Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Continue' we will assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you will not see this message again. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

16th Century

In 1546, Henry VIII established the position of Regius Professor of Physic at Oxford, a role that remains to this day as the Regius Professor of Medicine.

Portrait of Henry VIII © BBC History

New Statutes were drawn up at the University of Oxford in 1549, requiring for the first time that medical students had to see and perform dissections upon the human body; thus marking a new era of anatomical teaching at Oxford.

16th century engraving of a dissection titled © Wellcome Trust

^{16th century dissection}

17th century >

< 14th century