“the herbs that have the property of healing…,”: the phytotherapy in don quixote

Journal of Ethnopharmacology 106 (2006) 429–441

“The herbs that have the property of healing. . .,”:The phytotherapy in Don Quixote

Francisco Lopez-Munoz ∗, Cecilio Alamo, Pilar Garcıa-GarcıaDepartment of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alcala, C/Juan Ignacio Luca de Tena 8, 28027 Madrid, Spain

Received 20 January 2006; received in revised form 23 March 2006; accepted 24 March 2006Available online 2 May 2006

Abstract

Don Quixote, the most outstanding novel of the Spanish literature, represents a documentary source widely used among those specialists whointend to deepen in the knowledge of the late Renaissance society. In this sense, Don Quixote has been also studied from a medical perspective,including a general therapeutical view (oils, ointments, balms, poultices, syrups and other pharmacy preparations). We have tackled Don Quixotefrom the phytotherapeutic and ethnopharmacological perspective, a barely explored field. In this work, we intend to study the medicinal plantsused during the Cervantine time for the treatment de multiples diseases (sedatives like opium, laxatives and emetics like hellebore, tonics andihleM©

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rritants) and we analyze the specific herbal therapies (balms, purgatives and emetics, ointments and poultices), which Cervantes reveals to us inis novel. Among them, the rhubarb root (Rheum spp. or Rumex spp.) should be highlighted, as well as the seeds of gopher spurge (Euphorbiaathyris), chicory (Cichorium intybus) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), primary component of the famous Balsam of Fierabras. Also, we havexamined the possible scientific influences, which might have inspired Cervantes in this field, mainly the work of Andres Laguna (Dioscorides’ateria Medica).2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

eywords: Phytotherapy; History of pharmacology; Don Quixote

“The knight-errant. . ., must be a physician, and above all aherbalist, so as in wastes and solitudes to know the herbs thathave the property of healing wounds”

Miguel de CervantesDon Quixote

. Introduction

In 1605, Miguel de Cervantes published, at the printing-housef Juan de la Cuesta, in Madrid, his celebrated novel El Ingeniosoidalgo Don Quijote de La Mancha (Cervantes, 1605/1615),opularly referred as Don Quixote, one of the most importantorks in the history of literature (Fig. 1). Before any analysis ofbook, such as Don Quixote it is essential to consider at leastriefly some biographic data of its’ author. Miguel de Cervantesaavedra (born Alcala de Henares, 1547, died Madrid, 1616),

he son of a family of physicians, moved to Rome at the age of 21

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 91 724 82 10; fax: +34 91 724 82 05.E-mail address: [email protected] (F. Lopez-Munoz).

years to enter the service of a distant relative, Cardinal Gaspar deCervantes Acquaviva. He later served as a soldier in the assaultunits known as the Tercios, in the service of Philip II, and foughtat the famous battle of Lepanto (1571). Having survived 5 yearsin the tough Berber prisons of Algiers, he returned to Spain towork as a civil servant in the tax ministry and other governmentagencies. After several spells in prison, he eventually died in theSpanish capital, the victim of poverty. Cervantes was, then, aman of enormous curiosity who lived at a time of great uncer-tainty. Don Quixote itself was written in a historical period oftransition, in which the Renaissance worldview was giving wayto the more complex perspectives of the Baroque era.

The resources Cervantes employed in the writing of DonQuixote make it not only a masterwork of world literature, butalso, in the opinion of many experts, the first example of themodern novel. The first part of the book, published in 1605, wasa parody of contemporary courtly romances, while the secondpart, not published until 1615, represented an attempt to neutral-ize an unauthorized sequel written by another author trying tocapitalize on the success of part one. Regardless of the author’sobjectives or the meaning of the work—a satirical jibe at the

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430 F. Lopez-Munoz et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 106 (2006) 429–441

Fig. 1. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616), from an engraving by Luis de Madrazo for the Gorchs edition of Don Quixote (Barcelona, 1859) (A) andfrontispiece of the princeps edition of Don Quixote (1605), dedicated to the Duke of Bejar and published by the Juan de la Cuesta printing-house, situated in theAtocha street, Madrid (B).

chivalric tales of the era, a historical portrait of the times, or aperceptive critique of a society which, though still the hub ofthe world, was beginning to fall apart at the seams what cannotbe denied is that it achieved the quality of durability across thecenturies, and was capable of converting its fictional main char-acter, Alonso Quijano, into an almost flesh-and-blood historicalreference (Esteva de Sagrera, 2005).

Don Quixote has been the object of all types of detailed study,and from all the fields of human knowledge, including, of course,those of medicine and therapy. Various authors have remarkedon what this most famous work of Spanish literature has taughtus, and how it has widened our knowledge and understanding ofthe numerous illnesses (and their remedies) of the early Baroque(Lopez, 1971; Bea and Hernandez, 1984; Chiappo, 1994; Pena,1999; Valle, 2002; Esteva de Sagrera, 2005). The present articleaims to offer a new approach to complement the enormous bodyof writings on Don Quixote, in the form of an analysis focusingexclusively on the herbal remedies mentioned by Cervantes inhis immortal work, in the context of the herbal therapies of thattime, and in its popular use.

2. Therapy in the time of Don Quixote

The publication of the first edition of Don Quixote took place,as already mentioned, at a time of transition from the Renais-sance, which from the Spanish perspective began with the fallo

whose beginning is marked roughly by the death of Philip II in1598 (Puerto, 1997). Cervantes’ masterwork finds itself wedgedbetween the philosophical and cultural frameworks of the twoeras, though the majority of authors find in it a more manifestinfluence of Renaissance ideas.

The principal driving force behind the Renaissance move-ment was Humanism, a current characterized by a profoundinterest in knowledge of classical culture and a strong desireto possess such knowledge, but first-hand, not distorted by Arabtranslators or by the prejudices and limitations of medievalscholars (Gomez Caamano, 1990; Puerto, 1997). Thus, the pre-vailing theories in the field of medicine were those based onGalen, with some influence from the incipient iatrochemicalcurrents (Puerto, 1997; Montiel, 1998). By way of example,it suffices to mention the publication, in Spain, of the onlytext by Juan Huarte de San Juan (1529–1588), the Examende ingenios para las ciencias (Baeza, 1575), a work of somerenown in the Europe of the time, and which, according tosome authors (Salillas, 1905), greatly influenced Cervantes inthe writing of Don Quixote. Huarte de San Juan’s text, whichdeals with the hypothesis of ingenuity as an individual charac-teristic for the exercise of certain activities (Martın-Araguz andBustamante-Martınez, 2004), includes a short treatise referringto the classical Galenic theory of humours. According to thistheory, the four dimensions that make up the world, namely,hot, dry, cold and wet, are combined in man’s body to producet
f Constantinople to the Turks (1453), to the Baroque period, he different humours, so that the mixture of hot and wet forms

F. Lopez-Munoz et al. / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 106 (2006) 429–441 431

blood, warm and dry forms bile, cold and wet forms phlegm,and cold and dry forms melancholy. In line with this theory,the proportion in which these humours are combined in theorganism will determine the different temperaments (SanchezGranjel, 1980; Martın-Araguz et al., 2003; Martın-Araguz andBustamante-Martınez, 2004).

In this late-Renaissance context, even though clinicalmedicine had advanced considerably and physicians were capa-ble of diagnosing numerous illnesses, curative capacity wasquite limited, insofar as the therapeutic tools in use were prac-tically the same as those that were available in the Middle Age,despite the fact that their application had been systematized andmade more comprehensive with new incorporations. It should beborne in mind that during the Renaissance, the Galenism that haddominated previous eras continued to provide the frame of refer-ence for therapeutic practice, and the use of classical techniqueswas the norm. Medicines were meant to restore the healthybalance, and they were graduated according to the degrees ofheat, dryness, cold and moisture (Rothschuh, 1978). Thus, therewas widespread use of evacuants, notably hellebore (Helle-borus niger L. or Veratrum album L.), for diverting or elimi-nating excessive bile and acid humours, bleeding and leeches,irritants, such as cauterants, moxas (mugwort sticks), sedals,vesicants, friction, cataplasms and boiling sealing wax and ton-

ics, such as rice, semolina, cordials, the bitter wines of quinine,wormwood or gentian, mercury and cantharis powders (Sauri,1969).

Nevertheless, we should not overlook some importantadvances that had been made in the field of pharmacotherapyin the pre-Cervantine era. Perhaps the most important was thetransformation of medieval alchemical procedures into a disci-pline with scientific potential. Although by this time the conceptof the Philosopher’s Stone had lost currency, the alchemicalsymbolism and forms remained intact. Without alchemy therewould have been no chemistry, and consequently, no pharma-cology, either. The technology of the alchemists at this timewas employed in the service of pharmacology (alcoholic extrac-tion, distillation, calcinations, etc.), with the aim of finding newmedicines (Fig. 2). Coming from an alchemical background,Paracelsus (Theophrastus Phillippus Aureolus Bombastus vonHohenheim) (1493–1541) would revolutionize the Renaissancetherapeutic approach, inspiring new forms of understanding ill-ness, such as that of the iatrochemical current. According toParacelsus, illnesses resulted from alterations of the ‘archeus’,a kind of organizer of the chemical processes of the organism,“the body’s alchemist” (Montiel, 1998), which governed the bal-ance between the three natural principles or “triad of principles”:mercurius, sulphur and sal.

Fi

ig. 2. Alchemy played a fundamental role in laying the foundations for the developn an engraving from the work Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae, by Heinrich Khu

ment of laboratory medicine. The illustration shows an alchemist’s laboratory,nrath (Hamburg, 1595).


Fig. 3. Interior of a pharmacy from the Renaissance era, from engravings of the time: Hieronymus Brunschwig, Medicinarius. . ., Strassburg (1505) (A), and GualteriusRyff, New kochbuch, fur die Krancken, Frankfurt (1545) (B).

But despite the thriving state of alchemy, it would seem thatpharmacies, in Renaissance times, bore more resemblance tospice shops than to alchemists’ laboratories. By way of example,in the engravings by Otto Brunfels (1488–1534) and HermannRyff (1500–1548) (Frankfurt, 1544–1567), we can see largetables, a variety of balances, mortars of different shapes andsizes, sieves, sugared breads and animals, such as caymans(Fig. 3). In the laboratories of the great Spanish pharmaciesof the times, such as those of El Escorial or La Real, one couldalso find distilling apparatus (Puerto, 1997).

The contribution of the Humanist doctors to the Renais-sance was a considerable enrichment of the classical legacy,which was also clearly reflected in the field of pharmacotherapy(Montiel, 1998). The classical texts, in particular Dioscorides,were notably enhanced, as can be appreciated in the famouseditions of the work by Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1500–1577) orAndres Laguna (1494–1560). Indeed, the latter version (PedacioDioscorides Anarzabeo, acerca de la materia medicinal y de losvenenos mortıferos, Antwerp, 1555) (Fig. 4) is actually cited byCervantes in Don Quixote, as we shall see below. Likewise, itis during the Renaissance that the first official pharmacopoeiasappear, with the aim of standardizing the composition and formsof preparation of the formulas prescribed by the physicians ofthe time. Thus, the first European pharmacopoeia was publishedin 1498, in Florence (Nuovo Receptario Compositio), and thesecond (the celebrated Concordie apothecariorum Barchinonem

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all, and the therapy passed down through Dioscorides—whoseoriginal content had been expanded which was applied in accor-dance with the theory of the four purgative humours, and promi-nent among which was still the ‘Theriaca’, consisting of up to64 components (Fig. 5). In addition to these two approacheswas the use of metals and minerals, advocated by the disciplesof Paracelsus. The principal remedies of this type were basedon mercury, employed in the treatment of syphilis or morbusgallicus, and antimony, used as an emetic (Norton, 2003; Estevade Sagrera, 2005). Finally, a series of medicaments had been

Table 1Ointments used in the time of Cervantes

Name of ointment Description/composition

Diachylon ointment Olive oil and litharge poulticeAltea ointment Marshmallow, yellow wax, resin and trementineBasilicon ointment Black tar, pine resin, yellow wax and olive oilWhite ointment (1)a Lard and porphyrized lead carbonateWhite ointment (2)b White lead, rose oil and beeswaxEgyptian ointment Copper acetate, vinegar and honeyMother Tecla’s ointment Litharge, lard, tallow, wax and tarPopuleon ointment Poplar buds, poppy leaves, belladonna and lard

According to Esteva de Sagrera (2005).a This compound is called “unguentum album ex Rhassis” in the Pharmacopea

Hispana (1794).b Another formula for “White Ointment”, from the Antidotario de los medica-

mentos compuestos (1575), by Juan Fragoso, and possibly the one to whichCPami

edicines Compositis) in Barcelona, in 1511.To summarize, therapy in Renaissance times falls into two

road categories: popular medicine and pharmacy, based onerbal remedies, cheaply available and therefore accessible to

ervantes refers in his novel. A modified version of this ointment appears in theharmacopea Matritensis (1739) under the name “Saracen White Ointment,”mong whose ingredients are litharge, egg whites, the paste of pumpkin seeds,astic powder, camphor dissolved in alcohol, rose vinegar, and finally, tallow

nstead of wax.


Fig. 4. Frontispiece of Dioscorides (De Materia Medica), from the annotated translation by Andres Laguna (Antwerp, 1555). This version is cited by Cervantes inDon Quixote.

introduced from the Americas, notably guaiac or ‘palo santo’(Guajacum officinale L.), a sudorific used against syphilis orbubas disease (Esteva de Sagrera, 2005), as well as tobacco(Nicotiana tabacum L.) and quinine (Cinchona officinalis L.).

2.1. Pharmaceutical preparations and Galenic formulas

The pharmacopoeia of Cervantes’ time was based princi-pally on the application of oils, ointments, balms, poultices,roots, barks and syrups (Valle, 2002). Ointments, which were forexternal application, and made with fats, waxes or resins, werewidely used in the context of traumatology. Table 1 lists some ofthe most commonly used ointments of the era, for their differ-ent properties; bitter, tonic, purgative, cholagogic and astringent

(Esteva de Sagrera, 2005). As regards balms, concoctions usu-ally prepared with aromatic substances and used for healingwounds, these were widely employed in Renaissance times. Aclassic example was the renowned Balsam of Fierabras, so fre-quently referred to in Don Quixote. Poultices were solid prepa-rations (firmer than ointments), which softened when heated,sticking to the skin, and were produced from bases of resins,fats or lead soaps. Some herb poultices, such as ‘pıctimas’ or‘socrocios’, made with saffron (Crocus sativus L.), were appliedto the precordial region, so as to “comfort” the heart. Among theroots, rhubarb (the root of Rheum officinale B. or Rheum pal-matum L. – Chinese rhubarb – or Rumex alpinus L. – monk’srhubarb –) was one of the most commonly used purgative agentsin the Renaissance era. For their part, syrups were sweet mixtures


Fig. 5. Preparation of the Theriaca: Venetian vendors of the Theriaca in Renaissance times.

whose purpose was often to disguise the unpleasant flavour ofsome of the plants used in remedies administered orally (Puerto,1997; Valle, 2002; Esteva de Sagrera, 2005).

In the decades prior to the publication of Don Quixote, var-ious treatises appeared in Spain describing the properties andexplaining the preparation of the principal pharmaceutical reme-dies employed in the 16th century and frequently mentioned inCervantes’ novel (Puerto, 2005). Thus, Alonso de Jubera wrotehis Dechado y reformacion de todas las medicinas compues-tas usuales . . . (Valladolid, 1578), in which he describes howto make syrups, cookings, laxatives, spiced salts, pills, electuar-ies, troches, unctions, ointments, poultices and distilled waters.Fourteen years later, Fray Antonio Castell published his Theor-ica y practica de boticarios . . . (Barcelona, 1592), distinguishingbetween internal medicines (juices, syrups, preserves, electuar-ies, eclegms, hiera picra, pills and troches) and preparations forexternal use (ointments, poultices and cerates).

3. Medicinal plants in the Cervantine era

Physical treatment of the different pathologies, aimed atcounteracting the production of materia infirmitatis, was basedin pre-Renaissance times on two basic pillars: an appropriatelifestyle, especially in relation to diet, and, where necessary,the use of diverse drugs of herbal origins, such as helleboreor opium (Papaver somniferum L.) (Gonzalez de Pablo, 1998).T

A key figure in the therapy of the early Renaissance, aswe have mentioned, is Paracelsus. Thanks to his alchemicalbackground, he was able to introduce a substantial number ofremedies based on chemical and herbal products, notable amongwhich were the so-called “arcane” remedies, which could onlybe prepared “by those versed in the art,” and which consistedof mixtures of opium, hellebore, mandrake (Mandragora offic-inarum L.), camphor (Cinnamomum camphora), and so on.One of the most well-known was oleum arcani, made up ofcamphor, scrapings of skull, powder of unicorn horn and otherherbs and roots. Another of the basic formulas in his pharma-copoeia were the famous “quintessences” (Lopez-Munoz et al.,2005).

Sedatives continued to be widely used in the modern period,above all opium. Thomas Sydenham (1624–1689) was a fer-vent advocate of this narcotic, and in the 17th century his“laudanum”—a kind of syrup based on a mixture of opium,saffron, cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) and cloves (Syzygiumaromaticum), dissolved in “Spanish wine”—achieved certainpopularity. It is Sydenham himself who is reputed to haveremarked that the best text of the times for learning aboutmedicine was Don Quixote. Opiates indeed had considerablerelevance within therapy during the Baroque era, and contin-ued to be used almost until the end of the 19th century, bothalone and in conjunction with henbane (Hyosciamus albus L.or Hyosciamus niger L.), stramonium, datura or thorn apple(
his approach lasted throughout the Modern period. Datura stramonium L.), belladonna (Atropa belladonna L.),


Fig. 6. Illustration from Botanicon. Plantarum Historieae. . ., by Adamum Lonicerum (Lonitzer) (Frankfurt, 1565), showing a group of physicians and pharmacistscollecting herbs and obtaining extracts from them through distillation.

asafoetida (Ferula foetida), camphor, musk, castoreum, ammo-niacal copper, zinc oxide and so on (Postel and Quetel, 1987).Nevertheless, none of these sedative remedies of plant origin arementioned in Don Quixote, which confines itself in describingthe properties of other commonly used herbal agents. This lackof reference to such resources, however, is quite possibly notdue to ignorance in the author – who, as we remarked, was wellacquainted with medical and therapeutic materials – but rather toa desire to avoid attracting the attention of the Inquisition (“. . .It’s the church we have lit upon, Sancho”, Part II, Chapter IX),which took a dim view of these types of medicine (Fraile et al.,2003).

Thus, in the late 16th century, pharmacological remediesfor internal diseases, be they organic or mental, are scarce,highly unspecific in nature and of vegetable origin (Fig. 6).As an example of a hypothetical aetiological remedy we mightmention hellebore, obtained from the plants Helleborus nigerL. or Veratrum album L. The emetic properties of this sub-stance were understood at the time as a means of bringing aboutcatharsis, purification or purgation. Thus, vomiting would per-mit the recovery of ‘eukrasia’, that is, the correct combinationof humours on which good health was based (Montiel, 1998).However, the effects of hellebore were drastic to say the least:vomiting, cramps, spasms, convulsions and loss of conscious-ness. Other substances extracted from plants that formed part ofthe medicinal arsenal of the time were thorn apple or stramo-nLs

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dies derived from the botanical species brought back from theNew World, such as Cinchona bark extract, used as a tonic inpatients classified as “asthenic” (Lopez-Munoz et al., 2005), ortobacco, used as a stimulant and “cerebral decongestant”. Like-wise, increased trade with the Orient led to the discovery of newsubstances and the resurgence of others, such as opium.

4. Phytotherapeutic remedies in Don Quixote

Of the numerous aspects studied in relation to Cervantes’work, and which permit a detailed reconstruction of the author’sliterary and technical background, the medical question isundoubtedly one of the most controversial, due in part to thedifficulty in assessing the extent of his knowledge of the disci-pline (Lopez, 1971). In spite of this limitation, though, variouscommentators consider that Don Quixote reflects faithfully thetherapeutic procedures of its time, and that it can serve as a toolfor increasing our understanding of medical knowledge in theCervantine period (Valle, 2002; Fraile et al., 2003; Iranzo et al.,2004), and the people’s use of medicinal plants.

A point to be considered before looking in more detail at thefield of therapy as referred to in Don Quixote is that while theclinical manifestations of the physical problems of both AlonsoQuijano himself and other characters are frequently and exten-sively dealt with, especially those of a traumatological nature,the remedies mentioned in the book are somewhat scarce. WessctM“

ium, henbane, belladonna and valerian (Valeriana officinalis.), agents that during the Middle Ages had been used as poi-ons in witchcraft and sorcery (“witches’ ointments”).

It is also important to note that the pharmaceutical resourcesvailable in Cervantes’ time, regardless of their questionablelinical efficacy, were complemented by new drugs and reme-

hould not forget in this regard that Cervantes, as the son of aurgeon-bloodletter and grandson of a Cordoban physician, hadonsiderable knowledge of the art of medicine, a knowledgehat pervades his masterwork. When young Don Lorenzo de

iranda asks Don Quixote if he has “attended the schools” andwhat sciences have you studied?”, the nobleman replies that


Table 2Herbal remedies mentioned in Don Quixote in association with their therapeutic properties

Plant Family Therapeutic propertiesa Therapeutic propertiesdescribed in Don Quixote

English common name Spanish common name Scientific name

Rosemary Romero Rosmarinus officinalis L. Lamiaceae Choleretic Universal remedyb

DiureticAntispasmodicVulnerary

Rhubarb Ruibarbo chino Rheum officinale B. Polygonaceae Purgative PurgativeRuibarbo chino Rheum palmatum L. EmeticRuibarbo de los monjes Rumex alpinus L. Tonic

Sorrel Romaza Rumex acetosa L.

Gopher spurge Tartago, Euphorbia lathyris L. Euphorbiaceae Purgative PurgativePinoncillos EmeticGranos raterosHierba toperaRuibarbo de los labradores

Chicory Achicoria Cichorium intybus L. Asteraceae Tonic HypnoticAmargon StomachicAlmiron Hypnotic

a According to Bruneton (2001) and Font Quer (2003).b As ingredient of Balsam of Fierabras.

the science of knight-errantry is “a science that comprehendsin itself all or most of the sciences in the world”, stressing thathe who professes it must be a jurist, a theologian, an astrologerand a mathematician, must be adorned with all the virtues, the-ological and cardinal, and “must be a physician, and above alla herbalist, so as in wastes and solitudes to know the herbs thathave the property of healing wounds” (Part II, Chapter XVIII).

Another passage suggests that Cervantes was acquainted withthe medical and botanical manuals of the time: “For all that,answered Don Quixote, I would rather have just now a quarter ofbread, or a loaf and a couple of pilchards’ heads, than all the herbsdescribed by Dioscorides, even with Doctor Laguna’s notes”(Part I, Chapter XVIII). It may be that the extensive knowledgeof plants, some with curative properties, displayed by Cervantesderives from the reading of technical works, such as the famousedition of Dioscorides published by Andres Laguna in the mid-16th century, and considered as a reference manual in the fieldfor centuries. In this regard, a detailed medical reading of DonQuixote leads us to infer that Cervantes favours not the use ofagents with primary pharmacological action, but rather that ofpreparations with secondary or delayed effects, such as certainbalms, purgatives or emetics. However, it is always necessaryto have in mind that Don Quixote is a literary text, and that thereferences to the therapeutic aspects are included by Cervantes,most of the times, as elements of the daily life or as expressiveelements of the language.

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them of medicinal character). In particular, the plants mentionedby Cervantes in Don Quixote by their hypothetical therapeuticproperties, in accordence with our study, are (Table 2); rose-mary (Rosmarinus officinalis L., Lamiaceae), rhubarb (Rumexalpinus L., Rheum officinale B. or Rheum palmatum L., Polygo-naceae), gopher spurge (Euphorbia lathyris L., Euphorbiaceae)and chicory (Cichorium intybus L., Asteraceae) (Fig. 7).

4.1. The Balsam of Fierabras

The therapeutic remedies par excellence in Don Quixote arethe balms, the most notable of which, given the continual refer-ences to its successful use, is the so-called “Balsam of Fierabras,”a kind of panacea for the knight: “All that might be well dis-pensed with, said Don Quixote, if I had remembered to makea vial of the balsam of Fierabras, for time and medicine aresaved by one single drop” (Part I, Chapter X). The Balsam ofFierabras, which falls outside the range of conventional med-ical therapies of the time, belongs to set of magical remediesthat crop up constantly in medieval chivalric literature (Prieto,2005). According to this tradition, recounted in the ChivalricStories of Charlemagne, Fier-a-bras (“he of the ferocious arm”)was a Saracen giant, son of the Emir Balante (‘Senor de lasEspanas’), who carried on his horse two barrels of balsam seizedin Jerusalem, and originally in the possession of the man whohad been employed to entomb Jesus Christ. During a battle, thegoh

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According to Esteva de Sagrera (2005), Cervantes must havenown the virtues of numerous plants available from the herbal-sts of his time for dealing simply and cheaply with differentilments, without the need for the specialist attention of doc-ors and pharmacists. On the other hand, Morales (2005), inmeticulous botanical study on the plants mentioned in com-

lete works of Cervantes, obtains 835 different references (9 of

iant lost the barrels, which were found by his enemy Oliveros,ne of the Twelve Peers of France, who drank the balsam andealed his mortal wounds.

The health-giving and extremely efficacious balm to whichervantes’ novel refers would consist of oil, wine, salt and rose-ary, in line with a customary pharmaceutical practice at the

ime, namely, the mixture of various simple medicinal elements


Fig. 7. Botanical laminae of different medicinal plants mentioned in Don Quixote. (A) Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.)*; (B) Rhubarb (Rumex alpinus L.)**;(C) Sorrel (Rumex acetosa L.)**; (D) Gopher spurge (Euphorbia lathyris L.); (E) Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.); (F) Privet (Ligustrum vulgare L.).

(three of vegetable and one of mineral origin) to obtain a com-pound formula in the style of the famous ‘Theriaca’ (Lopez,1996; Prieto, 2005; Puerto, 2005). The preparation of the balmis also described in Don Quixote: the four (“simple”) compo-nents should be heated over a fire and boiled for a good while,after which, finally, the (“compound”) product is poured into atin jug, over which one must say “more than eighty paternostersand as many more ‘ave-marias’, ‘salves’ and ‘credos’, accom-panying each word with a cross by way of benediction” (PartI, Chapter XVII), essential for the balsam to be effective. Theknight even provides the instructions for administration of theremedy: when in some battle thou seest they have cut me in halfthrough the middle of the body – as will not to happen frequently– but neatly and with great nicety, ere the blood congeal, toplace that portion of the body which shall have fallen to the

∗ Rosemary is the medicinal remedy of herbal origin most commonly appear-ing in Don Quixote.∗∗ The commentary of Cervantes to rhubarb could talk about to anyone of these

two species.

ground upon the other half which remains in the saddle, takingcare to fit it on evenly and exactly. Then thou shalt give me todrink but two drops of the balsam I have mentioned, and thoushalt see me become sounder than an apple” (Part I, Chapter X).The effects of the Balsam of Fierabras are also described by Cer-vantes: intense vomiting at first, followed by profuse sweatingand great fatigue, and finally a deep sleep (Fig. 8). On waking(3 h later), the restorative effect was so marked that the noblemanbelieved himself to be completely cured. However, the effectsof the potion on Sancho Panza were totally different: “gripingsand retchings, sweats and faintness” (Part I, Chapter XVII) for2 h, after which he felt worse than he had before taking it.

Among the balsam’s ingredients, rosemary stands out asthe agent to which abundant therapeutic properties have beenattributed (“On the virtues of rosemary, one could write a wholebook”, goes a popular Spanish saying). A member of the Lami-aceae family, rosemary (Fig. 7A) is a well-known choleretic, acharacteristic partially confirmed in animal experimentation, aswell as a diuretic. Likewise, it is claimed it may have antispas-modic effects, due to one of its components, borneol, while itsstimulant and vulnerary properties are clear (Bruneton, 2001).


Fig. 8. Lithograph by Labielle (c. 1920) for the company Chocolates Amatller (San Martin de Provensals), illustrating the famous passage in which Don Quixoteprepares and takes the Balsam of Fierabras: “Scarcely had he done drinking the precious nectar when he began to vomit in such a way that nothing was left in hisstomach”.

Also, its essential oils possess, in vitro, bactericide and fungi-cide properties (Angioni et al., 2004). During the 16th century,rosemary was an ingredient of numerous preparations, some ofa cosmetic nature, such as Queen of Hungary’s Water, and othermedicinal, such as the Opodeldoc Balm, Porras’s Balm, Apari-cio’s Oil, or Tranquil Balm (Font Quer, 2003). Laguna, in hisadaptation of Dioscorides, wrote of rosemary: “the eating of itsflower in a preserve comforts the brain, the heart and the stom-ach; sharpens understanding, restores lost memory, awakens themind, and in sum, is a healthy remedy for all kinds of cold ail-ments of the head and the stomach. . . Its aromatic fumes workagainst coughs, colds and runny noses” (Font Quer, 2003). Eventoday, rosemary alcohol is used externally for the relief of pain.

Of the remaining ingredients of the famous Balsam ofFierabras, in Renaissance pharmacology, the oil was custom-arily used for dissolving active ingredients in the production ofointments, liniments and so on. In France, olive oil has beenused as a traditional remedy in the treatment of digestive disor-ders, to facilitate the urinary and digestive functions, and as acholeretic and cholagogue. Some authors attribute to it mild lax-ative properties (Bruneton, 2001). With regard to alcohol, DonQuixote himself advises his squire to: “Be temperate in drink-ing, bearing in mind that wine in excess keeps neither secretsnor promises” (Part II, Chapter XLIII). In line with this, the tak-ing of non-distilled alcohol in moderation has been associatedhistorically with beneficial tonic and cordial effects (Sournia,1r

close to the shoulder, which is washed with a little wine beforebeing bandaged (Part I, Chapter XXXIV).

4.2. Purgatives and emetics

Purgatives are mentioned in Don Quixote, more than anythingbecause at the time Cervantes wrote the book it was customary,within the general health framework, to prescribe them asagents capable of eliminating morbid humours, permittingspiritual purification. Thus, the priest of the village whose nameCervantes had no desire to call to mind remarks, in relation tothe novel’s eponymous character: “he stands in need of a littlerhubarb to purge his excess of bile” (Part I, Chapter VI). The rhi-zome of monk’s rhubarb (Fig. 7B), plant that grows in the Northof Spain, rich in tannic and chrysophanic acids, possesses, as wehave seen, purgative and tonic properties and was used for purg-ing the choleric and phlegmatic humours (Valle, 2002). The restof rhubarbs (Rheum spp.), known as Chinese rhubarb commonly,also they are equipped with laxative properties (Foust, 1992),although the exotic origin of the drug (Far East) and its elevatedprice practically made a wider use in 16th century Spain impos-sible. However, on the Iberian Peninsula, sorrel (Rumex acetosaL., Polygonaceae) (Fig. 7C) is widely distributed, a well-knownplant commonly named ‘romaza’. Its rhizome also is rich, likerhubarb, in chrysophanic acid. In relation to the sorrels, Lagunacommented that “anyone of these species, cooked, it softens thebo

990); likewise, its use as an antiseptic for treating wounds iseferred to in Don Quixote, when Camilla suffers a knife wound

elly”, and that “to know in her a valiant laxative virtue, theyrdinarily administered the doctors to it instead of rhubarb,


in order to purge the excess of bile, reason why many wisedoctors have it by true rhubarb” (Font Quer, 2003). Possibly, thecommentary of Cervantes of rhubarb talks about anyone of thetwo commented plants of the Rumex gender. Finally, we wantto highlight the almost literal agreement between passages ofCervantes and Laguna in this point (“rhubarb to purge the excessof bile”).

Also referred to in Cervantes’ novel is the consumption of theseeds of gopher spurge (Part II, Chapter XI), commonly knownin Spanish as ‘ruibarbo de los labradores’ or ‘tartago’ (Fig. 7D),a plant now considered as toxic, but popular in the 16th centuryin view of its dual action, purgative and emetic. It was said thatif one pulled the leaves off downwards, the plant worked as apurgative, whilst if one pulled them off upwards, it would inducevomiting (Font Quer, 2003).

4.3. Ointments and poultices

As regards the treatment of wounds and traumatisms, Cer-vantes normally talks about the use of ointments, poultices andreparative oils. One of these is the so-called “White Ointment,”which according to the Antidotario de los medicamentos com-puestos (Mantova, 1575), by Fragoso (1530–1597), “is madefrom wax, white lead and rose oil. Hence its white colour . . .”.This remedy was proposed to the knight by Sancho, who thushoped, with the help of ‘hilas’ (threads obtained from scrapsottDFdDpotenC

mvotIopOts(fwoca1

perforatum L.) o ‘corazoncillo’, combined with others, suchas rosemary, olive oil, myrrh (Commiphora myrrha), tremen-tine, worms and juniper resin. The wound-healing properties ofSt. John’s Wort – for which reason it was also known as “sol-dier’s herb” – were already known well before Cervantes’ time(although it is not mentioned specifically in Don Quixote), as ithad been widely used by the knights of St. John of Jerusalemfor treating the wounds suffered on the battlefields of the Cru-sades. And although this herb was employed in the exorcismspractised by the tribunals of the Inquisition to drive out the spir-its of depression and other nervous disorders, its antidepressanteffects were not properly understood until relatively recent times(Muldner and Zoller, 1984).

4.4. Other herbal remedies

Many other plants with medicinal effects are mentioned inDon Quixote, some, such as chicory, in association with theirtherapeutic properties, and others, such as privet (Ligustrumvulgare L., Oleaeae), garlic (Allium sativum L., Liliaceae), ororegano (wild marjoram) (Origanum vulgare L., Lamiaceae),in contexts unrelated to clinical use. It is also worthy of notethat Cervantes makes no reference whatsoever to certain plantswhich at that time were extensively used by both the generalpopulation and by specialists, namely, opium and tobacco.

Chicory water is mentioned by Cervantes in the famous pas-sQSsCteflmv“sthp

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f linen used for dressing wounds, in the same way as gauze),o control the bleeding from an ear wound “that hurt him morehan he would have wished” (Part I, Chapter X), even thoughon Quixote preferred the efficacy of his cherished Balsam ofierabras. The fact that Sancho carried this ointment in his sad-lebag indicated its popularity in the 16th century. The wound inon Quixote’s ear was finally cured by a goatherd who made aoultice with rosemary and salt: “. . . and gathering some leavesf rosemary, of which there was a great quantity there, he chewedhem and mixed them with a little salt, and applying them to thear he secured them firmly with a bandage, assuring him thato other treatment would be required, and so it proved” (Part I,hapter XI).

At numerous points in the story, especially after one of theany wounds or blows suffered by the two main characters, Cer-

antes refers to the act of “plastering” or applying a “plaster” toneself (Sancho, at one such point, relates that: “I have to plas-er myself, for I believe every one of my ribs is crushed”, Part, Chapter XVI). These plasters (‘bizmas’) were poultices madef tow, liquor, incense, myrrh and other ingredients, whose pur-ose was to bring relief to the area of the blows and traumatisms.ne such poultice, called “Aparicio’s Oil,” was administered

o Don Quixote by the enamoured Altisidora in order to healome wounds (Part II, Chapter XLVI), in spite of its high pricewhence the popular saying “as dear as Aparicio’s Oil”). Thisormula (also known by its technical name ‘Oleum Magistrale’),hose composition was a well-kept secret until the publicationf the Pharmacopea Hispana (Madrid, 1794) in the late 18thentury, owes its popular name to Aparicio de Zubia (?–1566),Morisco healer from Lequeitio who first produced it (Ungerer,986), with the basic ingredient of St. John’s Wort (Hypericum

age about the adventure with the windmills: “All that night Donuixote lay awake thinking of his lady Dulcinea . . . Not so didancho Panza spend it, for having his stomach full of somethingtronger than chicory water he made but one sleep of it” (Part I,hapter VIII). This remedy was made by distilling the flowery

ops of Cichorium intybus L. (Fig. 7E) in water, and was widelymployed in the treatment of insomnia, in addition to its useor soothing burning sensations in the liver and relieving opi-ations (Puerto, 2005). In general, it was a tonic and stomachic

edicine. Andres Laguna gives a detailed description of a wildariety of chicory, hedypnois, stressing that is was a substancegiving rise to sweet slumbers, since it induces an obliviousleep” (Font Quer, 2003). Such references by Cervantes to theherapeutic use of plants lends strength to the hypothesis thate was acquainted with the work of this illustrious Segovianhysician.

In contrast, the novel mentions certain plants with therapeu-ic virtues for characteristics other than their medicinal uses.y way of example, Sancho, prior to his master’s combat with

he Knight of the Wood, considers it necessary to take precau-ions so as to avoid his bones being ‘alhena’ (Part II, ChapterXVIII), which is usually translated as “beaten to a pulp,” but

iterally means, “crushed into henna”. ‘Henna’, the Arabicizedame for ligustrum or privet (Fig. 7F), is a shrub whose berries,ich in colouring substances, were ground to obtain a powderighly valued as a cosmetic, an early type of eye-shadow. How-ver, the leaves of this plant had already been used since theime of Dioscorides as astringent agents, prepared in an infu-ion and administered to patients with diarrhoea. Meanwhile,he juice extracted from the fruit was used in popular medicineor cleaning dirty sores (Font Quer, 2003).


Similarly, there is reference to oregano or wild marjoram, atonic and digestive plant, in the remark “that it may be marjoramand not fulling mills” (Part I, Chapter XXI), and to garlic, whenQuixote advises his squire to “eat not garlic. . . lest they find outthy boorish origin by the smell” (Part II, Chapter XLII). Laguna,in his Dioscorides, attributes numerous therapeutic virtues togarlic (antihelmintic, diuretic and voice-clarifying, and as aremedy against bites from snakes, rabid dogs and so on). Never-theless, none of these properties are referred to in Don Quixote.

Curiously, in addition to his failure to mention opium (forreasons explained above), Cervantes makes no reference in hisnovel to the use of tobacco, a plant imported from the New Worldand whose use, therapeutic and recreational, was extensive in theHabsburg era in Spain, where it was known by various names,such as the devil’s weed, the herb of consolation or the herb of allthe ills. Nevertheless, in other works of Cervantes, as his Viaje alParnaso, tobacco sniffing is mentioned as a strange remedy usedby poets in order to avoid losing consciousness. Notable amongthe traditional uses of tobacco was the application of enemasof its infused leaves as a potent (though dangerous) laxative;it was also considered capable of stimulating the brain and theimagination. Nicolas Monardes (1493–1588), in the second partof his work on plants of the New World (Historia medicinal delas cosas que se traen de nuestras Indias Occidentales que sir-ven en medicina), published in Seville in 1574, recommendedtobacco for up to 36 different ailments, including articular prob-la

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genetic differences, antimicrobial and antifungal activity investigation ofthe essential oil of Rosmarinus officinalis L. Journal of Agricultural andFood Chemistry 52, 3530–3535.

Bea, J., Hernandez, V., 1984. Don Quixote: Freud and Cervantes. Interna-tional Journal of Psycho-Analysis 65, 141–153.

Bruneton, J., 2001. Farmacognosia. Fotoquımica. Plantas Medicinales, seconded. Acribia S.A, Saragossa.

Brunschwig, H., 1505. Medicinarius Das buch der Gesuntheit. Liber de artedistillandi Simplicia et Composita. Das nuw buch der rechten kunst, zudistilliren . . . Johan Gruniger, Strassburg.

Castell, A., 1592. Theorica y practica de boticarios en que se trata de la artey forma como se han de componer las confectiones ansi interiores comoexteriores. Casa de Sebastian de Cormellas, Barcelona.

Cervantes, M., 1605/1615. El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha.Imprenta de Juan de la Cuesta, Madrid. Digital edition translated by JohnOrmsby, Texas. Cervantes 2001 Project. In: http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/cerv/01048963107819340760035/index.htm.

Chiappo, L., 1994. La ultima melancolıa de Alonso Quijano, el Bueno. ActaPsiquiatrica y Psicologica de America Latina 40, 69–76.

Esteva de Sagrera, J., 2005. La farmacia en el Quijote. OFFARM 24,104–116.

Fragoso, J., 1575. De succedaneis medicamentis liber denuo auctus; eiusdemanimaduersiones in quamplurima medicamenta composita, quoru[m] estvsus in Hispanicis Officinis . . . Petrus Cosin, Mantova.

Fraile, J.R., De Miguel, A., Yuste, A., 2003. El dolor agudo en El Quijote.Revista Espanola de Anestesiologıa y Reanimacion 50, 346–355.

Font Quer, P., 2003. Plantas Medicinales. El Dioscorides renovado, fifth ed.Ediciones Penınsula, Barcelona.

Foust, C.M., 1992. Rhubarb: The Wondrous Drug. University Press, Prince-ton.

Gomez Caamano, J.L. (Ed.), 1990. Paginas de Historia de la Farmacia. Ed.

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ems, swellings, colds, toothache, chilblains, poisonous wounds,poplexies, bites or stings and persistent sores.

. Conclusions

Interpretations of Don Quixote, from the perspective of someurrent scientific disciplines, may run the risk of turning intoere speculation. In this regard, medical studies of Cervantes’

reat work are no exception. This was noted by another illus-rious representative of Hispanic thought, Miguel de Unamuno1864–1936), who wrote in a critique of those who study Cer-antes: “Of all the commentators on Don Quixote, there areone more terrible than doctors: they go so far as to analyzehe type of madness from which Don Quixote was suffering, itstiology, its symptomatology and even its therapy” (Unamuno,905; Perez, 2003). Our intention here, in any case, has not beeno pontificate, but rather to analyze the wealth and diversity ofhytotherapeutic resources mentioned in this great novel, in theontext of the herbal therapies of that time and to propose someypotheses on the matter. In this sense, we share the opinion ofrieto (2005), who affirms that “. . . in 17th century rural Spaineople did not have access to ointments and potions preparedrom oriental spices, drugs and resins, but had to rely on theocal flora and culinary or other readily-available ingredients”.his is the “masterly lesson of ethnopharmacology” that offerservantes to us in Don Quixote.

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“the herbs that have the property of healing…,”: the phytotherapy in don quixote

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