An operation for evangelization Friar Francisco González Laguna, the cesarean section, and fetal baptism in late colonial Peru
Bull. hist. med
; 83(4): 647-675, winter 2009.
Article
in English
| HISA - History of Health
| ID: his-18586
Responsible library:
BR1273.1
Localization: BR1273.1
ABSTRACT
By publishing a medical-theological treatise in 1781, Friar Francisco González Laguna of Lima initiated a campaign to train Andean priests to perform postmortem cesarean sections for the purpose of baptizing the fetus. Linking González Laguna's text to European works on cesarean sections and Peruvian decrees ordering priests to train in surgery, this paper argues the friar saw the operation's utility as extending beyond saving unborn souls. Writing in the aftermath of indigenous and peasant uprisings, he argued the procedure constituted a tool for defeating the devil's presence in the Andes and carrying out evangelization, teaching parishioners by pious example.
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Collection:
Tematic databases
Database:
HISA - History of Health
Main subject:
Religion and Medicine
/
General Surgery
/
Civil Registration
/
Cesarean Section
/
History of Medicine
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Peru
Language:
English
Journal:
Bull. hist. med
Year:
2009
Document type:
Article
Institution/Affiliation country:
University of Washington/Estados Unidos