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1

„wie man sich mit Gottes hülffe vor der vergifftung bewaren”. (Nie)użyteczne zalecenia w zakresie ochrony przed zarazą w drukach gdańskich fizyków miejskich z XVI w.

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Kaczor D.

Studia Historica Gedanensia

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2021

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vol. 12

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issue 2

131-172

EN

The plagues that appeared cyclically and with a relatively high frequency were for the urban communities of the Middle Ages and the early modern era an experience almost permanently inscribed in everyday life. As part of the struggle against epidemics, in addition to administrative measures taken by the authorities, there began to appear from the end of the XVth century anti-epidemic compendia edited by city physicians (thus medical persons with university education) and intended for a wider audience; they became especially popular in the German cultural area during the XVIth century. It was no different in Gdańsk (Danzig), wherea high level of medicine, and the practice of employing as city physicians well-educated medical persons (from German and Protestant universities) by the city authorities, resulted in the publication of numerous prints of this type. In total, in the years 1508−1588 in Gdańsk (Danzig) seven compendiums of this type were published. They contained general recommendations for protection against plague based on Galen’s medical system relating to the so-called six unnatural things (res non naturales); they were part of a trend of popular medical literature containing “rules of health” (regimen sanitatis). The recommendations contained in the prints by Gdańsk (Danzig) city physicians of the XVIth century concerned, therefore, the preservation of unpolluted air in the city, taking sanitary measures, proper diet and physical condition, as well as “surgical” treatments (taking baths in a bathhouse, using laxatives, phlebotomy), and pharmacological care (they were also supervisors of the city pharmacy at that time). These recommendations, however, were not practical advice (contrary to their titles) that could be fully applied in a time of plague; rather, they represented the state of academic medical knowledge of that time and were only a manifestation of its popularization resulting from the medical personnel’s duties. A separate place was found for considerations on a kind of “medical theology”, related to the commonly shared view that the cause of the epidemic was divine anger interpreted as a punishment for sins. This was of particular importance in the confessional order (with a Lutheran dominant) that was taking shape in Gdańsk (Danzig) during the XVIth century.

2

Bruises, Bumps and Bloody Wounds. Body Injuries to the Victims of Physical Volence in Gdańsk in the 16th−17th Centuries

100%

Kaczor D.

Studia Historica Gedanensia

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2024

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vol. 15

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issue 2

205-223

EN

The paper explores the issue of physical injuries resulting from interpersonal conflicts, in particular arguments, disputes, ordinary brawls and deliberate acts of physical violence occurring in the lower and middle classes in urban settings, based on the example of Gdańsk at the end of the 16th century and in the first half of the 17th century. This is based on the records of physical examination reports drawn up by the city’s barber‑surgeons on behalf of the municipal authorities for law enforcement purposes, subsequently appended to the burgrave’s and deputy mayor’s registers. In total, more than 18,000 such documents dated between 1580 and 1642 have survived. This enables an analysis of the subject at hand on a icro‑historical scale, as well as employing a statistical (quantitative) approach. The paper considers undamental issues pertaining to the nature and extent of injuries, common injury types, lasting damage, as well as questions regarding injuries, the origin and cause of which fall between physical and symbolic violence – this concerns aggressive demonstrative behaviour, marks of shame and others.

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Dyscyplinowanie społeczne w szpitalach elbląskich w XVII w.

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Kaczor D.

Studia Historica Gedanensia

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2020

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vol. 11

189-214

EN

The article undertakes the problematics of rules and range of social disciplining and forming a proper model of behaviour attempted by the city authorities in the instance of urban hospitals in Elbing (Elbląg) of the 17th century. The following ordinances for the 17th century Elblag hospitals have been analysed in that respect: St. Elisabeth’s from 1617, 1625 and 1651, the Holy Spirit’s from 1631 and 1651 (including the project from around the half of the 17th century), Corpus Christi’s from 1651 and St. George’s from 1657, as well as the ordinance of an orphanage established at St Elisabeth hospital (Kinder‑Haus) from 1698 and two memorial statements of the Hospital Office (Spital‑Amt) dated around the half of the 17th century containing postulates referring to the necessity of introducing changes in the current hospital ordinances. In effect, various forms of disciplining as well as mechanisms of maintaining social control have been discussed, which comprise the following aspects: 1. forming religious attitudes conforming with the spirit of Lutheran orthodoxy (doctrinal assumptions, religious education basics); 2. disciplining through compulsory religious practices; 3. disciplining through social hierarchy consolidation (prayers in the intention of the City Council, respect for principal authorities, ban on cursing on the authorities or reprimanding alms, complaining about hospital food); 4. disciplining through enforced work; 5. disciplining abnormal moral behaviour (drunkenness, fornication, theft, fraud, gambling); 6. controlling verbal, symbolic or physical aggression; 7. time rationing (strictly normalised day schedules) and space rationing (ban on leaving the hospital, maintaining cleanness in the occupied quarters); 8. shaping expected features of character (godliness, obedience, the ability of coexisting in a group); 9. disciplining verbal behaviour (ban on swearing, making noise, gossiping, disturbing religious practices by talking) and behavioural patterns (ban on dancing and binges). Also, the system of penalty sanctions issued by hospital authorities against people breaking the ordinance rules has been analysed; moreover, an attempt to reconstruct the hierarchy of social harmfulness of misdemeanours depending on the type of penalties has been undertaken.

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„wie man sich mit Gottes hülffe vor der vergifftung bewaren”. (Nie)użyteczne zalecenia w zakresie ochrony przed zarazą w drukach gdańskich fizyków miejskich z XVI w.

Bruises, Bumps and Bloody Wounds. Body Injuries to the Victims of Physical Volence in Gdańsk in the 16th−17th Centuries

Dyscyplinowanie społeczne w szpitalach elbląskich w XVII w.