Doctors, folk medicine and the Inquisition : the repression of magical healing in Portugal during the Enlightenment / by Timothy D. Walker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Walker, Timothy Dale, 1963-

Series:

Medieval and early modern Iberian world ; v. 23.

The medieval and early modern Iberian world, 1569-1934 ; v. 23

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Inquisition--Portugal--History--18th century.

Inquisition.

Medicine, Magic, mystic, and spagiric--Portugal--History--18th century.

Medicine, Magic, mystic, and spagiric.

Witchcraft--Portugal--History--18th century.

Witchcraft.

Enlightenment--Portugal.

Enlightenment.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (462 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

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.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 405-420) and index.

ISBN:

1-280-86799-X

9786610867998

1-4294-5296-X

90-474-0734-2

1-4337-0642-3

OCLC:

476023858

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789047407348 DOI