Extraordinary Conceptions: Monsters in Rodrigo de Castro’s De universa mulierum medicina

The conception of monsters was a subject of interest as early as Aristotle’s works of biology and this interest continued, with different developments, throughout the classical and medieval periods. In the sixteenth century, a real obsession with monstrous conceptions and births developed. The subject became a common presence in medical treatises on obstetrics and gynaecology, which underwent widespread dissemination in this period. Attempts were made to classify beings that deviated from the natural as well as the causes that led to their generation. The physician Rodrigo de Castro Lusitano also addressed the issue in his comprehensive work on the nature of women and their diseases, De uniuersa mulierum medicina, published in 1603. He dealt with the subject by combining philosophical and literary considerations from Antiquity with medieval and Renaissance medical knowledge. Given the importance of the work, the aim of the article is to analyse the way Castro addressed the issue of the origin and nature of monsters and his main sources of reference. The article will also consider how monstrous births assisted his general programme to clarify female nature and to prescribe treatments for the diseases of women.