Miracles and Heretics: Protestants and Catholic Healing Practices in and around Geneva 1530–1750

摘要

From the time of the Reformation, Geneva was well provided with medical services as many healers came to live in the town. Lay and Protestant control of medical practice led to the prohibition of traditional healing practices within the city and deprived Genevans of Catholic healing rituals. Various sources suggest nevertheless that demand for such services prevailed in Geneva well into the eighteenth century. Following the evolution of available religious healing services in the vicinity of the town throughout the early modern period, this article aims to discuss how they affected the local medical market and how the Counter-Reformation clergy established on the border of the city's territory maintained confessional tension by tempting ailing Protestants with Catholic healing rituals.