The Portuguese background of Ludovicus Nonnius

The Portuguese Renaissance was a period of great prestige for national arts and sciences. Innumerable acts concerning the teaching and practice of medicine at the universities and surgical schools of the kingdom were promulgated and contributed to the development of medicine and surgery. However, the 'Físico-Mor' (the principal physician of the country) and the 'Cirurgiäo-Mor' (the principal surgeon of the country) granted certificates to unqualified, non-graduated people. Therefore the medical assistance in Portugal began to decline. On the other hand the Portuguese Parliament did not allow Jews to practise medicine. When the Inquisition was established in Portugal, its extreme religious intolerance led many Jewish physicians to emigrate. Throughout history an important number of these physicians have been highly praised for their humanism, knowledge, pedagogy and with regard to the social repercussions of their medical practising abroad.