3 - Consilium, the Physician, Patient and Res Publica Litteraria in Early Modern Consilia Literature

Summary

Abstract

In this part of the book, the knowledge obtained from the works of selected physicians is systematized and supplemented. The initial chapters focus on the circumstances that accompanied the process of creating an individual consilium, such as selection of a counsellor, his remuneration, or the way of handing over the consilium. It is shown which circumstances affected the whole process. Next, great attention is paid to subsequent formation of collections or anthologies of consilia. The paratext material documenting the work of the editors, their financial or advertising intentions is extremely important. The necessity of a broader approach to the study of all early modern medical genres connecting the Respublica iatrica from the 16th century to the 19th century is emphasized.

Keywords: consilium, editors, collections, anthologies, paratext material, Communication

Creation of Consilia

Selection of Counsellors – Faculty of Medicine or Renowned Physician?

When an attending physician needed the aid of expert advice, he had two options from which to choose: to contact a medical institution (faculty of medicine, collegium medicum), or a specific specialist. Situations in which an attending physician or patient himself contacted a faculty of medicine with a request for assistance were evidently not in any way uncommon. The process of preparing consilia by the medical committee of a faculty is documented in the Hessen Medical Code from the year 1616, which was treated by S. Salloch in her work. It states that when a dean receives a written request for a consultation or visit, he should call either all or at least several members of the committee, read the letter and write a protocol of the opinions of each colleague and his own together with an expert analysis. A designated physician was then supposed to prepare a consilium for the patient according to the joint resolution for which he was supposed to receive double the fee as compared with his other colleagues. In the event that a visit to the patient was requested, the patient's attending physician was supposed to describe the case orally or in writing beforehand. After this, according to the wishes of the patient or his relatives, the dean designated one or even several physicians, who visited the patient together and shared their findings with the council.