This book examines the Franciscan alchemist Roger Bacon’s (1220-1292) interest in the role of alchemy in medicine, and how this interest connected with the thirteenth-century milieu in which he was writing. Though twelfth-century Latin alchemy had largely been concerned with transmuting base metals into noble ones, Bacon believed that the natural principles taught in alchemy would be better used in medicine. In an age where many physicians were theorizing about ways to prevent the effects of aging, Bacon held that combining alchemy and humoral medicine would allow one to extend their life by decades, even centuries. By examining Bacon’s alchemical, medical, and mathematical works, this book argues that Bacon combined a number of sources to create a unique plan for prolonging human life. His understanding of disease and aging was ultimately Galenic in nature, and his understanding of how pharmaceuticals work can be traced back to his mathematical theories, especially that of the multiplication of species. The book provides a new system for organizing Bacon’s alchemically-produced medicines, and explains what Bacon saw as the difference between each, and how they could have different physiological effects. Bacon is situated within the thirteenth-century contexts in which he was writing – that of the university-educated and newly professionalized medical practitioners, who were invested in finding ways to extend human life; and the Franciscan order, with their understanding of the innate goodness of the physical body, the resurrection, and corporeal union with God. Filling a major lacuna in scholarship on the history of medieval medical writings, this book provides vital reading for historians of medicine, pre- and early modern European science, and medieval philosophy and religion.
Author(s): Meagan S. Allen
Series: Palgrave Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Medicine
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 301
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Contents
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction
References
Manuscripts
Printed Works
Chapter 2: Roger Bacon and the (Un)Natural State of Man
1 Disease and the Four Humors
2 Aging, the Radical Humidity, and the Innate Heat
3 The Regimen of Health
4 Natural and Accidental Decay
5 Conclusions
References
Printed Works
Chapter 3: Learning to Prolong Life
1 Error in Medicine
2 Ignorance of Related Fields
3 Alchemy and Medicine
4 Experiment and Scientia Experimentalis
5 Success and Failure
6 Conclusions
References
Manuscripts
Printed Works
Chapter 4: The Corpus Equale
1 What Is Equal Complexion?
Individual Versus Universal Equality
2 The Multiplication of Species
3 Conclusions
References
Manuscripts
Printed Works
Chapter 5: Medicines and Their Effects on the Body
1 The Six Non-Naturals
2 Orthodox Medicines
Compound Medicines
3 Prepared Alchemical Medicines
The Gloria Inestimabilis
Man-Made Gold
The Ethiopian Dragon
4 True Alchemical Medicines
The Secret Seven
5 Alchemy, Humidity, and the “Radical Prolongevitism”
6 Conclusions
References
Manuscripts
Printed Works
Chapter 6: Reshaping Medical Knowledge in Bacon’s Milieu
1 Defining Doctors: Medicus or Physicus?
2 Medicine: Scientia or Ars?
3 Speculative Versus Practical Sciences
Bacon on the Division Between Practical and Speculative
4 Greek and Arabic Authorities in Bacon’s Medicine
An Examination of Bacon’s Medical Authorities
Bacon and Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine
5 Authority in the Marketplace
Bacon on Diagnosis and Prognosis
6 Bacon as a Medical Source
7 Conclusions
References
Manuscripts
Printed Works
Chapter 7: The Prolongatio Vitae and the Resurrection Body
1 The Physicality of the Resurrection
Spiritual and Physical: Soul and Body
2 The Nature of Christ and the Eucharist
3 Light and Vision
References
Manuscripts
Printed Works
Chapter 8: Conclusion
References
Printed Works
Appendix A: List of Authorities in Bacon’s Medical Works
Appendix B: Bacon’s Authentic Alchemical/Medical Works and Their Witnesses
Appendix C: The Epistola de secretis operibus artis et naturae et de nullitate magiae
Importance of Determining Authenticity
Manuscript Witnesses of the Epistola
Determining the Epistola’s Authenticity
Placement
Content
Chapter Divisions
Textual Variations
Themes
Decknamen in the Epistola and Genuine Works
The Philosophers’ Egg
Sources in the Epistola and Genuine Works
Conclusions
Further Reading
Index
