1505
First Medical Royal College
In the late 1400s the roles of surgeons and barbers, both requiring sharp instruments to practise their trade, were indistinctly defined as regards such tasks as bloodletting, lancing, shaving, bandaging and treating wounds in battle. In 1505 the Incorporation of Surgeons and Barbers was founded, later the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the first medical Royal College in the world.
For more information: Visit the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Museums website.
Image courtesy of the City of Edinburgh Archive.
