DDRIG: An Historical Study of the Circulation and Growth of Medical Knowledge

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Abstract

This research delves into the networks of Jewish physicians and surgeons who endured trials by the tribunals of the Holy Office of the Spanish Inquisition based in the Americas. The goal is to uncover how these practitioners circulated medical knowledge in the 17th-century Spanish Empire as they faced surveillance and prosecution by the Inquisition. In addition to the research conducted, these funds will also contribute to a digital humanities database project called Jews and Early Modern Medicine in the Atlantic World (JEMMAW). This webpage will feature timelines, maps, archival images, bibliographies, contextual information, and links to archival sources relevant to each practitioner. JEMMAW is intended as an open-access academic resource for the history of medicine, knowledge circulation, and the history of science in the Americas. It is designed for use by students of all levels as well as high school and college teachers. Archival research and analysis of collected documents serves as the primary methodology of data collection. This research focuses on three questions: First, how did the popular policing and social ‘otherizing’ relied upon by the Inquisition hinder or otherwise affect the creation and circulation of medical knowledge? Second, did the Jewish nation function as a means of knowledge circulation for Jewish and crypto-Jewish medical practitioners? And lastly, How does the America’s position within narratives of history of science and history of medicine inform our interpretation of past medical practice? This research emphasizes the lived experiences and persecution of surgeons who lived within societies of popular policing, who still managed to produce and circulate valuable medical and scientific knowledge. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.