From the worms to the stars

the dispute for the theory and cure of the febrile pestilence in Pernambuco (1680-1690)

Abstract

On the last three decades of the seventeenth century, there is a notable flux of people in the transatlantic routes connecting territories belonging to the Portuguese empire. Such itineraries, not limited by physical or imaginary boundaries, were propitious to transporting not only imperial agents, but also goods, ideas and knowledge mobilized by different initiatives pertaining to the European empires’ agendas in the early modern era. This work aims to study the ramifications of the fever epidemic that fell on the urban area of the captaincy of Pernambuco between 1680-1690. In order to explore the dynamics of production and legitimation of medical knowledge in the Portuguese empire in the late 1700s, our intention here is to analyze a dispute that emerged between the licenced physician named João Ferreira da Rosa and Antonio Brebon, a surgeon, both of whom intended to claim the title of discoverer of the cure of the pestilence.

Keywords: History of science, Medicine, Portuguese America.