Kontakt 2012, 14(4):475-484 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2012.047

It is very helpful that they do not understand our language: suggestive and manipulative elements in behaviour of medieval physiciansHealth and Social Sciences - Original article

Zdeněk Žalud

Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Zdravotně sociální fakulta, katedra filozofie a etiky v pomáhajících profesích

History of medicine cannot be understood as history of "progress" only, but also as history of persisting stereotypes, particularly in the relationship morals of the physician - morals of the patient. In the Middle Age, there was no uniform legal environment, which could warrant standards of the medical profession; there was an enormous competition between physicians educated at universities and further medical practitioners. Rulers usually did not interfere with this condition and the protection of patients was provided to a certain extent by medical faculties only based on the principle of guilds. Graduated physicians purposefully established their position of experts not only based on their knowledge and medical skill but also by psychological techniques including the lie, suggestions and manipulations. In this way, they fulfilled the expectation of patients to a certain extent (they created their medical charisma), but first of all, they intended to make good impression and gain the trust of patients and sometimes also necessary information on their clients. This can be documented in medieval documents focused on medical deontology. One of them is an essentially harmless text of an unknown physician from Salerno: About coming of a physician to his patient. To prevent threatening the medical authority by a client, texts of warning or social-preventive nature termed cautelae (preventive provisions) were written. In the present article, I discuss a treatise of preventive nature by Nicolao Bertrucio named Ten preventive medicinal provisions, in which we can find several clearly suggestively focused directions; the physician's fees are also discussed there. As to the number of suggestive and manipulative elements, there are, however, prominent preventive provisions by Arnald de Villanova aimed at a person who brings to the physician the urine for uroscopy. The physician should obtain from this person as much information concerning the patient as possible with the help of tricks, lies and suggestions. There is an important medical superiority over noneducated people, prevention of deception (other liquid can be submitted instead of the urine) and systematic strengthening of the authority, even on account of degradation of clients. There is a question concerning the usual nature of this behaviour during uroscopy and how much these authoritative attitudes of educated physicians affected the public and the competition from other medical practitioners.

Keywords: medieval graduated physician; medical authority; preventive provisions (cautelae); Nicolao Bertrucio; Arnald de Villanova

Received: August 28, 2012; Accepted: November 5, 2012; Prepublished online: December 21, 2012; Published: December 30, 2012  Show citation