Doctors, Folk Medicine and the Inquisition

The Repression of Magical Healing in Portugal During the Enlightenment
Erscheinungsjahr 2005
ISBN: 978-90-04-14345-6
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 23, 438 Seiten, Format (B × H): 162 mm x 243 mm, Gewicht: 939 g

Reihe: The Medieval and Early Modern Iberian World

Inquisition trials for sorcery and witchcraft in Portugal reached a late crescindo (1715 to 1755). This study of those events focuses on the Inquisition's role in prosecuting and discrediting popular healers (called saludadores or curandeiros), who were charged with practicing magical crimes. Significantly, these trials coincide with the entrance of university-trained physicians and surgeons into the paid ranks of the Portuguese Inquisition in unprecedented numbers. State-licensed medical practitioners, motivated by professional competition combined with a desire to promote rationalized "scientific" medicine, used their positions within the Holy Office to initiate trials against purveyors of superstitious folk remedies. The repression of folk healing reveals a conflict between learned medical culture and popular healing culture in Enlightenment-era Portugal. In this rare instance, the Inquisition functioned as an instrument of progressive social change.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Walker, Timothy

Fachgebiete

• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Medizin, Gesundheitswesen Geschichte der Medizin

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements. vii
List of Abbreviations. ix
List of Charts and Graphs. xi
List of Tables. xiii
List of Illustrations. xv

Part I
Social, Political and Institutional Context

Chapter One. Introduction and Overview. 3
Chapter Two. The Role of the Curandeiro and Saludador in Early Modern Portuguese Society. 36
Chapter Three. Enlightenment Influences: The Movement Toward Medical Reform in Eighteenth-Century Portugal 88
Chapter Four. Monarch and Inquisitor General: Two Personalities who Shaped the Holy Office Campaign Against Popular Healers. 153
Chapter Five. Interconnections: The Influence of Licensed Physicians and Surgeons in the Inquisition and at Court during the Reign of Dom João V. 180

Part II
The Repression of Magical Healing

Chapter Six. A Deliberate Policy of Oppression: Portuguese Inquisition Trials Against Popular Healers for Magical Crimes, circa 1690–1780. 211
Chapter Seven. Case Studies: Prosecutions of Curandeiros and Saludadores in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Portugal. 263
Chapter Eight. Punishing Magical Criminals: Mild Customs (Brandos Costumes) and Social Control. 294
Chapter Nine. Demographics and Geographic Mobility of Popular Healers Prosecuted by the Portuguese Inquisition, 1682–1802. 346
Chapter Ten. Conclusions. 395

Bibliography. 405

Glossary of Portuguese Terms. 421

Index. 423

Über Autor(innen)

Timothy D. Walker, Ph.D. (2001) in History, Boston University, is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He has published numerous articles on early modern Portugal and the Portuguese colonies; subjects include the Inquisition, slave trading, and colonial medical adaption and dissemination.