Renaissance Medicine (Radio Edit)
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What medical theories influenced Renaissance-era medicine?
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Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously. My name's Greg Jenner. I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster. And today we're putting on our plague masks and rummaging in our doctor's bags as we head back to 16th century England to learn all about Renaissance era medicine. And to help us, we are joined by not one, but two esteemed doctors. In History Corner, she's an associate professor in the Department of English Literature at the University of Reading, where her research focuses on medicine and the body from the 16th to 18th centuries. And luckily for us, she's also the author of the fantastic new book, The Surgeon, the Midwife and the Quack, How to Stay Alive in Renaissance England.
It's Dr Alana Skoos. Welcome, Alana. Hello, nice to be here. Lovely to have you here. And in Comedy Corner, she's a comedian, actor and writer. You might have seen her on all the TV, on Live at the Apollo, QI, Pointless and Have I Got News For You. Maybe you've caught her live shows or heard her on Radio 4's The News Quiz, but you'll definitely remember her from our show, episodes of Chungi Sao and Marco Polo, of course. It's Dr. Ria Lina. Welcome, Dr. Ria.
Thank you so much. I rarely use that title, so it's nice to use it.
I mean, you're such a sort of renowned comedian, people might not know this. You have a PhD in virology.
I do, for my sins. I have a PhD in herpes. That's my specialty. The classic route into comedy. It just doesn't come up much, especially on a first date.
So if you are a trained scientist, modern medicine, presumably you're pretty comfortable. Do you know about the history of medicine?
I know bits and pieces. I did the evolution of herpes. That was sort of my, well, not the evolution of it, like from what it looked like at the beginning to what it looks like now. I mean, it was pretty much the same. Well, it wasn't, but you know what I mean? I know bits and pieces, but when you study virus evolution, it actually doesn't come up in terms of human medicine as frequently as you would have thought, even though you can kind of look back and go, oh, that was a virus. That was a virus. So I'm excited.
Good, good.
Especially 16th century. I've been sitting here for five minutes going, is that the 1500s or the 1700s? Because it's always one number out, isn't it?
It's the 1500s.
It's the 1500s.
Well, I was going to ask you actually, you know, does the phrase Renaissance era England mean anything to you?
See, when you say Renaissance, great. I'm thinking Italians. I'm thinking French. I'm thinking some wonderful progression in science. Then you said England and I went, oh, that's a very different thing. You know, that could be as big as we don't poo outdoors anymore. Do you know what I mean? Like progress for the English, especially back then, wasn't quite the same as progress for the rest of Europe.
So what do you know? This is where I have a go at guessing what you, our lovely listener, might know about today's subject. And thanks to Shakespeare's plays and the many weird and wonderful adaptations you've seen, plus all the pop culture about Tudors and Stuarts, you've probably got some sense of what life was like in Renaissance-era England. But what about disease and healthcare specifically? Well, maybe, like me, you're just thinking of the classic scene in Blackadder where the cure for everything is leeches.
How did the invention of the printing press impact medical knowledge?
But what was visiting the doctor in Renaissance England really like? Was there more to it than plague masks? Did they use plague masks? And what about those leeches? Were they true? Oh, and who on earth was the stroker? Let's find out. Ria, when we say Renaissance England, you're thinking post-Italy and France. In your head, you've got a lovely image of Michelangelo.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What medical theories influenced Renaissance-era medicine?
0:00–3:49
2
How did the invention of the printing press impact medical knowledge?
3:49–6:52
3
What roles did physicians and barber-surgeons play in healthcare?
6:52–9:21
4
What were the common practices and beliefs about health and illness?
9:21–12:27
5
How did women contribute to healthcare in the 16th and 17th centuries?
12:27–15:37
6
What were the significant medical professions in Tudor and Stuart England?
15:37–18:38
7
What were the notable medical experiments and discoveries of the time?
18:38–21:20
8
How did public health measures evolve after the Great Plague?
21:20–30:53
Speakers
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