T HE R ENAISSANCE : A Medical History Nora Bloemer, Grace Hebert, Kayla Rapson, Kellie Tresch

R ENAISSANCE ( ) Renaissance literally means ‘rebirth’. The Renaissance was a cultural and scholarly movement which stressed the rediscovery and application of texts and thought. The Renaissance was dedicated to the rediscovery and use of artistic and scientific learning – the knowledge and attitudes from the Ancient Greek and Roman eras.

P OLITICS The Medici Family Powerful banking family who ruled in Florence. They were patrons of the arts and funded many classical masterpieces. European Monarchs During this time, France and England were ruled by a series of monarchs, including Louis XI and Henry VIII.

R ELIGION The Christian Church was prominent in everyday life, but the humanistic way of thinking (focusing more on one’s worldly belongings) began to take the foreground. A Protestant Reformation occurred and new religions sprung from this movement such as the Lutherans and the Presbyterians. Henry VIII separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church.

E CONOMICS Profit-making became more important than Church. To overcome guilt, profit-makers donated money to the Church. High profits led to economic diversification. Art became the way to advertise economic success.

L EONARDO DA V INCI Born: April 15, 1452 in Florence, Italy Died: May 2, 1519 in Amboise, France He studied the human body profusely and drew many sketches of the skeleton and muscles. He drew the heart and lungs, reproductive organs, and other internal organs. Da Vinci also studied the effects of mental illness on facial features. Many of his sketches are still observed as correct in modern day medicine.

A NDREAS V ESALIUS Born: December 31, 1514 in Brussels Hasburg, Netherlands Died: October 15, 1564 in Zakynthos, Greece Vesalius dissected humans to draw charts for students to study. He published his book “The Seven Books on the Structure of the Human Body” in He didn’t have any medical beliefs but once he started dissecting humans, he discovered many mistakes that others had never found.

W ILLIAM H ARVEY Born: April 1, 1578 in Folkestone, England Died: June 3, 1657 in Roenhampton, England He believed blood was pumped from the heart throughout the body and compared to most people believing that food was converted into blood by the liver. Harvey wrote a 72-page book based on his account of circulation of blood.

A MBROISE P ARÉ Born: 1510 in Laval, France. Died: December 20, 1590 in Paris, France. He was a surgeon who specialized in gun shot wounds. He discovered the method of using antiseptic ointment to cure the wounds.

Z ACHARIUS J ANSSEN Born: 1580 in the Hauge Died: 1683 Jansen is associated with invention of the single- lens (simple) optical microscope and the compound (2 or more lens) 9x magnification optical microscope, probably with the help of his father in 1595 while trying to find a way to make magnification even greater, to help people with seriously poor eyesight.

S IR C HRISTOPHER W REN Born: October 20,1632 in Wiltshire, England Died: February 25, 1723 in London, England He performed the first successful injection of a substance into the bloodstream (of a dog). Wren also studied and improved the microscope and telescope at this time. Wren experimented on muscle functionality, hypothesizing that the swelling and shrinking of muscles might proceed from a fermentative motion arising from the mixture of two heterogeneous fluids. Although this is incorrect, it was at least founded upon observation and may mark a new outlook on medicine: specialization.