Brief history of medicine in Slovenia

Slovenes have lived in the territory of today's Slovenia for more than 14 centuries, whilst the history of its medical culture goes back for 2000 years. The advent of Christianity in Slovenia in the eighth century AD marked an important turning point in the development of its medicine. The 500 years of the Habsburg monarchy was later to have a further impact on the development of new medical ideas. During the Renaissance, the names of the Slovene doctors Mattioli, Paracelsus, Scopoli and Hacquet, who worked among Slovenians, were to become known all over Europe. Others of Slovene origin were Perlach, Santorio, Gerbezius, Carbonarius, Plenciz, and Sagar, whose work influenced European medical culture, especially in German speaking countries. However their Slovene nationality was not acknowledged until the second half of the 19th century.