Indigenous lexicon in the designation of the Novo-Hispanic materia medica in the Tesoro de las Medicinas (Mexico, 1672)

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyze the indigenous vocabulary that refers to the materia medica in the Tesoro de Medicinas (Mexico, 1672), written by the Spaniard Gregorio López (1542-1596). The sociocultural interest of this work is confirmed because it was published posthumously, despite the fact that the author was not a physician but a hermit revered for his reputation of sanctity. In the seventeenth century, the sociocultural history that accompanies the works on medicines, the constant suspicion of the idolatry of the Indians through their curative remedies arises in the sociocultural history. Writers could choose to keep a distance from the information provided by the Indians, for fear of being branded as idolaters, as happened in the General History of the Things of New Spain, by the Franciscan Sahagún, or give priority to aboriginal information and designations, as Monardes did in his Medicinal History. With a methodology based on the analysis and comparison of texts, it is concluded that Tesoro is a work that is not influenced by the prejudices of the Franciscans, but rather it is a compilation closer to the work of the Sevillian physician.