Pestilence and Headcolds: Encountering Illness in Colonial Mexico

I’ve noticed a boom in people dropping by my post about the Codex Badianus, an Aztec book of medicine.  Sadly, I’ve never found a full-text copy of that one online as all the translations so far seem to be still under copyright.  However, I did find an entire academic exploration of sickness and medicine in Mexico during the colonial period, Pestilence and Headcolds: Encountering Illness in Colonial Mexico!  Written in 2008 by Sherry Fields, it covers how the colonized peoples of Mexico understood and dealt with illness and health, including viewpoints spanning from persistent pre-Conquest traditions to Colonial syncretisms to the new European concepts.  Of particular interest are sections drawn from native-generated primary sources and contemporary colonial medical records. The author’s kindly made the whole text available to read online for free.  To check it out, look below.

Go HERE to read Pestilence and Headcolds: Encountering Illness in Colonial Mexico.

April 30, 2013 | Categories: Arts & Sciences, Culture, History, Post-Conquest Colonial Era, Religion | Tags: antes de la conquista, Aztec, Azteca, Central America, Codex Badianus, codices, Colonial, Conquest, Conquista, crafts, cultura, culture, disease, full text, Galen, herb, herbal medicine, herbal recipe, herbal remedy, humors, indígena, Indian, indigenous, indio, Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis, medical, medicine, Mesoamerica, Mexica, Mexico, Nahua, Nahuatl, New Spain, Nueva España, Pestilence and Headcolds: Encountering Illness in Colonial Mexico, photo, plant, pre-Columbian, pre-Conquest, Pre-Hispanic, Precolumbian, preconquest, Prehispanic, remedy, Sherry Fields, syncretism, technology, tecnología, tradicional, traditional | 1 Comment