From John Henderson:
Tuesday 16 February
Dr Cristina Bellorini (Independent scholar, Milan)
Materia medica at the grand-ducal court in sixteenth-century Tuscany
Abstract:
In the second half of the sixteenth century, the cultural context of the
Medici court and the role played by Cosimo I and his sons Francesco I
and Ferdinando I who were personally interested in medicine and materia
medica, led to a series of initiatives which greatly expanded the study
of medicinal plants. The growing interest in this field is attested,
among other things, by the establishment of a new chair of medical
botany at the University of Pisa and by the founding of a botanical
garden where for the first time medical students could become familiar
with the simples which were the basis of materia medica.
This new attention to the study of plants raises questions about their
actual use in therapy and brings to the fore the question of the
relationship between therapeutic theory and practice.
In order to address these issues, this paper investigates the treatment
of malarial fever drawing a comparison between theoretical treatises,
consilia and letters describing specific cases, and examines the account
books of a Florentine apothecary in which the purchases of medicinal
plants and drugs were registered on a daily basis. Some observations on
the discrepancy between books and practice will form the conclusion.
All seminars will take place in the Wellcome Library, 183 Euston Road,
London NW1 2BE. Doors at 6pm prompt, seminars will start at 6.15pm.
Organising Committee: Elma Brenner (Wellcome Library), Michael Brown
(Roehampton), Elena Carrera (QMUL), Sandra Cavallo (RHUL), John
Henderson (Birkbeck, London, convenor), William MacLehose (UCL), Anna
Maerker (KCL), Patrick Wallis (LSE), Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim (Goldsmiths,
convenor).
Enquiries to Ross MacFarlane ([log in to unmask]).
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