Christian Berco, From Body to Community

Christian Berco’s study of the syphilitic hospital in Toledo, Spain presents a new and fascinating patient-centred examination of one of early modern Europe’s most feared epidemics and how the Toledo’s inhabitants coped with the spectre of this painful, chronic disease. Berco’s book is based on a somewhat unique set of documents. Upon admission to the Hospital of Santiago, a notary not only registered basic information about the patients, including their marital status, parents’ names and their place of origin, but also recorded the clothing that the patient was wearing before it was removed by hospital staff. In addition to this treasure trove of personal detail, Berco has done the most tedious of archival research. He has carefully paged through Toledo’s notarial records to learn more about the patients and their lives outside of the Hospital. He has also mined an array of literary works from the era for their vivid descriptions of the pox and its victims

Archaeology · Art history · Baroque · Clothing · Treasure · History of Medicine Studies · Medicine · Medicine and Dermatology Studies History · History