“De Doenças Esporádicas Farei Algumas Histórias”: Gaspar Lopes Henriques de Chaves (1729-1796), médico do Partido da Vila de Almada

Abstract

Basing their analysis on manuscripts found in the Municipal Historic Archives of Almada, the Observaçoens Médico Meteorológicas, the authors analyse the practice of medicine at the end of the 18th century, a time characterised by the contradictions inherent to the transition between epistemological paradigms. In these Observaçoens, the physician Gaspar Lopes Henriques de Chaves, who had a traditional view of Medicine, shows concerns that forecast announce a breach with empirical approaches. According to records from the years 1788, 1789 and 1792, his medical practice in Almada is closely related to his life as a New Christian, marked by persecution, exile and, above all, resilience.