Experiencing Illness and the Sick Body in Early Modern Europe

Experiencing Illness and the Sick Body in Early Modern Europe

Experiencing Illness and the Sick Body in Early Modern Europe Michael Stolberg Chair for the History of Medicine, Director of the Institut für Geschichte der Medizin, University of Würzburg, Germany Translated from the German original by Leonhard Unglaub and Logan Kennedy

Michael Stolberg 2011 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-24343-9 Orig. published in 2003 as Homo patiens. Krankheits- und Körpererfahrung in der Frühen Neuzeit, by Böhlau-Verlag, Cologne-Weimar, Germany. Research for this book and the translation of the German original were made possible by the generous support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and Wilhelm H. Ruchti Stiftung, Würzburg. All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries ISBN 978-1-349-31837-7 ISBN 978-0-230-35584-2 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230355842z This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11

Contents Introduction 1 Some Thoughts on Theory 4 Sources 10 Part I Illness in Everyday Life The Concern for Oneself 21 Disease and the Self 23 The Experience of Pain 27 The Search for Meaning: Religion, Witchcraft and Astrology 33 The Search for Meaning: Illness, Way of Life and Biography 41 The Narrative Reconstruction of Personal History 46 Anxieties 48 The Physician s Audience: Illness and the Bedside Community 53 Nursing Care 55 The Medical Marketplace 58 The Doctor Patient Relationship 64 Part II Perceptions and Interpretations Medical Popularization 79 The Cultural Framing of Disease 82 From Temperament to Character 85 Plethora and Apoplexy 89 Fluxes, Gout and Rheumatism 95 Gichter (Convulsions) 100 Acrimonies 101 Skin and Rashes 105 Red Murrain (Erysipelas) 109 Scurvy 110 The Therapy of Acrimonies 114 Miasms and Contagia: Plague, French Disease and English Sweat 115 Indigestion, Winds and Slime 122 Obstruction and Disrupted Excretion 126 v

vi Contents Stagnation and Deposits 134 Cancer 135 Pathological Heat 139 Vapors 142 Fever 144 Consumption and Consumptive Fever 147 Expenditure and Exhaustion 149 Dropsy 152 Seminal Economy 153 Part III Dominant Discourse and the Experience of Disease The Sensible Body 161 A New Disease: The Vapors 164 Historical Roots: Vapores, Hypochondria and Hysteria 165 The Rise of the Nerves 170 Embodiment 173 Critique of Civilization 178 The Sensible Woman 179 The Cult of Sensibility 181 Illness as Protest 185 Ennui and Narcissism 191 Masturbation and Disease 195 A New Crusade 196 Readers Response 203 The Social Construction of the Anti-Masturbation Discourse 209 Conclusion: A New Bourgeois Habitus 213 Notes 219 Manuscript Sources 278 Printed Sources 280 Index 289