[Ludovicus Nonnius (1553-1645) Marrano physician in Antwerp, author of the 'Diaeteticon']

In 1492 and 1497 respectively the King of Spain and the King of Portugal promulgated decrees expelling jewish families from the Iberic Peninsula. The Nuñes family, that came to live in Antwerp at about 1550, was of marranic iberian descent. Alvarez Nuñes, Luis's (Ludovicus) father was for some time professor of medicine at the Louvain University and he practised private medicine in Antwerp for 30 years. He belonged to the group of Portuguese-marranic physicians who in Antwerp gave medicine a new impulse in the XVIth century, thanks to the return to Arabic-Islamic sources and consequently to the Greek tradition. The art of printing, in full expansion in Antwerp (e.g. Christophe Plantin), had also a stimulating influence. Ludovicus Nonnius was born in Antwerp in 1553; he obtained his medical degree in about 1577 in Louvain and settled down in his native town. He built up an important practice and became in 1620 a cofounder of the first medical society in the Southern Netherlands, the 'Collegium Medicum Antverpiense'. As physician, naturalist, writer, latin poet, numismatist and connaisseur of the Greek and Latin authors, this man is a good example of a Renaissance humanist. He died in 1645 at the age of 92. Numerous data point to his friendship with Rubens. Firstly, the frontispieces of two of Nonnius' books were signed by the Antwerp master. Secondly, there is Nonnius' portrait by Rubens. Thirdly, Rubens asked several times for Nonnius' medical advice. The artist appreciated especially his dietary prescriptions. Numerous writings from the hand of Ludovicus Nonnius have been preserved: his correspondence with Justus Lipsius and with the physician and writer from Dordrecht, Jan van Beverwyck, his comments on Latin classics, books on geography and history and several books on numismatics. A special merit of the author is that he can be considered to be the founder of medical dietetics. He was the first to systematically study foods from a medical and hygienic point of view. His work, however, is based upon empiricism and the booklearning of his century. The first of Nonnius' books on dietetics, "Ichthyophagia", describes 37 species of noble fish. He asserts that eating fish is very healthy. The main work of Nonnius is his "Diaeteticon sive de re cibaria libri IV" (first edition 1627, second edition 1645). The four parts of the "Diaeteticon" are full of references to and comments on numerous authors. In his first book he exposes the basic principles of a healthy feeding. Then follows the description of four kinds of bread, an enumeration of vegetables and fruit, with a description of their action upon the body humors. Finally a praise of salt, the universal preserving substance. The second part treats meat, even pork, that, according to Nonnius, may be eaten moderately. In the third book the produce of sea and rivers are examined, in fact a new version of the "Ichthyophagia". Finally in the "Liber Quartus" Nonnius discusses beverages: he describes several sorts of wine and the advises against the mixing of wines. Nonnius gave a great importance to the curative properties of mineral water, for instance by kidney stones. This subject was also dealt with in the correspondence between Nonnius and van Beverwyck. The mild pinotherapy was in any case more advisable than the lithotomy applied in season and out of season at that time. Nonnius' works had a great notoriety which was a rare fact for books about medicine. Nowadays, the general principles the author formulated about 'healthy food' are still valuable. In his view they evidently lean only on empirism; that is why many of his counsels cannot be followed any longer. Nevertheless the insistence of Nonxius on eating fish and drinking mineral water may still be fully agreed with.