Article ID: CBB213265567

Lithotomists, Cataract-Curers, and Hernia-Carvers: The Surgical School of Preci (2016)

unapi

From the 13th to the 18th centuries, a small village in Umbria produced a remarkable multifamily dynasty of highly proficient surgeons. Skilled in lithotomy (cutting for the stone), couching cataracts, repair of hernias, and castration, the Surgeons of Preci or the Norcini, were preeminent in Europe, famous, and wealthy. Sophisticated instruments, use of cautery, knowledge of analgesics, and narcotics were passed down from father to son over 400 years: the most dextrous were summoned by crowned heads, including Charles V1 of France and Elizabeth of England. Yet, the history of their activities is almost forgotten, the result of vicious personal rivalries and the impact of professionalization of 18th-century surgery. Today in Italy, the name Norcini means only pork butcher, ironically the original skill from which the dynasty developed.

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Authors & Contributors
Schlich, Thomas
Alessandro Riga
Tommaso Mori
Francesca Bigoni
Susanna Berger
Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi
Concepts
Surgery
Medical instruments and apparatus
Medicine
Medical technology
Medical education and teaching
Surgical techniques
Time Periods
19th century
Medieval
20th century, late
16th century
Modern
Renaissance
Places
Italy
Greece
Great Britain
Peru
London (England)
Americas
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