Corporeal Abnormality as Intellectual and Cultural Capital: Jean Fernel’s Pathologiae Libri, Ambroise Paré’s Des Monstres et Prodiges, and Michel de Montaigne’s Essais

Abstract

In his History of Pathology (1928), Esmond Long observed that the Renaissance needs to be considered “a century of pathological anatomy.” The current study is an effort to reconcile the proto-scientific approach with more recent trends in the history of science that focus on networks of knowledge-making. The fact that Ambroise Paré and Michel de Montaigne share similar stories in their respective texts attests to the fascination with unruly corporeal forms, whose singularity and extraordinary nature permeated the intellectual and cultural landscape of early modern France. Representations of abnormal anatomy and physiology become an important source of scientific knowledge as well as literary imagination. This chapter examines the process of commodifying abnormal corporeal forms both as objects of knowledge and aesthetic pleasure.