, and other intellectual activity. The
dissemination of knowledge was greatly aided by the development of printing.
Andreas Vesalius, born in Brussels, was a professor of anatomy in Padua, where he wrote De Humani
Corporis Fabrica (On the
Fabric of the Human Body, 1543). This work was the first accurate anatomy text
and included masterful illustrations that corrected errors of Galen. Vesalius
was the first of a line of superb anatomists at Padua, among whom were
Hieronymus Fabricius and Gabriel Fallopius.
L.Da Vinci’s drawing on a Japanese stamp
The Renaissance first influenced the
science of anatomy in the latter half of the 16th century. Modern anatomy began
with the publication in 1543 of the work of the Belgian anatomist Andreas
Vesalius. Before the publication of this classical
work anatomists had been so bound by tradition that the writings of authorities
of more than 1,000 years earlier, such as the Greek physician Galen, who had been restricted to the dissection of animals,
were accepted in lieu of actual observation. Vesalius and other Renaissance
anatomists, however, based their descriptions on their own observations of
human corpses, thus setting the pattern for subsequent study in anatomy.
Ambroise
Pare, a French physician, revolutionized surgery. He treated his patients
humanely, using ligatures to stop bleeding from vessels instead of cauterizing
them with boiling oil or hot instruments. Other men of this age included Aureolus Paracelsus, a Swiss physician who rejected
traditional schools of thought and advocated the use of such chemicals as laudanum
(a preparation of opium) in the treatment of disease. Girolamo
Fracastoro, an Italian physician, is best known for
his work on syphilis and other infectious diseases.
Philippus
Aureolus Paracelsus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim 1493 – 1541
German physician and
chemist, Quarrelsome and vitriolic, Paracelsus defied the medical tenets of his
time, asserting that diseases were caused by agents that were external to the
body and that they could be countered by chemical substances.
Born in Einsiedeln
(now in Switzerland), Paracelsus received a degree in medicine, possibly from the University of Vienna, and travelled widely in
search of alchemical knowledge, especially of mineralogy. He sharply criticized
the cherished belief of the Scholastics, derived from the writings of the Greek
physician Galen, that diseases were caused by an imbalance of bodily “humors”
or fluids, and that they would be cured by bloodletting and purging. Believing
instead that disease attacks from without, Paracelsus devised mineral remedies
with which he thought the body could defend itself. He identified the
characteristics of numerous diseases, such as goiter and syphilis, and used
ingredients such as sulphur and mercury compounds to
counter them. Many of his remedies were based on the belief that “like cures like ”, and in this respect he was a precursor of
homoeopathy. Although the writings of Paracelsus contained elements of magic,
his revolt against ancient medical precepts freed medical thinking, enabling it
to take a more scientific course.
FDC of Austrian post office for the 450th anniversary off his death
Andreas Vesalius 1514 – 1564
Belgian anatomist and
physician, whose dissections of the human body and description of his findings 
helped to correct misconceptions prevailing since
ancient times and to lay the foundations of the modern science of anatomy.
Vesalius was born in Brussels. The son of a celebrated apothecary, he attended the University of Louvain and later the University of Paris, where he studied from 1533 to 1536. At the University of Paris he studied medicine and showed a special interest in
anatomy. Through further study at the University of Padua in 1537, Vesalius obtained his medical degree and an
appointment as a lecturer on surgery. During his continuing research, Vesalius
showed that the anatomical teachings from antiquity of the Graeco-Roman
physician Galen, then revered in medical schools, were based on dissections of
animals, even though they were intended to provide a guide to the structure of
the human body.
Vesalius went on to write an elaborate anatomical
work, De Humani Corporis
Fabrica (On the Structure of the Human Body, 7 vols., 1543), which was based on his own dissections of
human corpses. The volumes were richly and carefully illustrated, with many of
the fine engravings rendered by Jan van Calcar, a
pupil of Titian. The most accurate and comprehensive anatomical textbook to
that date, it aroused heated dispute but helped lead to Vesalius's
appointment as physician in the imperial household of Charles V, Holy Roman
Emperor. After Charles abdicated, his son, Philip II, appointed Vesalius one of
his physicians in 1559. After several years at the imperial court in Madrid, Vesalius made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. On the voyage home in 1564, he died in a shipwreck off the Greek island of Zacynthos.
Ambroise Paré 1510 – 1590
French surgeon, born in Laval, whose great practical skills and humaneness
distinguished him from his contemporaries and made him famous throughout Europe. His successes in the French army as a military surgeon won him the post
of royal surgeon to King Henry II and Henry's successors, Francis II, Charles
IX, and Henry III. Paré established the use of
ligatures for binding arteries to prevent haemorrhage.
He did away with the practice of cauterizing wounds with boiling oil, improved
the treatment of fractures, and promoted the use of artificial limbs. Because
he had no formal education, Paré was the first
surgeon to describe his technical work in his native language rather than in
Latin; thus, his writings had a wide influence on the public as well as on
medical professionals.
