Science, technology and society and the Middle and Modern Ages

Historical analysis of the interdependence of science in medieval and modern society. Specifically, the
degree of penetration, popularization and influence of medicine, astronomy and natural history in many
areas, and between the different social groups, from very diverse sources such as archives, scientific
texts and non-scientific or technical literature (sermons, theatre, poetry and other literary sources) full of
images related to scientific activity. Medicine based on Galenism, and its particular way of understanding
practice and its practitioners, was popular and widespread. That’s why medicine was considered an
invaluable and indispensable benefit for society. The same happened with two scientific disciplines
directly related to medicine: astronomy and medical history. The research of this group focuses on:

Modern medicine in its socioeconomic and political context: medical practice and healthcare during the
Spanish Catholic Monarchy, particularly in the self-governing Kingdom of Valencia; the presence of extra
academic forms of medicine in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The public and scientific activity: the circulation and popularization of scientific ideas within the
intellectual categories of this period, the Baroque representations of medicine and natural history in
sermons and creative literature during the Spanish Catholic Monarchy.

The scientific ideas of astronomers, cosmographers and doctors in the Modern Age: considering
specifically the role of astrology, as well as the changes in the content and limits of disciplines in the
knowledge map of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Study of the role of doctors as experts in various fields: such as in the different early medieval or modern
Valencian courts or in municipal councils, through sources from archives, religious literature (sermons)
and poetry literature (Ausiàs March) of the time.

Development of a complete catalogue of the collection from the legacy of doctor and medical historian
José Rodrigo Pertegás, located in different Valencian and Catalan libraries and archives.

Baroque images and representations of the sick and disease in the Spanish Catholic Monarchy through
two non-medical sources: one the one hand, a collection of letters from the late 17th century exchanged
between a doctor who worked for the king and his patients and, on the other hand, Baroque literature
(plays and novels), to know about social attitudes.

The process of understanding American nature and land, and the introduction of American plants in
Europe: in particular the dissemination of scientific knowledge in herbaria, medical texts and the
Chronicles of the Indies during the 16th and 17th centuries.