Pete Jackson, a history teacher based in North Yorkshire, UK, describes the changes in Medicine in Britain from the Middle Ages to the 17th century. Click here for the 26-minute YouTube video posted on March 21, 2025, that focuses on the medical Renaissance in England.

Starting with the ideas about the cause of disease and illness. In Europe, Protestant theology spread which meant that the Catholic Church lost influence over beliefs around medicine. The influence of the church began to decline and the new technology of the printing press helped to spread new ideas.

The Royal Society was founded in London in 1660 to discuss new ideas about astronomy, medicine, and science, and, crucially, it was backed by King Charles II. People begin to believe in the idea of transference, which is the belief that an illness could be transferred to someone else by physical contact.

Anatomy became essential to the study of medicine as practiced by William Harvey. The Great Plague that came to England in 1665 was the last major epidemic to hit England. Scientific approaches helped to stop its spread.