Technology at the time of the Renaissance helped medical knowledge a great deal. There was printing of books such as Vesalius’ book ‘Fabric of the body’. Pumps were some of the machinery used which were very similar to the blood circulation around the body. The increased printing helped to spread knowledge of medicine to a larger audience but the knowledge was restricted. This was due to the technology not being very advanced, there were few microscopes so doctors could not see what caused disease, how to cure it or how to improve the existing medical treatments.
The church did not encourage people to come up with new ideas as they could contradict the church’s beliefs. The church did not like people questioning Galen’s ideas, even though he was wrong. The church was very influential and controlled people’s beliefs. Dissections were restricted, which meant that people could not make any further discoveries about the human body. The church controlled universities and medical training, discouraging doctors from researching and developing new ideas and treatments.
The great discoveries of the Renaissance had so little impact on medical treatments due to the conservative attitudes of people and their superstition. Most people continued to follow the ideas of Galen, which the church supported. People did not like change. Vesalius discovered that the jaw was just one bone, not two which Galen had previously said, however people would not accept this and made excuses despite the evidence. People resisted new ideas which meant that medical ideas could not move forward and make an impact on the treatments. People liked old methods such as herbal remedies. They had been used many times before and they could be trusted and people knew that they worked. Change was not accepted so the medical discoveries could not make an impact.
Many people were also afraid to cure themselves. Illnesses were created by God to punish you or test your loyalty. Attempting to get rid of these would be going against God, at a time when the Church had significant power and had the backing of the crown. If at all, they preferred to trust in ‘wise women’ or ‘curies’ of their villages, who themselves were instantly suspicious of using new methods over tried-and-trusted ones. As such, while people attempted to understand the human body, there was very little demand for advancing cures.
Overall, the discoveries did not impact on medical treatments at the time due to many factors. I think that the most important reason why there was so little impact was due to the technology. The technology was not very developed during the Renaissance period, so people could not see what caused disease and consequently, it was not known how to cure it.
