Description
Toxicology in the Middle Ages and Renaissance provides an authoritative and fascinating exploration into the use of toxins and poisons in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Part of the History of Toxicology and Environmental Health series, this volume is a follow-up, chronologically, to the first two volumes which explored toxicology in antiquity.The book approximately covers the 1100s through the 1600s, delving into different aspects of toxicology, such as the contributions of scientific scholars of the time, sensational poisoners and poisoning cases, as well as myths. Historical figures, such as the Borgias and Catherine de Medici are discussed. Toxicologists, students, medical researchers, and those interested in the history of science will find insightful and relevant material in this volume.- Provides the historical background for understanding modern toxicology- Illustrates the ways previous civilizations learned to distinguish safe from hazardous substances, how to avoid them, and how to use them against enemies- Explores the way famous historical figures used toxins
Table of Contents
1. Poison and Its Dose: Paracelsus on Toxicology2. The Golden Age of Medieval Islamic Toxicology3. Maimonides' Book on Poisons and the Protection Against Lethal Drugs4. Pietro d'Abano, De venenis: Reintroducing Greek Toxicology into Late Medieval Medicine5. The Case Against the Borgias: Motive, Opportunity, and Means6. Aqua Tofana7. Poisons and the Prince: Toxicology and Statecraft at the Medici Grand Ducal Court8. Georgius Agricola, a Pioneer in the Toxic Hazards of Mining, and His Influence9. Jan Baptist Van Helmont and the Medical–Alchemical Perspectives of Poison10. Origin of Myths Related to Curative, Antidotal and Other Medicinal Properties of Animal "Horns in the Middle Ages11. Animal Stones and the Dark Age of Bezoars12. Fossil Sharks' Teeth as Alexipharmics13. Catherine La Voisin: Poisons and Magic at the Royal Court of Louis XIV14. A Late Medieval Criminal Prosecution for Poisoning: The Failed Murder Trial of Margarida de Portu (1396)15. Animal Venoms in the Middle Ages16. Medical Literature on Poison, c. 1300–1600
