Forma Fluens (“flowing form”) is a blog dedicated to the history of the body. A metaphor for life itself, as a rhythmic flow that alters the shape and the diachronic identity of the human being, this space is dedicated to any curious person interested in the history of medicine and the body.
FORMA FLUENS
Histories of the Microcosm
The Blog of the Body
Material from the blog is free to consult and use but must be credited as per the title, author, affiliation and sources displayed in each article. For queries or to express an interest in submitting an article for the blog, feel free to contact the centre in the dedicated section. Enjoy and stay tuned: more is always coming!
Cosmological Resonances of Bodily Fluids
The article explores the life and works of the Portuguese physician Estêvão Rodrigues de Castro, and especially his 'De meteoris
Body, World and Theater
The article offers new insights into the Renaissance system of analogies between the theaters of memory and the anatomical theaters.
Medieval Armenian Medicine
A fascinating fresco of Armenian medical culture that unravels the many parallels between East and West.
Maimonides and the Perfect Physician
Claudio Azzarito discusses the characteristics of the “perfect physician” as they emerge from the medical writings of the 12th-century Jewish
Welfare Reform and Hospital Architecture in Portugal at the Dawn of Modernity
By the end of the Middle Ages hospitals began to manifest the symptoms of an institutional crisis. This situation will
Dioscorides and the Madrake
Some of the plants mentioned by Dioscorides are still used in modern pharmacopoeias. One such plant is the mandrake which
Surgical Thread in Early Modern Europe
Silk thread or metallic wire? This article focuses on the figure of Johann Rhode (1587-1659), a Danish philologist and physician
The Ages of Man in the Kitāb al-Malakī
The "Kitāb al-Malakī" (or 'Royal Book', KM), written by the Zoroastrian physician ʿAlī ibn al-ʿAbbas al-Maǧūsī is one of the