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Abstract
This article assesses whether the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon played a significant part in the development of medical knowledge in the Portuguese Empire during the first three decades of the sixteenth century. An analysis of the masters who taught at the university suggests that the Empire had little attraction for the faculty's teaching staff, making the well-known case of Garcia de Orta (c.1500–1568) quite exceptional.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e para a Tecnologia under Grant POCI2010/EFS - SFRH/BPD/46175/2008. The author deeply thanks Iona McCleery and Hugh Cagle for the comments and corrections to the earlier versions of this text.
Notes
1Concerning sixteenth-century Lisbon, see Coelho, Ruas e gentes; Moita, ed., Lisboa Quinhentista; França, Lisboa, História Física; Couto, Histoire de Lisbonne. For a synthesis of the history of Portugal during this period, see Dias, ed., Portugal do Renascimento; Mattoso, História de Portugal.
2Mattoso, “A universidade e a sociedade,” 318.
3Rodrigues and Fiolhais, “Ensino da medicina.”
4Carvalho, “Instituições de cultura.”
5For information on courses of study, see Carvalho, “Instituições de cultura.”
6Pacheco, “Trivium e Quadrivium.” Rodrigues, “Fundação da Universidade de Coimbra.”
7Carolino and Leitão, “Natural Philosophy,” 161. The literature about the place of theory and experience in the Discoveries is overwhelming, but see Hooykaas, Humanism and the Voyages of Discovery; Almeida, “Experiência a madre das cousas.”
8Barreto, “Tratado da Esfera de D. João de Castro,” 235–6.
9For a recent overview of the conditions in which Sá labored, see Fernandes, “Introdução,” 23–6.
10Sá, Infante D. Henrique e a Universidade; see also Abreu, “Memórias históricas,” 90; Serrão, “Universidade,” 28, 31.
11Serrão, “Universidade,” 31, 33.
12Randles, “Alleged Nautical School.” Recently, Costa, Henrique o Infante, 298, has argued that such a “school” – if it existed – may have been more of a meeting center for analyzing experiences and knowledge gathered from oceanic trips.
13Albuquerque, “Náutica.”
14For the intellectual context of the writings of Pedro Nunes, Garcia de Orta, João de Castro and Duarte Pacheco, see Carvalho, “Sur la specificité,” 74–5; Godinho, Innovation et changement, 362; and Albuquerque, “Science,” 422–3. See also Bellini, “Notes on Medical Scholarship,” 23. João de Castro was a nobleman, royal officer and cartographer. A student under Pedro Nunes, he later wrote a Roteiro de Lisboa a Goa, particularly important for understanding of the Earth's magnetic field. Duarte Pacheco was an explorer and a cosmographer who in 1506 wrote the Esmeraldo “de situ orbis”, a travelogue with geographical, nautical and social information about Brazil and Africa.
15Dias, Descobrimentos, 42; Carolino and Leitão, “Natural Philosophy,” 161.
16Domingues, “Horizontes mentais dos homens do mar,” 214.
17Albuquerque, “Náutica,” 95.
18Almeida, “Simão Fernandes de Tavira;” Sousa, “Arte Nova;” Tavira, Arte nova de algarismo; Sanz Hermida, “Dos tratados médicos;” Salvado, “‘Mau olhado,’” 29–30; Luís, Cinco livros de problemas. Gaspar Ribeiro studied at the University of Paris before becoming one of the physicians of Queen Katherine of Austria, wife of the Portuguese King João III (r. 1521–1557).
19According to Bellini, “Notes on Medical Scholarship,” 30, the curriculum adopted by the Faculty of Medicine after its move to Coimbra in 1537 maintained its medieval content and was similar to the contemporary medical curricula adopted in other universities across Europe.
20Ferreira, Noticias chronologicas da Universidade de Coimbra, first part, 785 [Statutos d'el Rei Dom Manoel para a Universidade de Lixª]; Arnaut, “Medicina,” 291; Fonseca, “Pedro Nunes na Universidade,” 541. The application of this reform generated some hostility from the part of the students against royal officials interacting with the University in fiscal matters: Carvalho, “Instituições de Cultura.”
21Afonso, “A imagem do saber,” 310–12.
22For some examples, see Albuquerque, “Science,” 422–423.
23Barreto, “Fundamentos da cultura portuguesa da expansão,” 91; Godinho, Innovation, 362.
24Costa, “Geographical Expansion,” 78.
25Arnaut, “A medicina,” 291; Fonseca, “Pedro Nunes,” 540.
26Fonseca, “Pedro Nunes,” 540–3; Fernandes, Oração sobre a fama da universidade, 146; Fonseca, “Pedro Nunes na Universidade II,” 297–8 and, above all, Leitão, “Para uma biografia,” 72.
27He confessed that “era a sua profissão principal a Medicina, porém era universal em todas as ciências, filosofia e teologia.”
28Luís later taught Galen and Aristotle in Greek. For the presence of Pedro Nunes at the University of Coimbra, please refer to the above-mentioned paper: Fonseca, “Pedro Nunes na Universidade II.”
29Sá, Chartularium; Sá, Auctarium.
30The data were collected from the Chartularium by André Leitão and complemented by Mário Farelo with data from the Auctarium in an Access database. Data were then organized in biographical entries, some of them already published in Leitão, “Prosopografia dos lentes.” For a discussion of the sources and methodology put forward in such heuristic process, see Farelo, “‘Universitas,’” 199–200, 202–3.
31Farelo, “‘Universitas,’” 217–18. See also Marques, “Corpos académicos,” 82–3; Dias, Política cultural, 420–9.
32Arquivo Nacional Torre do Tombo, Chancelaria de D. Manuel I, book 22, fl. 2. He enjoyed a steady presence in university business until 1513; thereafter his lecturing duties were performed by Pedro Fernandes de Cordova (1513–1517) and Agostinho Henriques Micas (1517): Sá, Auctarium, vol. I, 290; vol. II, 17, 39, 73–4. His academic path is detailed in Leitão, “Prosopografia dos lentes,” 424–5.
33According to Joaquim Veríssimo Serrão, he perhaps studied at the University of Montpellier (Serrão, Les portugais, 73). The nickname “da Ilha” remains unclear; one possibility might be some kind of tie to the islands of Madeira or Azores. In his case, the need for replacement was more frequent: Diogo de Freixinal in 1508–1510, Álvaro Fernandes in 1513, António Lopes – probably the doctor of this name later known as da mula ruça – in 1514 and, finally, Álvaro Fernandes again in 1516–1517: Sá, Auctarium, vol. I, 82, 122, 291–4, 317; vol. II, 16; Viterbo, “O doutor da mula ruça,” 2–6.
34Sá, Auctarium, vol. I, 354; Dutra, “Practice of Medicine in Early-Modern Portugal,” 142, and for a more recent study, Mendonça, “Reforma da saúde no reinado de D. Manuel.” See also Leitão, “Prosopografia dos lentes,” 483–4.
35These New Christians were baptized following King Manuel's decree demanding expulsion or conversion in 1497; subsequently, they could aspire to positions in Portuguese society such as becoming university teachers; see Guimarães and Andrade, Jacob de Castro Sarmento, 39; Tavares, “Linhas de força,” 465. See also Rodrigues, “Études hébraïques à l'Université de Coïmbre,” 145–6.
36The presence of New Christians teaching in the Faculty of Arts was not restricted to the case of Micas by this stage, since Master Filipe seems to have been the first holder of the chair of Astrology from 1513.
37Salomon and Leoni, “Mendes, Benveniste … em que ficamos?;” Salomon and Leoni, “Mendes, Benveniste … The State of the Art,” 150, 156, 169–4; Salomon, “A origem dos Mendes–Benveniste,” Salomon, “Transcrições do apelido aycn,” 80, 84.
38Sá, Auctarium, vol. II, 77.
39Master Gil da Costa is another example of a foreign-trained physician, but there is no evidence so far of any New Christian roots. He received his Master of Arts degree in Paris, and his baccalaureate and doctorate in Medicine at the University of Montpellier: Sá, Auctarium, vol. II, 76, 360 and Leitão, “Prosopografia dos lentes” 541–4. Nothing is known about Diogo Franco's career before he came to the University of Lisbon, where his promotion to a chair was probably a reward for withdrawing from the contest for Prime won by Gil da Costa: see Sá, Auctarium, vol. II, 290, 331, 363; Cardoso, Obra literária, 448, note 1092; Dutra, “The Practice,” 142–3.
40Pedro Nunes, Garcia de Orta and Luís Nunes were the leading figures amongst this group. The bibliography about them is overwhelming, especially for the first two. For their presence in Salamanca and Lisbon, see Serrão, Portugueses no Estudo de Salamanca; Leitão, “Para uma biografia de Pedro Nunes,” and the various works of Andrade.
41See Arrizabalaga, “The Word;” Arrizabalaga, “Garcia de Orta.”
42Soyer, The Persecution of the Jews and Muslims of Portugal; Marcocci and Paiva, História da inquisição Portuguesa.
43Duarte Gomes was a physician and merchant who taught Arts in Lisbon from 1534 to 1536. Having fled from the inquisition to Antwerp and later to Italy, he was known in the literary circles of both places. Aires Vaz was a physician of King João III. Dias, A política cultural, vol. I, 229–39; Ramalho, “António Luís, corrector de Erasmo;” Duarte, “Espírito científico e superstição;” Pérez Ibáñez and Ortega Villaro, “António Luís y sus traducciones de textos no médicos;” Andrade, “Senhores do Desterro de Portugal;” Andrade, “A Senhora;” Andrade, “From Lisbon,” Crespo, “Processo da Inquisição de Lisboa contra Duarte Gomes.” Dias, Médecins Portugais, 22; Friedenwald, Jews and Medicine, vol. 2, 449–50; Cassuto, Elementos, 10–11, 19; Frade and Silva, “Medicina e política,” 57.
44António Lopes was a doctor in Medicine and practiced in Évora. He was better known as the “doutor da mula ruça”; Manuel Reinel studied in Salamanca and attempted to gain a chair in the University of Lisbon. He then left for Ferrara. Álvaro Fernandes was imprisoned by the Lisbon Inquisition and abjured during the auto-da-fé of March 1571: Santos, Comunicações, Vol. 1, 53; Andrade, “De Ferrara a Lisboa;” Pereira, “Processo de Damião de Góis,” 145; Pereira, “Processo de Manuel Travaços,” 163; Carvalho, “Garcia d'Orta,” 161; Arrizabalaga, “Garcia de Orta.” Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Tribunal do Santo Ofício, Inquisição de Lisboa, process no. 1888.
45Andrade, “A Senhora,” 94.
46Duarte Gomes substituted Garcia de Orta, a position for which António Luís and Manuel Reinel also competed. The following month the chair of Astronomy was won by Manuel Lindo, competing successfully against Manuel Reinel again: Sá, Auctarium, vol. III, p. 227–8, 239–40, 255; Andrade, “De Ferrara a Lisboa,” 110–11; Andrade, “A Senhora,” 94.
47Duarte Gomes fled in 1542; Luís Nunes de Santarém and Manuel Reinel in 1544: Andrade, “A Senhora,” 88, 96, 109; Andrade, “From Lisbon,” 64.
48For royal interest in scholarship and Pedro Nunes's studies in Salamanca, see Leitão, “Para uma biografia,” 64–5, 70; Teyssier, “L'humanisme Portugais et l'Europe,” 825.
49Sá, Auctarium, vol. II, 411; III, 9.
50Sá, Auctarium, vol. III, 54, 104–5.
51Sá, Auctarium, vol. III, 45, 102; Carvalho, “Garcia d'Orta;” Ficalho, Garcia da Orta e o seu tempo; Serrão, Portugueses no Estudo de Salamanca.
52There is a rather dated English translation: Orta, Colloquies on the Simples and Drugs of India. The relationship between medical knowledge provided by medieval auctoritates and that provided by experience remains a topic of debate in relation to this text. See Carvalho, “Colóquios dos Simples,” 165–74; Carvalho, “Invisible Travelers,” 288–93; Carvalho, “Local Knowledge in Portuguese,” 13–28; Loureiro, “Information Networks,” 41–72; Costa, “Geographical Expansion,” 74–81; Costa and Carvalho, “Between East and West,” and the recently published Medicine, Trade and Empire, ed. Costa.
53Costa and Carvalho, “Between East and West,” 5. The same ideas are put forward by other specialists such as Loureiro, “Information Networks,” 52; Pimentel and Soler, “Painting Naked Truth,” 109, among others.
54Further biographical data will appear in another article on the recruitment to the Faculty of Medicine in Lisbon.
55This observation may be a reflection of the types of sources available, since they are mainly chronicles and other more literary material, which emphasize and provide better detail for trips that included noblemen. See Costa, “Armada,” 33; Silveira, “As boticas a bordo,” 239; Valentim, “Mestre João de Paz e Maestre Juan Faraz,” 211.
56Ferreira, História da saúde, 151.
57Both Menezes, Apoio sanitário, and Castro, “Físicos, cirurgiões e boticários,” 538, point to the scarcity of trained physicians – and physicians tout court for that matter – on board the ships going overseas until the end of the sixteenth century.
58Costa, “Armada,” 33–4.
59Pina, Medicina portuguesa, 28–34; Menezes, Apoio sanitário; Sousa, História da medicina portuguesa durante a Expansão, 151–209.
60Menezes, Apoio sanitário, 264; Ficalho, Garcia da Orta, 14, 18.
61Filho, Pequena história da medicina brasileira, 29; Nava, Capítulos da história da medicina no Brasil, 158.
62Albuquerque, “Science,” 427. Gaspar Mendes, Master Filipe, António Lopes, Tomás de Torres and Aires Vaz were physicians to the king; Simão de Leão to the infantes; Gaspar Ribeiro to the Queen and Tomás de Torres to the Archbishop of Lisbon.
63For this matter, see Gonçalves, “Físicos e cirurgiões quatrocentistas;” Dutra, “The Practice,” 135–7, and, above all, the recent work by Iona McCleery where the Portuguese case is put into a broader perspective: McCleery, “Medical Licensing,” 196–219.
64Santos, Tratamento das boubas, 19. Only when historians have access to prosopographical studies of the group of Lisbon physicians and of the university members until the middle of the sixteenth century will it be possible to ascertain the degree of permeability between these two groups.
65Carvalho, “Sur la specificité,” 72.
66 Andrade, “A Senhora,” 123. For example, Amatus was a friend of Francisco Barbosa, who practiced Medicine in India during the 1520s and 1530s for eighteen years, and who was studied recently in Andrade and Crespo, “Inventários,” 52–3. For broader analyses, see Costa and Leitão, “Portuguese Imperial Science,” 51–2. The bibliography concerning Amatus Lusitano is huge. A New Christian, he studied at Salamanca and then left Portugal for Antwerp, Ferrara, Venice and Ancona among other places. See Andrade, “Ciência, negócio e religião;” Andrade, “De Antuérpia a Ferrara.”
67Bellini, “Notes,” 40–1.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Mário Farelo
Mário Farelo is Invited Professor of Medieval History at the Nova University of Lisbon, and Research Fellow at the Instituto de Estudos medievais and Centro de Estudos de História Religiosa, specializing in Portuguese medieval history, mainly church history, urban history, history of Science and the Portuguese University. Among his recent publications are: “On Portuguese Medical Students and Masters Travelling Abroad: An Overview from the Early Modern Period to the Enlightenment” in Centers of Medical Excellence? Medical Travel and Education in Europe, 1500-1789, ed. Ole Peter Grell, Andrew Cunningham and Jon Arrizabalaga (Farnham: Ashgate, 2010), 127–47; Maria João Branco and Mário Farelo, “Diplomatic Relations: Portugal and the Others” in The Historiography of Medieval Portugal c. 1950-2010, dir. José Mattoso and ed. Maria de Lurdes Rosa, Bernardo de Vasconcelos e Sousa and Maria João Branco (Lisbon: Instituto de Estudos Medievais, 2011), 248–59; “A Universitas no labirinto: escolares e redes sociais” and “Lisboa numa rede latina? Os escolares em movimento” in A Universidade Medieval em Lisboa, Séculos XIII-XVI, ed. Hermenegildo Fernandes (Lisbon: Tinta da China, 2013), 187–233 and 237–65.