Holy medicine: Patron saints of wounds due to animal bites.

The cult (system of religious beliefs and rituals) of saints in Western Europe appeared in the 3rd century CE and gained momentum from the 4th to the 6th centuries. Its importance for European society in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages was undeniable; holy medicine was the only hope for sick people because the number of physicians was insufficient, and usually physicians were helpless in the face of most of the ailments that plagued society at that time. The number of saints had increased over the years, and people sought medical help from them through prayer and other religious practices. Some saints "specialized" in the treatment of various wounds, including skin diseases. Our research revealed many saints who were patrons of wounds and skin. They can be collected in three groups: patron saints against snakebites and dog bites; patron saints of the treatment of wounds, ulcers, burns, and frostbite; and patron saints against spreadable diseases such as ergotism, leprosy, and scabies. The large number of saints who were patrons against snakebites and dog bites shows the relevance and importance of the problem. In our research, we tried to find out whether the cult of saints led to the development of hospitals for the treatment of skin diseases like ergotism in the hospital of Brother St. Anthony or only in miracles of healing emphasizing the power of faith in the cure of diseases.

Saints Cosmas and Damian and the Traditions of Faith and Charity in Medicine.

Sts. Cosmas and Damian, the twin patron saints of medicine, were once among the most recognized saints in Christendom. In today's secularized society their prominence is much less known. The saints were beheaded during the violent persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire in the end of the 3rd century and the first years of the fourth. Their story, however, is more than miracles and martyrdom. The history of Sts. Cosmas and Damian show the connection between medicine of Classical Greece and the worship of doctor-saints in early Christendom, and the tradition of charity to the poor in medical care.

Belly fat or bloating? New insights into the physical appearance of St Anthony of Padua.

Over the centuries, iconographic representations of St Anthony of Padua, one of the most revered saints in the Catholic world, have been inspired by literary sources, which described the Saint as either naturally corpulent or with a swollen abdomen due to dropsy (i.e. fluid accumulation in the body cavities). Even recent attempts to reconstruct the face of the Saint have yielded discordant results regarding his outward appearance. To address questions about the real appearance of St Anthony, we applied body mass estimation equations to the osteometric measurements taken in 1981, during the public recognition of the Saint's skeletal remains. Both the biomechanical and the morphometric approach were employed to solve some intrinsic limitations in the equations for body mass estimation from skeletal remains. The estimated body mass was used to assess the physique of the Saint with the body mass index. The outcomes of this investigation reveal interesting information about the body type of the Saint throughout his lifetime.

BETWEEN MEDICINE AND FAITH. THE HISTORY OF THE ALLEGED BLESSED ALBERTO BESOZZI AND THE AUTHENTICITY OF HIS RELICS

The monastery of Saint Catherine of Sasso was built overhanging the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore in the municipality of Leggiuno (VA). In particular, our paper concerns the relics housed in the Sacellum of the church of St. Caterina. According to the tradition, the first Sacellum dedicated to the saint was built before the 16th century over a medieval hermit's refuge. The chronicle, the Historieta, remembers that, in the 12th century, a merchant of Arolo, Alberto Besozzi, survived the lake crossing shipwreck and made a vow to St. Catherine of Alexandria. He decided to retreat in prayer in a cave on that part of the coast. The Sacellum, now incorporated in the monastery complex (at the bottom of the central nave of the church), preserved human remains of Blessed Alberto in the past. We present the important role that the Sacellum and the relics have played not only for the faith, but also for the devotion of pilgrims and local people. In this context, this monument is related to the sense of religiosity and spirituality that pervaded medieval life, where every form of prayer is to be materialized in the physicality of a tangible creation.

Arthritis in the hands of saints shown in 15th century Venetian altarpieces by Bartolomeo Vivarini.

Bartolomeo Vivarini (1432-1499) was the most prolific member of a prominent 15th-century Venetian family of artists who specialised in religious art, particularly altarpieces. Unlike their Florentine counterparts, Venetian artists of this period were typically more concerned with decorative effects than with accuracy of description, so their paintings often lacked detailed anatomical information. Bartolomeo, however, began the move toward anatomical realism in the Vivarini family. Two pictures of saints from his altarpieces are presented here to illustrate his depiction of arthritic hand deformities. The hands of Saint Louis of Toulouse (painted c. 1465-7), a young man who died in his 20s, show signs of inflammatory arthritis, while the effects of degenerative osteoarthritis can be seen in the hands of Saint Mark (painted c. 1470), who is portrayed as a man in late middle age. These observations extend the findings of previous studies of Florentine altarpieces from the same period, as well as more general studies of deformed extremities in Italian, Flemish and French Renaissance paintings. They also support the broader proposition that when 15th-century Venetian painters began to embrace anatomical realism they were capable of providing sufficient detail to enable pathological deformities in their figures to be identified.

G. B. Morgagni Among Human Pathology, Forensic Medicine and Mummiology. The Beatification of Gregorio Barbarigo of Padua

The article is the first step of a research project aimed at investigating new perspectives and aspects of Morgagni's role and work. His activities as a medical examiner and forensic doctor are yet to be truly discovered. Manuscripts, written by Morgagni when he was a forensic expert for the Health Magistrate of Venice, currently preserved at the City Library in Forli (Italy), shed light on a new aspect of his cultural background. As a forensic doctor, he also helped push an increase in "social medicine" in Italy, when physicians began to collaborate with the administrative and political institutions in order to plan environmental and urban regulations to control air quality. While reading his reports, his contribution to the primordial medical Hygiene and Public Health emerges. Among his reports, the authors focused on the one concerning the Beatification of Gregorio Barbarigo, which clearly highlights his pathological approach, as well as his knowledge and application of embalming systems and mummiology. Moreover, this report could be considered as an issue in the history of paleopathology.

[St. Corona-a patron saint against pandemics? : A short essay on the history of medicine and urology]. / St. Corona ­ eine Fürsprecherin gegen Seuchen? : Eine Miszelle aus der Medizin- und Urologiegeschichte.

The knowledge of hagiography and hagiotherapy still plays an important role in the history of science, especially when focusing on specific aspects of history. While knowledge about St. Liborius persists in urology, knowledge about patron saints for pandemics, especially those who were called upon to treat venereal diseases, has diminished due to the association with nonappropriate sexual behavior.

Religious Myths and their Historical Heritage: How did Saints Cosmas and Damian become Patron Saints of Surgery? - From the Miracle of the Black Legs to 21st Century Transplant Medicine - .

This paper explores the heritage and the essential significance of worship of the twin Christian saints -St. Cosmas and St. Damian- in the history of medicine. These saints are well known in Western culture as one of the leading Christian saints to heal diseases, whose cults have spread to Europe through Byzantium, which have continued to spread widely to the present, starting from areas where Christianity had been proselytized. Although it is true that their life journeys have undergone many processes of embellishment and beautification over the course of time, the attributes that distinctively characterize the two saints exist apart from such mythical fabrications. This paper categorizes the characteristics of the two saints as being those of "professional doctors," "ideal doctors," and "holders of healing powers" as intermediaries of God, examining how these characteristics came to affect various medical organizations during the era when Medieval medicine was gradually transitioning toward a rational approach based on reason. In addition, it discusses how some of the practices of ancient temple medicine were transplanted into the Christian culture, the process by which it finally arrived at human doctors through the two saints, and how it affected the establishment of professional work ethics -albeit in nascent form- as their medical ethics came to be accepted and practiced by the Medieval guild of surgeons. Furthermore, the paper considers how the existence of the two saints has acquired symbolism in modern medicine, which has made remarkable progress in organ transplantation, and in particular, how it constitutes a significant part of the history of organ transplantation. It is not easy to objectify and attach meaning to an era that was substantially influenced by myths, legends, or religious events. This is because it is easy to fall into the trap of simplifying and passing judgment on the past based on the realities of the present day, without making efforts to understand the unique circumstances and contexts of the past. This is especially the case when the distinction between "religious events" and "medical events" is ambiguous, or when dealing with a social culture where religious influence was paramount. From a broader perspective, the study of St. Cosmas and St. Damian is not concerned with the rights or wrongs of religious myths amid the advancement of medicine and its adherence to science and reason, but with the attempt at a deep and broad understanding of human diseases and human conditions of being prone to such diseases throughout life.

The paleoradiology importance in the study of relics: the unique densitometric analysis of a bone relic of Saint Nicholas.

INTRODUCTION: DXA have greatly contributed to the development of paleoradiology, a branch of diagnostic imaging that allows to obtain information about human remains in contexts of archaeological and/or forensic interest. In this manuscript we report the unique experience of DXA performed on the relic of a Saint; in particular we analyzed a skeletal fragment of St. Nicholas, kept in the Basilica of Bari (Italy) since 1087. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The bone to be examined consisted of the posterior arch of the ninth left rib that was 12cm long, 1.2cm maximum width and 1.7cm thick at the body. The data acquired from the densitometric study were performed using the anthropometric measures reported in historical records of St. Nicholas' life: sex (male), age (75 years), weight (70kg), height (167cm), and ethnicity (Caucasian). In addition to the examination of the relic, a comparison assessment was made with the rib of a healthy 60 years old man (height of 170cm, without known skeletal pathologies). This sample had a length of 19cm, maximum width at the head 1cm, and 0.7cm thick at the body. The analysis of bone fragments is different from the analysis of bones in the context of the human body (where soft tissues are placed around the skeleton); for this reason, one of the most critical issues was to create a support that would allow the analysis of bone fragments. We simulated conditions similar to those occurring in patients: a density scale was established, using a specific plexiglass phantom on which the bone fragments to be examined were placed. From the analysis it was calculated the parameter bone mineral density (BMD), express in g/cm2, that indicates the relation between mass of bone mineral content and area of examined bone segment. BMD data was compared to a range normalized by age, sex and ethnicity (BMD-N). RESULTS: The results of the scannnig of St. Nicholas' rib showed a BMD of 0.97g/cm2 with a BMD-N between 0.77 and 1.08g/cm2. Simultaneous measurements of the relic compared with a reference rib showed highlighted BMD of 0.84g/cm2 for the relic and 0.50g/cm2 for the reference rib. The St. Nicholas data are 168% higher than reference bone. All our measurements of the relic indicated a high bone mineral density, most likely due to the presence of a high concentration of calcium salts. A relatively higher mineral density of the relic was seen compared to the healthy subject's rib. From the history of St Nicholas' life, we know of the long imprisonment at the age of 51 in damp and unhealthy environment. The results of this study suggest that a good bone mineral density was maintained by the Saint even in old age. An additional element that can influence bone mineral density is diet, certainly different during the time of St. Nicholas. The good bone densitometry indicates that the Saint maintained a proper diet, with a generally fair state of health. CONCLUSION: For this first DXA analysis of the rib relic of Saint Nicholas was necessary a long and complex experimental work to modify standard technique procedure to particular and unusual sample and Create specific supports and complementary instruments. Perform DXA analysis on relics permit to obtain additional information to living conditions, economical situation, behaviours, diet, diseaes, conservations conditions of remains, change of life style in different age. Our experimental work, the first of its kind, creates the way to analyze precious relics that often include only few bone fragments and data obtained by our work can be useful for a better management and movement of fragile relics. We ourselves are working on a new challenge for the analysis of bone finds from shipwrecks found at the bottom of the sea.

Tracing the Boundaries of the Natural: Medicine and the Inquiry on Miracles in Early Modern Canonization Trials.

Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the inquiry on miracles in the canonization process reveals a fundamental cooperation between medicine and religion. During the last stage of the trials, theologians, lawyers, and physicians concurred with refined reports to accomplish full analysis of the alleged miracles. The promoter of the faith had the task of doubting the supposed miracle healing on juridical, medical and theological grounds; the lawyer supporting the cause responded to any inconsistency in witnesses' depositions; the physician had the task of finding any natural causes which could lead to a natural recovery of the subject. The interplay of these tripartite disciplines underlies early modern probation of supposed miracles. In this paper I will examine the institutional and cultural consequences of the demand for evidence in canonization trials: on the one hand, the increasing role of medical experts in the assessment of miracles and the friction between them and the other members of the committee; on the other hand, the rise of a new method of inquiry in the legal arena.

Madness, Medicine and Miracle in Twelfth-Century England.

This monograph provides a fresh perspective on how madness was defined and diagnosed as a condition of the mind in the Middle Ages and what effects it was thought to have on sufferers. Records of miracles that were believed to have been performed by saints reveal details of illnesses and injuries that afflicted medieval people. In the twelfth century, such records became increasingly medicalized and naturalized as the monks who recorded them gained access to Greek and Arabic medical material, newly translated into Latin. Nonetheless, by exploring nuances and patterns across the cults of five English saints, this book shows that hagiographical representations of madness were shaped as much by the individual circumstances of their recording as they were by new medical and theological standards.

[Protector Saints Against Plague Epidemics - Analysis of the Examples from the Sacral Patrimonies of the Cites of Rijeka and Osijek] / Svetci zastitnici protiv epidemija kuge ­ analiza primjera iz sakralnih bastina Rijeke i Osijeka

Plague epidemics have remained in the collective consciousness until nowadays remembered as the deadliest. Therefore, it is not surprising that the answers to them throughout history have been not only medical but also religious. The previously mentioned will be analyzed in this paper through the cults of the protector saints against the plague epidemics that have developed in two Croatian cities of comparable size, Rijeka and Osijek, but with the diametrically opposed geographical positions and, accordingly, quite different historical developments. On the one hand, a more detailed overview of the development of the cults of various saints present in the mentioned cities will be presented. On the other hand, based on their presentation in the sacral heritage of these cities, the broader context of the time and space in which they have developed will be lightened. Particular attention will be paid to their medical connotations.

[Pope Pius XII in the History of Radiology: St. Michael the Archangel Protector of Radiologists] / Papa Pio XII nella storia della Radiologia: San Michele Arcangelo protettore dei radiologi

In 1933 the Professors of Genoa School of Medicine V. Maragliano, GB. Cardinale, and A. Vallebona proposed to designate Saint Michael the Archangel as Patron Saint and Protector of Radiologists. The proposal of Italian radiology scientists was immediately accepted by colleagues with great enthusiasm. A petition was then sent to Pope Pius XII to obtain official recognition by the Catholic Church. The choice of the Holy Archangel Michael was argued by the Professors because he is the Saint who, in religious iconography, is the one who wears armor, is the guardian of paradise, and leads souls to God. Moreover, the Saint represents the triumph of the Light of Good against the darkness of evil. On January 15, 1941, the Sacred Congregation of Rites issued the decree that constituted: "Sanctus Michael, Archangelus pro radiologis et radiumtherapeuticis patronus et protector declaratus".

Unusual osteological findings in sacred relics from the LESJE monastery in central Serbia.

An adult male skeleton was submitted to the Department of Anatomy at the University of Belgrade for evaluation. It was believed to represent the remains of a second to third century Christian saint from the Lesje Monastery in central Serbia. Examination of the remains revealed an old crush fracture of a thoracic vertebra and an unusual, probably congenital, malformation of the atlanto-occipital joint with deformation of the left occipital condyle and resultant narrowing of the foramen magnum. Although the occipital malformations were most likely congenital, they may still have caused, or contributed to, death by compression of the underlying upper cervical spinal cord.