Ludovico Settala, the protodoctor of The Betrothed Lovers. A note from history of medicine

Abstract

Sometimes it happens that a literary masterpiece brings long-forgotten medical figures back to light. This is what Manzoni does in I promessi sposi when he gives a name and a face to the protophysician of Milan during the plague of 1630. Among the few doctors still alive to have fought the previous epidemic in 1576, Ludovico Settala (1552-1633) has already written a lot about the disease. It is there-fore not surprising the promptness with which he identifies the new first cases, as well as the intrepidity with which he reacts to the disbelief of others. Although still linked to the humoral theory, his works are struck by the faith in experi-ence, the refined semiotics, the extensive botanical-therapeutic culture and the preventive hygiene advice. With this, Settala reveals himself as a key medical figure of tran-sition towards modernity.