La circulation du livre médical dans les anciens Pays-Bas au second tiers du XVIe siècle

In the years 1565-1566, the Low Countries were shaken by a vast politico-religious revolt directed against Philip II. In response to the uprising and misbehaviour of parts of the population, the king established the so-called Council of Troubles, a special court active from 1567 to 1576. This institution was led in its early years by Fernando Àlvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba and Governor General of the Low Countries. The Council of Troubles had a very close look at the production, the distribution as well as at the possession of books. At the request of the Duke of Alba, inquisitors were sent during the spring and summer of 1569 in various provinces of the Low Countries still under Spanish rule to examine bookshops and find out heretical books. These archives offer a sort of radioscopy of the book market of the Low-Countries on the eve of the Counter-Reformation.

We will focus here on the situation of the city of Mons, in the county of Hainaut. The book lists written by the Duke of Alba’s emissaries describe more than 1600 books. The descriptions of the books found there are extremely high: names of authors, title, place and date of printing. The care and rigour shown by the notary in the performance of his task make this source a valuable document to study the book market in Hainaut in the second third of the 16th century and, more specifically, to study the medical book market. We will be able to discover which authors and which genres are preferred, the importance of the scientific literature compared with the popular literature, and the origin of these books.