Health Care in the Renaissance
As Europe arose from the Middle Ages, science began to advance in knowledge and understanding of the human body and disease. Over the next four centuries, religious orders continued to provide hospitals and other care centers, and science lumbered forward. While early writings on anatomy and physiology were preserved through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance brought an openness to questioning and innovation. Dissections were permitted for scientific studies. Textbooks on anatomy and physiology included diagrams and new interpretations. In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable-type printing press. Printing allowed for multiple copies and widespread dissemination of new thinking on surgical procedures and medicinal interventions.
Medical schools were established in Padua and Salerno in Italy; Montpellier and Paris in France; Leiden, Netherlands; and Edinburgh, Scotland. In the East, medical schools were established in Persia and had been even earlier in China and Japan.
At the end of the 18th century, Edward Jenner introduced inoculation to prevent smallpox. Public Health and population statistics were starting to be gathered routinely as well. James Lind, a British naval surgeon, introduced fresh fruits and citrus juices to prevent scurvy. (To give credit where it is due, the Dutch had discovered this preventative in the 16th century, but it did not receive widespread implementation.) As hospitals became more specialized, French physician Phillippe Pinel reformed treatment of the mentally ill by removing chains and decrying the myth that insanity was “caused by demon-possession.” Interest in a public health approach to health care was just beginning. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_medicine) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_psychiatry)
While human anatomy and physiology were relatively well understood, the causes and treatments of disease were not. Hospitals continued to be established by religious groups. Nursing care was carried out by associated religious groups and mostly by women. Other nurses were self-taught or taught by physicians. Often these women were poor, uneducated, and many had criminal histories. Most health care was provided in the homes of those who were ill.
