Treating the Sick During the Renaissance

Despite numerous discoveries and some medical advances during the Renaissance, progress in understanding the causes of disease and finding effective treatments remained limited. The medical knowledge of the time was still rooted in outdated ideas, and treatments often lacked scientific basis. However, several different types of care were available to the sick, and these varied depending on one's social status and wealth.

Hospitals

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the number of hospitals began to increase. This was partly due to the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s under Henry VIII, which had previously provided many of the medical services. After the monasteries were closed, towns and local authorities were left to open hospitals to replace these services. One example is St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, which had originally been a monastery but became a hospital under the control of the London authorities following the dissolution.

In these hospitals, treatment was generally based on the ancient theory of the four humours, which suggested that an imbalance in the body's fluids caused illness. Therefore, treatments such as bloodletting and purging (inducing vomiting or diarrhoea) were common. Hospitals were often funded by wealthy patrons, royal endowments, or charitable donations. As a result, they typically offered free care to the poor or to those who could not afford a private physician. However, the quality of treatment in these hospitals varied, and the care provided was not always effective, as medical knowledge was still limited.

Physicians

Physicians were the most highly trained medical professionals of the time. They attended universities and studied medical texts by ancient thinkers such as Hippocrates and Galen, whose theories about the four humours dominated medical understanding during the Renaissance. As such, the diagnoses and treatments they provided were often based on these ancient teachings, which were largely incorrect by modern standards.

Physicians were expensive to hire, and they mostly treated wealthy individuals, including members of the royal family. In fact, monarchs often had their own personal physicians who would attend to them whenever they fell ill. While physicians had a higher level of training compared to other types of medical practitioners, they were still limited by the medical knowledge of the time and were unable to offer effective cures for most illnesses.

Apothecaries

An apothecary was a medical practitioner who could be compared to a modern chemist. Apothecaries sold medicines and remedies to both the public and other medical professionals, such as surgeons and physicians. Their remedies were often based on herbal treatments passed down through generations, and many of these mixtures had been used for centuries. Apothecaries would typically train as apprentices, learning from more experienced apothecaries about the various herbs and ingredients that could be used to create medicines.

Although apothecaries provided valuable services, many of their remedies were not scientifically tested and could sometimes be ineffective or even harmful. Still, for many people, especially the poor who could not afford the services of a physician, the apothecary was often the first point of contact for medical care.

Quack Doctors

Due to the high cost of seeing a qualified physician, many people turned to quack doctors—unqualified individuals who often claimed to have miraculous cures. These so-called doctors frequently sold "remedies" that promised to heal any ailment. The potions they sold were typically made up of bizarre ingredients, such as crushed unicorn horn or powdered gems, which they claimed could cure everything from the plague to poor digestion.

While these quack doctors often preyed on people's desperation, their remedies were, at best, ineffective and, at worst, dangerous. However, the lack of scientific knowledge at the time, especially before the development of germ theory by Louis Pasteur in the 19th century, meant that people were largely unaware that the claims made by these quack doctors had no basis in science. As a result, many patients continued to trust these miracle cures, even though they did little to aid recovery and sometimes worsened the patient's condition.

The Limitations of Renaissance Medicine

Throughout the Renaissance, the medical field made important strides, such as the work of Andreas Vesalius in anatomy and the contributions of Ambroise Paré in surgery, but much of the medical understanding remained grounded in ancient and often incorrect theories. Without knowledge of germs, bacteria, or viruses, physicians, apothecaries, and quack doctors alike were limited in their ability to prevent or treat diseases effectively.

Despite the advances in anatomy and surgery, many of the treatments available in the Renaissance—such as bloodletting, purging, and the use of herbal remedies—were based on misconceptions about the body’s functions and the causes of disease. Consequently, many people, especially the poor, relied on quack doctors and apothecaries for care, which often did little to improve their health. It was not until later, with the advent of scientific discoveries such as the germ theory of disease, that medicine began to make more significant progress.

In summary, during the Renaissance, there were various types of care available to the sick, ranging from hospitals and qualified physicians to apothecaries and unqualified quack doctors. However, the effectiveness of these treatments was still very limited, and the true causes of illness remained largely misunderstood. It was only through continued research and the eventual discovery of germ theory that medicine began to make the significant advancements that would lead to more effective treatments and a deeper understanding of disease.