Disease In The Renaissance Era

The Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death, was a fatal disease that affected millions of people. Originated from China, the Bubonic Plague spread throughout Europe and made its way to Italy in 1347. (document 1) The Black Death, which covered the body with dark and livid spots, was difficult to treat. No one knew how to treat the disease nor how it began to spread.

This new age of anatomical research led to advancements in the knowledge of the human body. Andreas Vesalius fueled the fire with his discoveries and changed the way people viewed anatomy. Some of his contradictory discoveries included:

The Renaissance time period was one of considerable advancement. After individuals started dissecting humans, knowledge of diseases and knowledge of these cures increased greatly. This occurred through individuals being naturally curious about the world around them. The surgical tools during the Renaissance included scalpels, a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument, as well as dilators, and bone saws. A frequent surgical instrument also used was a catlin, a long double-bladed knife used in amputations and could later be referred to as an interosseous knife. A rather ghastly tool used was an amputation knife. This curved knife would make a circular cut through the skin and muscle before the bone was cut with a saw.  However, this was later

One consequence of the exchange was mass death. In the search for new routes for trade, people of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas came in contact with each other, causing the spread of disease. Columbus's colonization brought a host of new diseases to the populations of the Americas. Europeans exported their diseases such as influenza, tuberculosis and smallpox. In return, European traders and colonizers returned the Europe with syphilis and typhus from the Americas. The slave trade caused the spread of malaria and yellow fever from Africa to the Caribbean and North America, and yellow fever to Europe.

There were also many symptoms that seemed non-life threatening, but would soon be. These symptoms were “swelling in the neck and armpit, dark patches, and by death, people would start to cough up blood” (Causes 2). Who ever suffered with these symptoms could have known it was the Black Plague, or could have thought it was the common flu, just worse. Treatment was the cause of the death. This is because, “the Black Plague had no treatment, so if someone got infected, there would be no chance for that person, so they would die 4-5 days later” (Gilbin 7). Due to there being no medical treatment, more and more people would die. There were some things that people believed would help them. There were, “many treatments that the people thought would do good for them. First, they would drain the puss filled blisters. Also, they would drink wine and become lighthearted, to make them not feel as much pain. Finally an outrageous treatment was that the people would tie I live chicken to themselves, to try to get rid of the disease” (Clark 5). These treatments were bound to work, since people believed in it, but they would never work, and when they got sick, they would still die within 4-5 days. These types of symptoms and treatments would either kill or just make someone suffer to

The Black Death was one of the most life-changing pandemics in history. It was first discovered 550 years later in the 1800s by Alexandre Yersin, a french biologist. In his honor, the plague was named Yersinia Pestis. The plague traveled in two major ways. Yersin discovered that it traveled by infected fleas; the flea would attempt to feed on a human or animal and would then regurgitate the disease into the new host, further spreading the illness. Urban areas across Europe were populous with rats, which were one of the main hosts of the plague. These rodents spread the Black Death throughout cities in days. The unaffected still were not safe if they did not come in contact with an infected flea or rat. The plague also traveled pneumonically, or through the air. It caused large boils full of blood and pus, which would pop and spread. Another symptom was coughing, which was one of the many ways of proliferation. The disease eventually spread throughout Europe and killed a third of it’s population. It’s wrath caused many shortages, loss in hope, riots, and even some good things, such as many changes in art, science, and education. Therefore, the Black Death was one of the most life-changing pandemics in history.

Diseases have always been a threat to humans, all throughout history. One of the most destructive disease outbreaks in history was the plague outbreak which peaked in 1346 to 1353, in Europe, commonly known as the Black Death. This plague outbreak was extremely deadly and killed 30-60% of the European population at the time of the outbreak. The outbreak is commonly believed to have been caused by the bubonic plague, but modern evidence suggests that the Black Death was caused by pneumonic plague, a much more contagious and deadly infection.

The bubonic plague, also known as Black Death, is a prime example of the diseases transported throughout the Silk Roads. It is believed that this disease originally started in south China and was spread to northern China via Mongol warriors and Chinese travelers, eventually spreading westward along the Silk Roads and trade lanes to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The bubonic plague is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium and is spread by flea bites. Usually, fleas prefer to live on rats, but the large decrease in rat population due to the Little Ice Age caused the fleas to seek new hosts. The disease was previously localized to Mongolia and central Asia because of the nomadic lifestyle, but they could survive in sacks of grain and clothing and with the increase of trade along the Silk Roads, the fleas quickly made their way across the Mediterranean. Europeans were not prepared for this type of catastrophe and consequently suspended their daily lives. Many people abandoned their houses, churches and schools closed, and the sick were quarantined inside their homes while bodies of the deceased were piled in the streets and buried in mass graves. In some cases, the infected were burned along with their belongings in an effort to destroy the disease. By the end of the initial outbreak, almost 40% of Europe's population had died and trade had been brought to a halt. The Black Death had profoundly changed the political, social, economic, religious, and cultural foundations of modern Europe (Acrobatiq,

William Harvey published the book called “An Anatomical Account of the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals” which was officially published a fair time after the other two’s books. He proved that the heart acts as a pump by recirculating the blood, and showed that the blood flows around the body and is carried away by the arteries and is carried back into the heart by the veins. This had a limited impact because likewise to Vesalius, it did not make anyone healthier at the time, and it made more of a long term impact on medicine. He had not found a way to practically cure people because he had just made a book to further people’s knowledge on how the body works. Although his book is very useful for us nowadays, at the time people would not know how to approach it, and really wouldn’t make much of an impact on the people’s health.

When the plague first infected a person, it began with swellings in the groin and armpit (Document 2). Some of the swellings could be the size of an apple or an egg (ibid.)! After the first swellings appeared, the whole body would soon be covered in dark and bluish grey spots (ibid.). Soon after these spots covered the body, death would be upon the infected person within days (ibid.). Many doctors tried to cure people of these symptoms, but many failed (ibid.) This was because of the nature of the illness or the ignorance of the doctors’ (ibid.). The doctors didn’t know enough about the disease to be able to effectively treat their patients’

Harvey used his studies to show how blood is pumped through the veins and arteries by the heart. In the late 1600s, Anton van Leeuwenhoek the Dutch inventor improved the microscope. Because he did so, he was able to view cells and microorganisms for the first time. Breakthroughs in medicine was

Andreas Vesalius, Flemish Anatomist and Physician, was born on 1514 in Brussels (currently Belgium) during the reign of the Roman Empire. He was the legacy of many physicians including his father and grandfather, who serviced the Roman Emperor. Vesalius was a student in the University of Louvain and the University of Paris, where he studied medicine. He spent his time comparing Greek documents with Arabic translations and wrote a thesis on the work of Islamic physician and surgeon, Al Razi. Shortly after he received a degree from University of Padua in 1537, immediately then he got assigned as chair of surgery and anatomy. He is best known as the founder and father of the modern science of anatomy. His first Anatomy text book was based on the human dissections he made himself.

Everyone can relate to getting sick and having to go to the doctors and going to pick up medicine at a pharmacist.But what you might not know is how people with illnesses or some sick symptoms were treated in the Medieval days.Receiving medication is something a bit different.People in Medieval times would go to the doctors. However the doctors had extremely limited knowledge and really did not know what caused illnesses.It was hard enough for ordinary poorer people or people who did not live in big main towns to get medical help.They had a difficult time for access doctors Those who were in need of medical assistance in those situations may have and ask local people who had medical knowledge.Most people when they had minor symptoms and nothing to serious hat required medical assistance,Such as upset stomachs,headaches,eye problems,exd.They Would go to the apothecary and there they would be given mixtures of

While others, were only effected by direct contact. It was thought to have been sustainable by even touching clothing or other such items of the infected. Conditions of the fourteenth century were also a contributing factor. Famine had been an arising issue due to the number of overpopulation. Because of this, their immune systems began to weaken. “Europeans were susceptible to disease because many people lived in crowded surroundings in an era when personal hygiene was not considered important” (Dowling). The cities were unsanitary and littered with germs, making it easier to sustain such diseases. Unhealthy habits were conducted and medical advances had not yet been made. Doctors themselves had not known what to advise. No prescriptions had worked. There was no cure to what was happening. Most were not even aware of what was impending upon them. Anything that could would be tried, in hopes of living. People were becoming desperate.

The Middle Ages were tough times when it came to disease and medicine. There were numerous types of sickness and disease that flooded Europe during the Middle Ages. Not helping the situation, the medicinal knowledge of the people of Europe of the time was not up to par. Some of the diseases and illness that were running rampant during these times were pneumonia, leprosy, and the plague. The middle ages were a time of great suffering and death because of the abundant disease and lack of knowledge of the spread and treatments.