Vascular knowledge in medieval times was the turning point for the humanistic trend.

OBJECTIVE

Knowledge of the history of our surgical specialty may broaden our viewpoint for everyday practice. We illustrate the scientific progress made in medieval times relevant to the vascular system and blood circulation, progress made despite prevailing religious and philosophical dogma.

METHODS

We located all articles concerning vascular knowledge and historical reviews in databases such as MEDLINE, EMBASE and the database of abstracts of reviews (DARE). We also explored the database of the register from the French National Library, the French Medical Inter-University (BIUM), the Italian National Library and the French and Italian Libraries in the Vatican. All data were collected and analysed in chronological order.

RESULTS

Medieval vascular knowledge was inherited from Greek via Byzantine and Arabic writings, the first controversies against the recognized vascular schema emanating from an Arabian physician in the 13th century. Dissection was forbidden and clerical rules instilled a fear of blood. Major contributions to scientific progress in the vascular field in medieval times came from Ibn-al-Nafis and Harvey.

CONCLUSION

Vascular specialists today may feel proud to recall that once religious dogma declined in early medieval times, vascular anatomic and physiological discoveries led the way to scientific progress.