Consigli

Abstract

From the late-fourteenth century the consilia de peste (‘discourses of the plague’), a subset of the consilia medica typical of operative medicine, multiplied. These texts hand down standardized content, but with an attention to the new disease. In the fifteenth century, a resurgence of the epidemic causes a proliferation of vernacular consigli, while printers ride the popular demand for almanacs, predictions, and practical advice. The Testamento attributed to Bonino Mombrizio remains interesting, on the one hand, for some peculiar traits and for the deeply human tone that characterizes certain passages; on the other hand, it is a testimony to the affirmation of the vulgar tongue in Italian medical literature. It is also relevant, as we shall see, from a terminological point of view.

Keywords

• consilia de peste
• the black plague
• epidemics
• medical treatises
• bonino mombrizio