Acceptance of the implementation of dissections in the Byzantium

  • Georgios Panteleakos

Abstract

Studying specific collections of great Byzantine authors as Oribasius from Pergamum, Theophilus Protospatharius, Meletius the Iatrosophist and others, it can be understood that in Byzantine era (330 – 1453 AD), there was not stagnation in the research for anatomy and physiology of the human body. Αt the same time from the Orthodox Church was not forbidden the use of anatomies for the research, teaching or other purposes, because the Church did not want to have a conflict with its own doctrine. On the other hand, many Byzantine doctors, even priests as Saint Basil the Great (4th cent. AD) and his brother Saint Gregory of Nyssa (4th cent. AD), urge the scientists to perform anatomies in order to research the structure and the function of human body. In contrast to what was happening in the West, the Byzantines were considering the anatomic research a major and integral factor for the progression of medicine and the understanding of structure and function of the human body.
Published
2021-09-28
Section
General article