The educatio of children and adolescents in Rodrigo de Castro's De uniuersa mulierum medicina

Abstract

The discussion around the nutrition and physical, intellectual and moral education of children and adolescents has been pervasive throughout Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Often tackled by authors of medical treatises and encyclopedias, the educatio of children and youngsters has triggered the interest of the Portuguese physician Rodrigo de Castro (c.1546-1627/29?) who dealt with it in the final section of the First Part of his treatise De uniuersa mulierum medicina. Drawing on the comparison between this text and the medical writings that preceded it, we will seek to outline the educational routine prescribed for children and adolescents in the course of the twenty centuries separating Mnesitheus of Athens (4^th century B.C.) and Castro, as well as reflect on how the Portuguese author has in-corporated elements drawn from ancient and medieval traditions in his own work.