Unit:
Department of History and ArchaeologyLibrary of the School of Philosophy
Author:
Mitoulakis Dimitrios
Dissertation committee:
Μαρία Δ. Ευθυμίου, καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Νεκτάριος Αληγιάννης, αναπλ. καθηγητής, Τμήμα Φαρμακευτικής, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Βασιλική Σειρηνίδου, επίκ. καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Αικατερίνη Κωνσταντινίδου, επίκ. καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Αναστασία Παπαδία - Λάλα, καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Αντωνία Κιουσοπούλου, καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Αναστασία Δρανδάκη, επίκ. καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Original Title:
Παραδοσιακή ιατρική και φαρμακογνωσία μέσα από ελληνικά χειρόγραφα ιατροσόφια (15ος-19ος αι.): δρόγες, παθήσεις, συνταγές
Translated title:
Traditional medicine and pharmacognosy through Greek medical manuscripts (15th-19th century): drugs, diseases, prescriptions
Summary:
The subject of this study is the therapeutic practice in Greece, in the areas where solid Greek populations resided, during the period of the Ottoman rule (15th-19th century), and consists a part, in accordance with interdisciplinarity, of the wider field of research that examines the history of medicine and pharmacy. The content of this particular subject is based on the thorough elaboration of the Greek medical manuscripts (Iatrosophia), a unique category of primary historical sources which, without a doubt, illuminate many aspects of medicine and pharmacy of that time but have remained, to a great extent, unused to this day. The PhD thesis is structured in three parts. The first one presents in detail the elements which compose the image of healing practices in Greece, during the Turkish occupation, laying emphasis on its individual aspects (eg religious, magical, scientific, etc.). The second part refers to the medical manuscripts and points out their main characteristics (eg dating, geographical dispersion, form, structure, etc.). It is the first time that such an extensive, thorough and documented study of this category of manuscripts is attempted in the Greek -but also in the international- bibliography. In the third part the interest is focused on the prescriptions contained in the medical texts and deliver, in vernacular, valuable information especially on ethnopharmacology. Based on a representative sample of manuscripts from different periods (from the 16th to the 19th century) and different geographical origins, more than 300 plant species from over 85 different botanical families are identified, which were used as raw materials for the preparation of various medicines, and more than 150 different pharmaceutical aims are recorded, associated with these herbal drugs as recommended for treating a wide range of ailments and symptoms. Also, the various pharmaceutical forms and the way of administration of the medicines are commented while the study is completed with the comparative consideration of the post-Byzantine and modern prescriptions of these manuscripts both among themselves and in relation to the ancient and medieval medical sources. In any case, the conclusions that emerge are extremely interesting and demonstrate the medical and pharmaceutical activity of that period which, to a great extent, shows timeless unity and unbroken continuity in the context of a long Greek medical tradition as it is reflected in the corresponding written sources that have survived.
Main subject category:
History
Keywords:
history of medicine, post-Byzantine and modern era, Ottoman rule, traditional therapeutic practice, empirical doctors, Greek medical manuscripts (“Iatrosophia”), palaeography, ethnopharmacology, pharmacognosy, natural medicine, herbal drugs, prescriptions
Number of references:
1455
