Overcoming medical scholasticism in New Spain: experience and indigenous knowledge in Arias de Benavides’ treatment of syphilis

This article examines the impact of non-Western medical knowledge on European medicine during the Early Modern period, with a specific focus on the medical work of Spanish surgeon Pedro Arias de Benavides in New Spain. The paper discusses Benavides' innovative approach to treating syphilis in the New World, which challenged the inefficiencies of European scholastic medicine when dealing with diseases prevalent in the Americas. It shows that Benavides´scientific contribution stems from the assimilation of indigenous healing practices and American materia medica into his medical background, often questioning established classical medical theories.