New
New
Year 10
AQA

Renaissance changes in anatomy and surgery

I can evaluate the impact of changes in surgical practice and anatomical knowledge during the Renaissance period.

New
New
Year 10
AQA

Renaissance changes in anatomy and surgery

I can evaluate the impact of changes in surgical practice and anatomical knowledge during the Renaissance period.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Paré developed and encouraged new methods to manage the problems of surgery.
  2. Vesalius carried out dissections to identify many mistakes in Galen's work.
  3. Vesalius encouraged others to learn through observation and dissection.
  4. Vesalius' challenge to Galen's ideas faced considerable opposition.

Keywords

  • Ointment - a smooth, thick substance that is used on painful or damaged skin

  • Ligature - a thread or wire used for tying something, especially a blood vessel

  • Cauterisation - the action of burning body tissue using heat to stop an injury from bleeding or getting infected

  • Anatomy - the scientific study of the body and how its parts are arranged

  • Dissection - the action of cutting something open, especially a dead body or plant, in order to study its structure

Common misconception

Corrections to Galen's work were accepted virtually immediately.

Many medical professionals were reluctant to challenge Galen's works and so new ideas, like those of Vesalius, were not accepted immediately.


To help you plan your year 10 history lesson on: Renaissance changes in anatomy and surgery, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Have pupils to compare the impact of Paré and Vesalius and ask them whose work was more important. You may encourage them to consider criteria such as the practical impact and long-term effects of Paré and Vesalius' medical contributions.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Untrustworthy and unqualified people who claim to have effective medical cures are often described as ...
Correct Answer: quacks, a quack
Q2.
Match each aspect of Renaissance medicine with its correct example.
Correct Answer:explanation for disease,miasma

miasma

Correct Answer:treatment,purging

purging

Correct Answer:prevention,isolation

isolation

Q3.
houses were used to isolate some people suffering from plague.
Correct Answer: Pest
Q4.
Mercury was often used as a treatment for which disease?
malaria
plague
Correct answer: syphilis
Q5.
What was a supernatural treatment for scrofula?
bloodletting
herbal remedies
purging
Correct answer: Royal Touch
Q6.
What type of treatment was bloodletting?
chemical
herbal
Correct answer: humoural
supernatural

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What procedure involves cutting something open, especially a dead body or plant, in order to study its structure?
Correct Answer: dissection, dissections, dissecting
Q2.
Which surgeon corrected Galen's ideas that there were small holes in the heart and two bones which made up the jaw?
Correct Answer: Vesalius, Andreas Vesalius
Q3.
There were over illustrations in Vesalius' 'On the Fabric of the Human Body'.
Correct Answer: 600, six hundred
Q4.
Which ingredient in the ointment used by Ambroise Pare from 1537 onwards was most important for helping wounds to heal?
egg yolk
rose oil
Correct answer: turpentine
Q5.
What problem of surgery did ligatures unintentionally make worse?
blood loss
Correct answer: infection
pain
Q6.
How did Jacob Sylvius react to Andreas Vesalius' anatomical discoveries?
began conducting many dissections himself
Correct answer: claimed bodies had changed since Galen's time
rejected Galen and his old ideas

Additional material

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