Un controversista en Portugal bajo la Casa de Austria: Duarte Madeira Arrais y la polémica en torno a la sangría

Abstract

Duarte Madeira Arrais (1596-1652) published in 1638 in Portuguese an apology of bloodletting in the feet. This text followed the controversial tradition marked by the earlier debate in Portugal between two humanist physicians, the French Pierre Brissot and the Portuguese Master Dionísio. Mixing medical observations and scientific arguments, the treatise is a response to the ones who promote this practice only in the arms. The Apologia refutes Francisco Borges de Azevedo’s opinion, who defended the opposite thesis, held by the author and his colleagues. Beyond the epistemological issue, the text conceals other medical and professional aims.

Keywords

• history of medicine
• bloodletting
• Arrais Duarte Madeira
• Portugal