Recalibrating the Work of Juan Valverde de Amusco in the Sixteenth-Century Anatomical Revolution

Abstract

One of the tasks of the history of psychiatry and medicine is to try to make sense of the contribution to knowledge of important (and not so important) figures at the time and to understand the sociocultural factors in their historical context that made the contribution possible. It is in this sense that this chapter draws on Valverde, a sixteenth-century Spanish anatomist, whose work and place in history have been the subject of much controversy. Here, taking a historiographical approach, we explore some of his work in its historical context to help shed light and balance to this particular figure in the history of medicine. Valverde has not been an easy figure for historiography: current studies must address the lack of biographical information and provide a cautious analysis of his scientific work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)