Quest for Permanence in the Tropics: Portuguese Bioprospecting in Asia (16th-18th Centuries)

Abstract

The history of agricultural, botanical, pharmacological, and medical exchanges is one of the most fascinating chapters in early modern natural history. Until recently, however, historiography has been dominated by the British experience from the nine teenth and the early twentieth centuries, with Kew Gardens at the center of the "green imperialism." In this article we address the hard-won knowledge acquired by those who participated in early modern Portuguese imperial bioprospecting in Asia. The Portuguese were the first to transplant important economic plants from one conti nent to another, on their imposing colonial chessboard. In spite of this, the history of Portuguese bioprospecting is still fragmentary, especially with respect to India and the Indian Ocean. We argue not only that the Portuguese-imperial officials, missionaries, and the people connected with them, all living and working under the banner of the Portuguese empire-were interested in gathering knowledge but also that the results of their endeavors were relevant for the development of natural history in the early modern period and that they were important actors within the larger community of naturalists.

From colonialism to global health: Frameworks for the history of medicine in Portugal's empire

“…Studies have so far emphasized European interests and activities. Ines Županov and Ângelo Barreto Xavier (2014), focusing on Jesuit missionaries and the Portuguese in Goa, have shown that knowledge of South Asian flora and their therapeutic uses could be leveraged to secure otherwise tenuous land claims for the Portuguese while simultaneously contributing to the constitution of a new natural history within metropolitan Europe. Daniela Buono Calainho (2005) similarly illustrated the ways in which Jesuits appropriated indigenous medicine in Brazil in a bid to both facilitate conversion and finance missions there.…”

‘For the Sciences Migrate, Just Like People’: The Case of Botanical Knowledge in the Early Modern Iberian Empires

“…The utility of the transfer of botanical knowledge for empire building became a prominent topic that sheds light on the interactions of regional, global, and commercial networks that supported the circulation of information and specimen (for instance , Schiebinger 2004;Drayton 2000). In particular, historians of the Iberian expansion have examined the intrinsic links between imperial endeavors, commerce and empiricism that matured by colonial bioprospecting in Asia and the Americas (Županov and Barreto Xavier 2014;Walker 2009;de Vos 2006;Bleichmar 2004;Barrera-Osorio 2001). These studies provided a complex understanding of science that emphasized both the utilitarian approach that emerged due to the desire to exploit natural resources and to the adaptations of bioknowledge for use in particular geo-cultural contexts in the Atlantic and the Pacific.…”

X-ray powder diffraction of mineral pigments and medicines from the 17th century pharmacy (Spezieria) Santa Maria della Scala in Rome, Italy

“…The research project entitled Antichi Minerali nell'arte degli Speziali di “De Medicamentaria Officina” di Santa Maria della Scala: indagini Chimico-Fisiche e studio Storico-Culturale (Ancient minerals in the “pharmaceutical laboratory” of Santa Maria della Scala : physical–chemical analysis and historical–cultural research) was designed for the following scopes: To perform physical–chemical identification of 231 medicines preserved in their jars in this ancient Roman pharmacy (Figure 1) for understanding their composition and the chemical formulation;To identify the range of medical knowledge gathered at this Roman convent pharmacy from the ancient Mediterranean area (especially Greece), the ancient Middle East and Egypt, a wealth of which trickled through to the Modern Era via the Islamic tradition as, in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, the Order of the Discalced Carmelites controlled the trading routes towards the Far East and the New World (Zupanov and Barreto, 2014). To understand the use of the stored compounds as medicines and artistic materials (it is not surprising that, from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, painters and pharmacists were members of the same guild as in the 15 th century Florence, for instance).

Figure 1.(Color online) Pharmacy ( spezieria ) Santa Maria della Scala, Rome (Italy).

…”

“…To identify the range of medical knowledge gathered at this Roman convent pharmacy from the ancient Mediterranean area (especially Greece), the ancient Middle East and Egypt, a wealth of which trickled through to the Modern Era via the Islamic tradition as, in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, the Order of the Discalced Carmelites controlled the trading routes towards the Far East and the New World (Zupanov and Barreto, 2014).…”

“…-To perform physical-chemical identification of 231 medicines preserved in their jars in this ancient Roman pharmacy ( Figure 1) for understanding their composition and the chemical formulation; -To identify the range of medical knowledge gathered at this Roman convent pharmacy from the ancient Mediterranean area (especially Greece), the ancient Middle East and Egypt, a wealth of which trickled through to the Modern Era via the Islamic tradition as, in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, the Order of the Discalced Carmelites controlled the trading a) Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: giovanni.cavallo@supsi.ch routes towards the Far East and the New World (Zupanov and Barreto, 2014). -To understand the use of the stored compounds as medicines and artistic materials (it is not surprising that, from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, painters and pharmacists were members of the same guild as in the 15 th century Florence, for instance).…”