Orvietan

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Orvietan seller

Orvietan was the name of a remedy advertised as an antidote . In contrast to mithridate and theriac , which had their origins in classical antiquity, it was only manufactured and used from the end of the 16th century and went out of fashion in the 19th century.

It was considered a universal remedy against all types of poisoning , both for preventive use and after poisoning. It was used for poisoning with a criminal background, as well as for mushroom poisoning, snake and scorpion bites, bites of rabid animals etc., but also for diseases such as the plague , in which it was assumed that poison was formed in the body.

history

Orvietan was based on initially kept secret formulas used by charlatans who used the remedy z. B. sold at fairs. It was named after the central Italian city of Orvieto , the birthplace of its supposed inventor, Messer Lupi da Orvieto, of which, however, no reliable dates have been passed down. The Rome-born Gerolamo (French: Hyeronimo) Ferranti began trading in Paris at the beginning of the 17th century. At his public demonstrations, in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the drug, he is said to have tried unknown poisons on himself that were offered to him from the crowd. Other well-known charlatans in the succession of Ferranti in France were Jean Vitrario (also Vitrario), Desiderio Descombes and Cristoforo (Christophe) Contugi.

Doctors and pharmacists of conventional medicine hesitated for a long time to use Orvietan because they feared the reputation of charlatans. As the first respected doctor, Johann Schröder published his own prescription in his Pharmacopeia Medico-Chymica in 1655 . Moyse Charas was the first pharmacist to include Orvietan in a plant ( Pharmacopée Royale Galénique et Chymique , 1676).

composition

Orvietan was an electuarium (licking agent, latwerge), a mixture of sometimes poisonous herbs with honey dissolved in wine. It was also sold in pure powder form in lead boxes.

Patrizia Catellani and Renzo Console evaluated 35 different recipes for orvietan that were published between 1655 and 1857, most of them from the 18th century. The number of ingredients varies from 9 to 57, the average number is 26. The following 26 ingredients are the most common and thus give an impression of the most common composition:

Mention in the literature

Orvietan is mentioned in the following works, among others:

Remarks

  1. ↑ Moyse Charas. Pharmacopoe royale galénique et chymique. Paris 1676, p. 323: Antidotum Orvietanum (digital copy )
  2. ↑ Patrizia Catellani, Renzo Console: L'Orvietano (= Accademia Nazionale di Scienze Lettere e Arti. Collana di Studi. 25, ZDB -ID 2257473-6 ). Edizioni ETS, Pisa 2004.

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