Biological Warfare ± Perspectives from Premodern ... - Leopoldina

Karl-Heinz Leven
( ii) Now the second reason why physicians did not partake in poisoning of wells. The
social standing of the physician was precarious. His prestige, in Greek doxa ,also
meaning ``fameº, depended on his skills in diagnostics, therapeutics and especially
prognostics, and on trust in his virtue: asthere was nostate regulation of medicine,
no official control of quality whatsoever, and at the same time popular prejudices
against physicians, physicians were anxious to display inpublic the virtue of philanthropy,
in Greek: philanthropia .Physicians partaking in poisoning the wells would
have damaged the fame of the whole profession. The physician G alen of P ergamon,
who lived inthe 2 nd century A. D., court physician ofemperor M arc A urel,
called warfare which tried to poison wells or food a``villainyº (Greek: panourgia ).
(Ther. Pis. 5.K14, 231)
3. Poisoning ofWells and Worldwide Conspiracy: Plague and Persecution
of Jews in the Late Middle Ages
In the course of the Black Death in the 14 th century, the worst catastrophe that Europe
ever encountered inrecorded history, we find the rumor ofpoisoning the wells playing a
fatal role. This rumor rushed ahead ofthe plague, spreading from southern France tothe
North.
Popular resentment targeted the Jews, living in communities in the trade cities along
the way inSwitzerland and Germany. The Jews were found guilty of poisoning the
wells±before the plague's arrival. Under torture they confessed±and most communities
were exterminated, in Freiburg inJanuary 1349, in WuÈrzburg at the end ofApril 1349.
Partly, this was asort of mass hysteria, but the persecution and murder of the Jews
was nospontaneous action, it was planned and directed±the motives of the hate were
social, economic and religious. Impartial witnesses of these events, such as the Pope's
personal physician, Guy de C hauliac, acknowledged the crime with dismay. Physicians
were not involved in spreading the rumor or in accusing the Jews. Itwas too obvious
that the Jewish conspiracy against Christians did not exist.
In contrast to examples of military action to poison wells, either practical ortheoretical,
the charge against the Jews had ademonicaspect.They were accused of aworldwide
conspiracy,not alocalaction;sincenew testamentaltimesthe Jewswere regarded asenemies
of the Christians, the fight was between good and evil. The Jews thus were held responsible
because admittedly there were clever and able to take suchaworld-wide action,
but moreover they were regarded to beunited with demons and the devil himself.
But how could such nonsense of murderous dimension gain acceptance? Wehave to
look again at the opinions about the origin ofepidemics:
( i ) The medical theory of the miasmata was neutral, because there was nohuman responsibility.
( ii) Itwas an everyday experience ofmedical laymen that plague was contagious, for
the first time mentioned explicitly by the Athenian T hucydides, the same who
also mentioned the popular rumor of poisoning the wells. Contagion meant and
means that someone is the cause ofanother one's illness. There issomething, asubstance
ofpoisonous kind on men and goods, transmitting the disease.
22 Nova Acta Leopoldina NF 92, Nr. 344, 19 ±25 (2005)