1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910793820003321

Autore

Foscati Alessandra

Titolo

Saint Anthony's fire from antiquity to the eighteenth century / / Alessandra Foscati ; translated by Francis Gordon [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Amsterdam : , : Amsterdam University Press, , 2020

ISBN

90-485-3331-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (264 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

Premodern health, disease, and disability ; ; 2

Altri autori (Persone)

FoscatiAlessandra

Disciplina

616.009

Soggetti

Ergotism - Social aspects - History

Erysipelas - Social aspects - History

Ergotism - Diagnosis - History

Diagnosis - History

History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 20 Nov 2020).

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Table of Contents -- Preface / Paravicini Bagliani, Agostino -- Acknowledgements -- List of Abbreviations -- Introduction -- Part I: The Burning Disease : Different Names for the Same Disease or Different Diseases with the Same Name? -- Part II: St Anthony the Abbot , Thaumaturge of the Burning Disease, and the Order of the Hospital Brothers of St Anthony -- Part III: The Discovery of Ergotism (Saint Anthony's Fire?) -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- About the Author -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

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.