“Thar be hounds, thar be homestead. These should be the focus of one’s labour”: Old Polish views on maintaining good health Cover Image

„Są psi, jest gospodarstwo – około tego się też krzątać”. Staropolskie poglądy na zachowanie dobrego zdrowia
“Thar be hounds, thar be homestead. These should be the focus of one’s labour”: Old Polish views on maintaining good health

Author(s): Jakub Węglorz
Subject(s): History, Local History / Microhistory, Social history, 17th Century, 18th Century
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: historia medycyny; mentalność staropolska; wiek XVII; wiek XVIII; pamiętnikarstwo staropolskie; history of medicine; Old-Polish mentality; 17th century; 18th century; Old-Polish memoirs

Summary/Abstract: Early modern medicine was based on the assumptions of humoral pathology that had its roots back in the ancient era. According to this view, maintaining good health was determined by keeping a balance between humors, which were the constituent elements of the body. The methods of treatment and prevention promoted by official medicine had a dominant influence on the perception of health by the intellectual and economic elites of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but to some extent they also shaped the behavior of other social groups (even peasants). The article is devoted to the analysis of propagated health behaviors as it compares them with the descriptions that are to be found in egodocuments from the era.

  • Issue Year: 148/2021
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 33-47
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Polish