Negotiating the French Pox in Early Modern Germany

Dr Claudia Stein, Department of History, University of Warwick, UK

• Contents: Introduction; What was the French pox?; Sickness and poverty in 16th-century Augsburg; Negotiating the pox; Treating the pox; Conclusions; Bibliography; Index.

’Anglophone historians will welcome the updated translation of Claudia Stein’s 2003 Die Behandlung der Franzosenkrankheit in der Frühen Neuzeit am Beispiel Augsburgs, to date the most thorough study of the French pox in early modern Germany. It fills a major gap in early modern English language scholarship where research on the pox outside of Italy and England has been relatively sparse.’ Social History of Medicine ’Overall, this is a thoughtful and highly readable study, which persuasively makes a number of arguments of broader significance for historians of medicine. Stein reminds us that diseases are changeable and that they were defined flexibly in early modern Europe, and brings welcome attention to the often overshadowed significance of the diagnostic act. A significant conclusion is that the pox had a less dramatic impact”both on society and on medical theory and practice”than is often claimed. But perhaps this study’s most important achievement is its successful integration of the history of the body and the history of disease: a model which others will no doubt follow.’ German History ’Negotiating the French Pox is an extraordinary example of how practical, administrative, and narrative accounts of illness can be read along with works of medical theory to construct a rich and complex view of Renaissance illness and healing.’ Renaissance Quarterly ’... an indispensable study to approach the highly relevant part of the early socio-cultural history of the French pox that took place in German lands and was played by German actors.’ Medical History