Albert the Great (c. 1193–1280) and the Configuration of the Embryo: Virtus Formativa (Palgrave Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Medicine)

This book provides the first comprehensive treatment of Albert the Great’s (c. 1193–1280) notion of virtus formativa, a shaping force responsible for crucial dynamics in the formation of living beings. Crossing the boundaries between theology and philosophy, the notion of virtus formativa, or formative power, was central in explaining genetic inheritance and the configuration of the embryo. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this book reconstructs how Albert the Great, motivated by theological open issues, reorganised the natural-philosophical and medical theories on embryonic development, creatively drawing upon Greek, Patristic, and Arabic sources. A valuable contribution to research, this book offers essential insights for those studying the history of embryology, medicine, and science in the medieval and renaissance periods. Acknowledgments Contents About the Author 1 Albert the Great’s Embryology: An Interdisciplinary Approach 2 The Christian-Neoplatonic Background of Albert the Great’s Doctrine of Virtus Formativa 2.1 The Doctrine of Inchoatio Formae: The State of the Art 2.2 The Origin of Albert’s Doctrine on the Virtus Formativa Between Platonic and Aristotelian Metaphysics 2.3 The Virtus Formativa and Divine Providence 3 Virtus Formativa and Human Embryology 3.1 The Virtus Formativa and the Formation of the Embryo: Medical and Natural-Philosophical Sources The Virtus Formativa and the Animation of the Embryo in the Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century Theological Discussions 3.2 Albert’s Doctrine of Virtus Formativa: Between Traducianism and Preformism 3.3 Bodily Design and Dynamics of Transmission: The Seminal Fluid 3.4 Localization and Dynamics of Configuration: The Heart The “Heart” of Plants: The Virtus Reformativa 4 The Transmission of Genetic Inheritance 4.1 The Formative Power and the Transmission of Essential and Accidental Characteristics 4.2 Albert on the Nature of the Female Seed 4.3 The Female Formative Power and the Case Study of the Wind Eggs (ova venti) 4.4 The Biological Reason Underlying Kinship (Consanguinitas) 5 Final Remarks Bibliography Index