Medicine And Medicine In The Elizabethan Era

Practitioners with a lack of formal education did medical care in the 17th century. Many women and laypeople in that time had lots of expertise in herbal medicines and folk antidotes to cure colonists. The first curer people would turn to if they were sick would be a neighbor or a family member. However, there was a new type of physician in the 18th century. This was usually a young man from a wealthy family who went to an elite university who didn 't see himself as a doctor, but more as a scientist. The new physicians learned anatomy through dissection, assisted researchers, and helped with medical experiments. They also observed surgical procedures, and sat through lectures about new advances in the department of medical science. Alongside the scientists, there were also surgeons. The military was where many surgeons

The bio-medical model of ill health has been at the forefront of western medicine since the end of the eighteenth century and grew stronger with the progress in modern science. This model underpinned the medical training of doctors. Traditionally medicine had relied on folk remedies passed down from generations and ill health was surrounded in superstition and religious lore with sin and evil spirits as the culprit and root of ill health. The emergence of scientific thinking questioned the traditional religious view of the world and is linked to the progress in medical practice and the rise of the biomedical model. Social and historical events and circumstances were an important factor in its development as explanations about disease

The logic and principles of medieval medicine shaped those of Modern medicine. Never was there a more efficient method perfected, so much that it remained through history through so many hundreds of years. Today’s concepts of diagnosis, relationships with the church, anatomy, surgery, hospitals and training, and public health were established in the Middle Ages.

In Elizabethan England, as many as one or two hundred people died in one city due to illness over the course of a month (Davis and McBride 57). Death was common during the Elizabethan Era because people were not educated about proper health. Unhealthy diets, limited medical practices, and unsanitary public places contributed to making a diseased population of England. During the Elizabethan Era, public knowledge of health was low resulting in poor diets, medical practices, and public sanitation.

In my fifteen years of living, I have been vaccinated numerous times for all types of diseases; Polio, Measles, Mumps, and a few others. Immunization

“The belief about the causes of illness were based on the ancient teaching of Aristotle and Hippocrates” ( Elizabethan Medicine and Illness). “Physician, Surgeons, and Barbers were the three categories for medical professions” (Foster Par. 2) Physicians would dose themselves in vinegar and chew. Elizabethan Physicians were very wealthy. “ By the end of the major wave of the plague at the beginning of the 15th century, most of the physicians and many surgeons had died” (Foster Par. 3).

The improvement of medicine over the course of the human successes gave great convenience to the people of today. Science has cured and prevented many illnesses from occurring and is on its way to cure some of the most dreadful and harmful illnesses. As the world modernizes due to the industrialization, so does the ways of medicine. Some cures are approached by chance, some, through intense, scientific measures.

In the eighteenth century, Europeans experienced horrible human conditions due to the rapid spread of diseases. However, many Europeans became interested in medical science to treat the sick  and improve the health of many europeans. Despite this the enlightenment led to the questionings of unknown diseases, discoveries of cures and equipment, experiments on the sick to find cures to eliminate the disease, research was used to look back at the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers ideas and beliefs to influence the way they think. The rising of those ideas were inspired by Europeans who seek the answers to nature and human problems.

Respected people and doctors knew more about the human body than a majority of the public. As people became

It is difficult to decide whether the developments, inventions and discoveries of the Early Modern Period contributed to European power or whether it contributed to European progress. The reason this is, is because in the case of Europe, especially in this time period, power and progress seemed to go hand in hand. In the case of discovery the countries that had the most power led the way in discovering new land, it was this curiosity in expanding power that led to the progress of new worlds and opportunities. The invention of the printing press contributed to providing knowledge and therefore an aspect of power to people who did not have it beforehand and it was the progress of medicines and sciences that ensured not only the power and ‘superiority’ of European knowledge but also the ability to progress to the next level of knowledge.

Medication as we see it today is much more subdued with precautions put in place. Much of the technology innovation during the medieval era pale in comparison to modern times, however there always had to be instruments that came before. People had little choice in the matter when it came to the pain with their treatments, whiskey could only do so much. During Medieval Times medical practices would have almost been borderline torture methods, as brutish as they were they did the trick. Healing these illness required a bit of ingenuity on the part of the doctor. One of many items used during this time would be a clysters; a rather large cylindrical tube filled with boar bile that is used for Enemas.

Before the Renaissance medicine was a surprisingly spiritual side of science, scientific advancements were usually either rejected or condemned by the church and if they were not the general public usually ignored them due to the Church's influence. After the Renaissance, medicine has become an undoubtedly sanitary, academic study where new ideas are able to flourish and save lives. Excluding modern times, medicine has made most of it’s progress during Ancient Greek and Roman times and the Renaissance which can mostly be attributed to the ancient Greeks and Romans because the Renaissance was a revival of the progress that was made by them. Hippocrates was one of the most famous Greeks and is considered the father of medicine by many. Medicine

The towns and hospitals of Victorian England worsened the sanitary situations but helped create sanitary reform efforts. Most towns in Great Britain were beginning to experience problems with overcrowding in the urban areas. “Housing and sanitary facilities could not keep pace with such growth. Customs, technologies, and administrative practices that might have been adequate in older cities or in small villages proved grossly insufficient in the industrial cities” (Victorian Social Medicine p. 125). Many towns and cities were moving to become industrial over agricultural and the industrial movement caused overcrowding. This sudden movement of people into the cities could not be sanitarily kept up with, which lead to many people living in these areas becoming deathly ill. William Farr believed in three big reasons for the high death rate in the towns and why/how many people caught these extraordinary sicknesses. “Poor hygiene, in sanitation, and other environmental defects were the factors Farr blamed most consistently for the high mortality in cities” (Victorian Social Medicine p. 126). Using Farr’s view the author describes how the poor sanitation of the homes and towns were the reason for incredibly high mortality rates. Farr liked to blame the poor hygiene for the high mortality in his earliest studies but would later contradict his own theories with further in depth studies. Farr also being on of the founders of medical statistics liked to look and compare mortality

In the Elizabethan period, life was massively effected by a social order: the royalty ranking first, the nobility as the second, the third being gentry, merchants as fourth, and laborers last. It was thought that God had personally created these social ranks, and had blessed each social status. For every rank, there would be certain expectations; for example, it would be a defiance for a labourer to wear clothes of the rich. All the more, Elizabethan problems with sickness and diseases were worsened by the town's low sanitary measures. Treatment for medical issues were unorganized and fell short to complete the public’s needs; even people who were able to seek medical attention had to go through horrific procedures and multiple medication problems.

Medieval people viewed physicians as significant contributors to medical knowledge during the Middle Ages; however, there was a small amount who perceived physicians as being men who wanted to make a lucrative earning. More importantly, their opinion was built upon a physician’s level of education, religion, and gender. This opinion would differ on the person, considering the amount of money they earned and their location. The general consensus was Tomasso del Garbo, a influential physician with a prosperous clientele. He envoked a great deal of admiration due to his heritage; his father was an innovative physician, author, and lecturer, and his education level, a university graduate. Since, licensing was not a crucial factor to either the king, church, or other doctor’s in terms of determining an individual doctor’s reputation; medieval people used the same factors that would be used to judge an ordinary person like heritage, education level, and social class, to a physician who should be criticized on his medical knowledge and practice.