PIOUS SOUL, HEALTHY BODY: THE ROLE OF DEVOTION IN THE CURE OF THE DISEASES IN COLONIAL BRAZIL

Abstract:

The belief that bodily health was closely tied to the virtues of the soul was a shared topic among clerics, religious, moralists - also among physicians -, which was why treating the ills of the flesh from the medicines for the spirit was not uncommon in Portuguese America throughout the colonial period, especially in the 18th century. Among the many “remedies” that could be applied to those sick bodies and sinful souls, claiming for the help of the saints can be highlighted as the most effective strategy, and books such as the Botica preciosa e thesouro precioso da Lapa, written by the missionary Ângelo de Siqueira (1707-1776) and published in 1756, became more and more usual. This study will examine the writings produced by a series of Catholic scholars who, in instructing the devotee, prescribed, as Siqueira, the best ways to preserve or re-establish the health of spirit and body.

Keywords:
Devotion; medicine; colonial Brazil