Bones of contention: the decision to amputate in early modern Germany
The removal of a patient’s limb was the most radical procedure performed by early modern surgeons. It occurred only when a part of the body was considered lost to the “cold fire” (der kalte Brand) - a final, irreversible putrefaction. The harrowing experience held life-altering consequences for pati...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Chicago Press
[2016]
|
| In: |
The sixteenth century journal
Year: 2016, Volume: 47, Issue: 2, Pages: 327-350 |
| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KBB German language area |
| Further subjects: | B
Amputation
History
B Early Modern History B Social Exchange B Holy Roman Empire History B Medicine Germany History |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
|
| Summary: | The removal of a patient’s limb was the most radical procedure performed by early modern surgeons. It occurred only when a part of the body was considered lost to the “cold fire” (der kalte Brand) - a final, irreversible putrefaction. The harrowing experience held life-altering consequences for patients and their families. By drawing on surgical treatises, correspondences, field manuals, and examination books, this article uncovers a process of negotiation that took place during diagnosis and prognosis in cases of the cold fire. Medical reasoning entered a volatile social space in order to determine the best course of action. The opinions of medical colleagues, patients, family members, friends, and even pastors were crucial to the formation of a shared consensus necessary to undertake a procedure. Amputation was a collective endeavor guided as much by communal concerns as by medical ones. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0361-0160 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The sixteenth century journal
|