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Alessandra Foscati - Saint Anthony's Fire from Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century, Inbunden

Inbunden, Engelska, 2019

Saint Anthony's Fire from Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century

Av Alessandra Foscati

Del 2 i serien Premodern Health, Disease, and Disability

2188 kr

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Beskrivning
After the discovery of the ergotism epidemics (poisoning caused by ingesting the fungal toxin of rye) and its etiology, eighteenth-century physicians interpreted medieval chronicles in their medical texts in order to recognize the occurrences of ergotic diseases through retrospective diagnosis. They assumed that St. Anthony's fire and ignis sacer ("sacred fire") recorded in medieval texts represented the same disease, ergotism. This interpretative method, lacking a textual basis in the sources, has been incorrectly followed by historians till now. This book examines this historical prejudice through textual analysis, comparing diverse medieval and early modern sources. A striking semantic complexity emerges that changes the concept of St. Anthony's fire and modifies our understanding of diseases in general. This research illuminates aspects of the history of medicine, society, and hospitals.
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Alessandra Foscati holds a PhD in Medieval History at the University of Bologna. She is member of the School of Arts and Humanities, Centre for Classical Studies - University of Lisbon. She is the author of Ignis sacer. Una storia culturale del ‘fuoco sacro’ dall’antichità al Settecento, Florence, SISMEL 2013.

Recensioner i media

"Statt immer wieder zu fragen, welches heutige Syndrom denn nun „eigentlich“ hinter der angeblich defizitären Anamnese eines mittelalterlichen Chronisten stecke, sollten wir die kulturell wirksamen Krankheitskonzepte der Zeitgenossen ernst nehmen und in all ihrer Widersprüchlichkeit und Vielschichtigkeit nachzuzeichnen versuchen. Alessandra Foscati tut dies quellenkritisch und begriffsgeschichtlich mit großer Präzision."- Gregor Rohmann, Frankfurt am Main, Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 47 3 (2020) "I enjoyed reading this book, which brings a scholarly approach to a topic that has often been misunderstood and oversimplified in general medical history texts of past decades. For this reason, it will be a welcome addition to the shelves of academic libraries. While the relationship between the terms sacred fire, Saint Anthony’s fire, and ergotism was a fluid one that varied over the centuries, here we find a good understanding of where their meanings overlap, and where they do not."- Piers D. Mitchell, Speculum Vol. 97, No. 2 (April 2022) In short, Saint Anthony's Fire from Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century can be considered a milestone in the study of the ignis sacer and its relationship with the Fire of Saint Anthony and ergotism. The abundant selection of works and authors of a very diverse nature (medical, legal, hagiographic) over such a wide span of time - from Antiquity to the nineteenth century - makes this book a work of great scientific rigour and a model for future research on the lexicon of pathology.

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