‘All men have been considered equal by me’: The attitude of Amatus Lusitanus towards treating gentiles according to his Physician’s Oath

Abraham O Shemesh

doi:10.4102/hts.v75i3.5287

Abstract

The ancient Jewish law took a strict approach to medical relationships between Jews and non-Jews. The current study deals with the attitude of Amatus Lusitanus (1511–1568), a notable Portuguese Jewish physician towards treating gentiles. The Physician’s Oath of Lusitanus emphasises that as a doctor he treated people from varied faiths and socio-economic status. Lusitanus treated many non-Jews. For instance, he received an invitation from the municipality of Ragusa to serve as the town physician and he accepted this mission. In Anconare, he was called upon to treat Jacoba del Monte, sister of Pope Julius III, and he also prescribed for Julius himself. Amatus Lusitanus was forced to leave his country because of the Portuguese inquisition and wandered in many countries. Despite the hostile religious attitude of his close surroundings, he did not retaliate against his patients and provided medical treatment indiscriminately.

Highlights

The physician’s duty to provide medical treatment to patients from all backgrounds and social classes is one of the basic ethical principles of modern medicine
The current study addresses the attitude of the Portuguese doctor Amatus Lusitanus, one of the greatest Jewish doctors in the 16th century, to providing medical service to non-Jews
The study is based on the following questions: 1. Was Amatus Lusitanus forced to treat non-Jews, as he was a crypto-Jew, or whether he believed that any person in need should be treated? This question is even more acute in light of his Physician’s Oath (Amati Iusiurandum), in which he declared that he had provided medical treatment to members of all faiths

Summary

Introduction

The physician’s duty to provide medical treatment to patients from all backgrounds and social classes is one of the basic ethical principles of modern medicine. In 1533, when he moved to Antwerp, Belgium, he treated Gracia Mendes Nasi (1510–1569), one of the wealthiest Jewish women of Renaissance Europe, the Portuguese consul http://www.hts.org.za and the mayor During his stay in Ferrara (1546–1552), Amatus Lusitanus received an invitation from the King of Poland to move to that country, which he declined, preferring to settle in Ancona where religious tolerance existed. In contrast to the oaths of Hippocrates and of Asaph Harofe, which do not use a negative form of speech, Lusitanus speaks of his devoted care of his patients over the years and mentions a personal experience whose association with medical ethics is worthy of attention He writes: In my method of studying I have been so from the reading of good authors, nor the eager that no task, difficult, could lead me away loss of private fortune, nor frequent journeys, nor Yet exile, which, as befits a philosopher, I have far borne with calm and invincible courage. His personal suffering occasioned by the alienated gentile surroundings stimulated him to help those who were suffering

Discussion

Conclusion

Data availability statement