The Renaissance: The Dawn of Scientific Enquiry into Health and Fitness

Abstract

The upsurge of knowledge about Health and Fitness during the Renaissance was stimulated by a westward migration of Greek scholars, the emergence of wealthy research sponsors, the invention of printing and less rigid ecclesiastical control of scholarship. Renewed opportunities for human dissection gave a clearer understanding of the circulation, respiratory gas exchange and muscular contraction. Health Science centres in Bologna and Padua were supplemented by new Medical Schools in France, the Netherlands and Britain. In England, professional bodies regulated medical practice, and scholars began to think of developing the body as well as the soul. Nevertheless, Public Health attracted little attention, the average life expectancy remained low, the treatment of many diseases remained bizarre, and recurrent epidemics of Bubonic plague took a heavy toll upon city-dwellers. European Courts continued training elite adolescents in chivalrous sports. Primary schools provided a semblance of education to a growing proportion of poorer children. Classes usually offered rote learning, but a few enlightened teachers saw Physical Education as an important component of instruction. English Universities viewed involvement in sport as distracting from Academic study and religious observance. Much of the general population still worked long hours as agricultural labourers, but in the cities there was sedentary employment and little opportunity for recreation. Formerly active pastimes also became stylized, demanding less physical effort, and for the wealthy walking was replaced by passive transportation in sedan chairs.