The Learned Physician as a Charismatic Healer: Urso of Salerno (Flourished End of Twelfth Century) on Incantations in Medicine, Magic, and Religion

Urso, the last of the great Salernitan physicians, was both an ardent defender of a theoretical, scientific medicine and the first in the medieval West to propose, in his aphorisms, a rational and naturalistic explanation of the healing power of incantations. The article explores this paradox and provides an in-depth analysis of Urso’s highly original and hitherto ignored argument, as well as its intellectual and social background. According to Urso, the efficacy of incantations relies not on the power of words, but on the charismatic physician’s “aura”—spirits emanating from his body—and the patient’s confidence in and conformity with the physician. Urso compares medical incantations to teaching, fascination, demonic magic, sacraments, and prayer. It is argued that Urso’s incursions into theology are both a tactic to defend his bold naturalism against accusations of unorthodoxy and a reflection of his ambition to create a comprehensive “science of everything.” Urso’s text and an English translation are provided in an appendix.