Dan Snow's History Hit How to Survive in Renaissance England
Oct 21, 2025
Dr. Alanna Skuse, a historian of early modern healthcare and author of 'The Surgeon, the Midwife and the Quack', delves into the medical practices of 16th and 17th century England. She reveals how quacks and wise women sometimes offered better care than physicians. The conversation explores bizarre treatments, including cross-species blood transfusions, as well as innovative surgeries like the arm-to-face skin graft. Alanna also discusses holistic approaches to health, the notorious Bedlam hospital, and the ethical dilemmas of early medical experimentation.
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Institutional Medicine Was Not Always Better
- Bedlam symbolised the shift from holistic, community care to institutionalised medicine in England.
- Institutional change did not automatically improve patient outcomes and sometimes made them worse.
Consider Women Healers' Gentler Remedies
- Prefer women healers in the Renaissance because they often used gentler, effective remedies.
- They used willow bark, rosemary and opium sensibly and avoided reckless poisons.
Dangerous Early Blood Transfusions
- Royal Society members experimented with cross-species blood transfusions on dogs and humans.
- A French case with calf blood killed a man and led to a 200-year moratorium on transfusions.
