Erudite and Honoured Artisans? Performers of Body Care and Surgery in Early Modern German Towns

This article investigates the interrelation between processes of professional transformation in an artisanal trade and the identity-building of barbers and surgeons in German-speaking parts of Europe. From the late fifteenth to the middle of the eighteenth century this interrelation included acting in various juridical and political functions, engaging in medical book-writing and, therefore, in knowledge transfer. Such findings are based on a combined analysis of administrative and corporative manuscript sources, and of printed books. Against this background the intention in pictorial representations and the meaning in biographic material become apparent. The individuals and the group defined themselves as medical artisans despite the fact that they assimilated academic standards in their training and lifestyle. Families played a leading part in this adaptation to political, economic, scientific and social change, they even overruled confessional boundaries. For the formation of trade identity during the seventeenth and the first half of eighteenth centuries families were indispensable.
Source: Social History of Medicine - Category: History of Medicine Authors: Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research