How far did medicine change in the Renaissance period c1500 to 1700?
Renaissance ideas about the cause of disease, the challenge to Galen by Vesalius and Harvey, the work of Sydenham, the impact of the printing press and the Royal Society, continuity in treatment, and the response to the Great Plague of 1665.
A focused answer to the Renaissance period of Edexcel's Medicine in Britain thematic study, covering how Vesalius and Harvey challenged Galen, the work of Sydenham, the role of the printing press and the Royal Society, the continuity in everyday treatment, and the response to the Great Plague of 1665.
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What this dot point is asking
This is the Renaissance period of the Medicine thematic study. You need to explain how far medicine changed between c1500 and 1700: the challenge to Galen, the new individuals and institutions, and crucially how much (or how little) everyday treatment improved. The Edexcel exam loves the tension here between changing ideas and continuity in treatment, shown by the Great Plague of 1665 meeting the same useless measures as the Black Death.
Continuity and change in ideas
Vesalius and the challenge to Galen
Harvey and the circulation of the blood
Sydenham, the printing press and the Royal Society
Thomas Sydenham, the "English Hippocrates", improved diagnosis in the 1660s and 1670s by observing patients closely, recording symptoms, and grouping diseases by their patterns rather than treating every case as a unique imbalance. He wrote the influential textbook Observationes Medicae.
Two developments spread new ideas. The printing press (in use from the late 1400s) let accurate text and images reach doctors across Europe quickly, breaking the Church's control of medical books. The Royal Society, founded in 1660 and supported by the king, encouraged experiment, shared findings in its journal Philosophical Transactions, and gave new ideas status and an audience.
Continuity in treatment and the Great Plague
Try this
Q1. What did Vesalius and Harvey each prove? [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. Vesalius corrected Galen's anatomy through dissection (1543); Harvey proved the heart pumps blood in a one-way circulation (1628).
Q2. Explain why everyday treatment changed so little despite new ideas. [Short explanation]
- Cue. The true cause of disease was still unknown, the new ideas were about anatomy rather than cures, and people still trusted the humours and religion, so the Great Plague of 1665 met the same useless measures as 1348.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 20204 marksDescribe two features of the work of Andreas Vesalius.Show worked answer →
The Paper 1 "Describe two features" question (4 marks). Reward two distinct features with detail, no explanation.
Feature one. Vesalius dissected human bodies and used what he saw to correct Galen's anatomy, showing Galen had described animal not human bodies (for example the human jawbone is one bone, not two).
Feature two. He published his findings in The Fabric of the Human Body in 1543, with detailed, accurate drawings that let other doctors study real anatomy.
Full marks. Two features, each developed with one supporting detail. Two marks per feature.
Edexcel 202112 marksExplain why ideas about the cause of disease began to change in the period c1500 to 1700.Show worked answer →
The Paper 1 thematic "Explain why" question (12 marks). Reward at least three explained reasons with precise detail, answering why ideas (not just treatment) started to change.
Reason one (the Renaissance and questioning). A new willingness to question old authorities meant doctors like Vesalius and Harvey tested Galen by dissection and experiment, exposing his errors.
Reason two (science and technology). The printing press spread accurate new ideas and images quickly across Europe, so discoveries reached far more doctors than hand-copied books ever could.
Reason three (institutions). The Royal Society, founded in 1660, encouraged careful observation and experiment and published findings, giving new ideas status and an audience.
Top band. Three developed reasons, each linked to changing ideas, with named individuals and dates.
Related dot points
- Medieval ideas about the cause of disease (the Four Humours, miasma, religion and astrology), approaches to prevention and treatment, who provided care, public health in towns and monasteries, and the response to the Black Death of 1348 to 1349.
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Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History (1HI0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2016)