Experimental therapeutics in the Renaissance

Detailed accounts of therapeutics at the time of the European Renaissance written by the participants have not survived in large numbers. One manuscript, dated 1562, was written by friars in a religious order in Italy dedicated to the care of the sick. Their remedies, methods of preparation, and uses were detailed by the friars and offer a glimpse into the beginnings of experimentation with drugs and rejection of tradition and authority in determining the effectiveness of a remedy. These developing concepts were combined in the manuscript with traditional treatments dating back through the Middle Ages to the medical methods of Greece and Rome.