Baptism Through Incision
In 1786, Guatemalan priest Pedro José de Arrese published a work instructing readers on their duty to perform the cesarean operation on the bodies of recently deceased pregnant women in order to extract the fetus while it was still alive. Although the fetus’s long-term survival was desired, the over...
Sábháilte in:
| Príomhchruthaitheoirí: | , , |
|---|---|
| Formáid: | Online |
| Teanga: | Béarla |
| Foilsithe / Cruthaithe: |
Penn State University Press
2026
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| Ábhair: | |
| Rochtain ar líne: | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/111274 |
| Clibeanna: |
Níl clibeanna ann, Bí ar an gcéad duine le clib a chur leis an taifead seo!
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| _version_ | 1869515141130747904 |
|---|---|
| author | Few, Martha Tortorici, Zeb Warren, Adam |
| author_browse | Few, Martha Tortorici, Zeb Warren, Adam |
| author_facet | Few, Martha Tortorici, Zeb Warren, Adam |
| author_sort | Few, Martha |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | In 1786, Guatemalan priest Pedro José de Arrese published a work instructing readers on their duty to perform the cesarean operation on the bodies of recently deceased pregnant women in order to extract the fetus while it was still alive. Although the fetus’s long-term survival was desired, the overarching goal was to cleanse the unborn child of original sin and ensure its place in heaven. Baptism Through Incision presents Arrese’s complete treatise—translated here into English for the first time—with a critical introduction and excerpts from related primary source texts. Inspired by priests’ writings published in Spain and Sicily beginning in the mid-eighteenth century, Arrese and writers like him in Peru, Mexico, Alta California, Guatemala, and the Philippines penned local medico-religious manuals and guides for performing the operation and baptism. Comparing these texts to one another and placing them in dialogue with archival cases and print culture references, this book traces the genealogy of the postmortem cesarean operation throughout the Spanish Empire and reconstructs the transatlantic circulation of obstetrical and scientific knowledge around childbirth and reproduction. In doing so, it shows that knowledge about cesarean operations and fetal baptism intersected with local beliefs and quickly became part of the new ideas and scientific-medical advancements circulating broadly among transatlantic Enlightenment cultures. A valuable resource for scholars and students of colonial Latin American history, the history of medicine, and the history of women, reproduction, and childbirth, Baptism Through Incision includes translated excerpts of works by Spanish surgeon Jaime Alcalá y Martínez, Mexican physician Ignacio Segura, and Peruvian friar Francisco González Laguna, as well as late colonial Guatemalan instructions, and newspaper articles published in the Gazeta de México , the Gazeta de Guatemala , and the Mercurio Peruano . |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-173927 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Penn State University Press |
| publisherStr | Penn State University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1739272026-03-19T14:27:27Z Baptism Through Incision Few, Martha Tortorici, Zeb Warren, Adam Cesarean section Cesarean operation Childbirth Baptism Colonial Guatemala Latin America Spanish Empire Obstetrics Abortion Indigenous Peoples Maya peoples Mesoamerica thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHK History of the Americas thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity::QRMP Christian life and practice::QRMP1 Christian sacraments thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBX History of medicine thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHB General and world history thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity In 1786, Guatemalan priest Pedro José de Arrese published a work instructing readers on their duty to perform the cesarean operation on the bodies of recently deceased pregnant women in order to extract the fetus while it was still alive. Although the fetus’s long-term survival was desired, the overarching goal was to cleanse the unborn child of original sin and ensure its place in heaven. Baptism Through Incision presents Arrese’s complete treatise—translated here into English for the first time—with a critical introduction and excerpts from related primary source texts. Inspired by priests’ writings published in Spain and Sicily beginning in the mid-eighteenth century, Arrese and writers like him in Peru, Mexico, Alta California, Guatemala, and the Philippines penned local medico-religious manuals and guides for performing the operation and baptism. Comparing these texts to one another and placing them in dialogue with archival cases and print culture references, this book traces the genealogy of the postmortem cesarean operation throughout the Spanish Empire and reconstructs the transatlantic circulation of obstetrical and scientific knowledge around childbirth and reproduction. In doing so, it shows that knowledge about cesarean operations and fetal baptism intersected with local beliefs and quickly became part of the new ideas and scientific-medical advancements circulating broadly among transatlantic Enlightenment cultures. A valuable resource for scholars and students of colonial Latin American history, the history of medicine, and the history of women, reproduction, and childbirth, Baptism Through Incision includes translated excerpts of works by Spanish surgeon Jaime Alcalá y Martínez, Mexican physician Ignacio Segura, and Peruvian friar Francisco González Laguna, as well as late colonial Guatemalan instructions, and newspaper articles published in the Gazeta de México , the Gazeta de Guatemala , and the Mercurio Peruano . 2026-03-19T14:27:26Z 2026-03-19T14:27:26Z 2026-03-06T14:31:58Z 2020 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/111274 9780271086743 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/173927 eng Latin American Originals open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/111274/1/9780271086743.pdf Penn State University Press Penn State University Press 10.5325/b.20208684 10.5325/b.20208684 e4e05b94-0f85-49a1-ba66-543b1dd40087 9780271086743 Penn State University Press 152.0 University Park, PA open access |
| spellingShingle | Cesarean section Cesarean operation Childbirth Baptism Colonial Guatemala Latin America Spanish Empire Obstetrics Abortion Indigenous Peoples Maya peoples Mesoamerica thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHK History of the Americas thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity::QRMP Christian life and practice::QRMP1 Christian sacraments thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBX History of medicine thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHB General and world history thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity Few, Martha Tortorici, Zeb Warren, Adam Baptism Through Incision |
| title | Baptism Through Incision |
| title_full | Baptism Through Incision |
| title_fullStr | Baptism Through Incision |
| title_full_unstemmed | Baptism Through Incision |
| title_short | Baptism Through Incision |
| title_sort | baptism through incision |
| topic | Cesarean section Cesarean operation Childbirth Baptism Colonial Guatemala Latin America Spanish Empire Obstetrics Abortion Indigenous Peoples Maya peoples Mesoamerica thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHK History of the Americas thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity::QRMP Christian life and practice::QRMP1 Christian sacraments thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBX History of medicine thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHB General and world history thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity |
| topic_facet | Cesarean section Cesarean operation Childbirth Baptism Colonial Guatemala Latin America Spanish Empire Obstetrics Abortion Indigenous Peoples Maya peoples Mesoamerica thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHK History of the Americas thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity::QRMP Christian life and practice::QRMP1 Christian sacraments thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBX History of medicine thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHB General and world history thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity |
| url | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/111274 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fewmartha baptismthroughincision AT tortoricizeb baptismthroughincision AT warrenadam baptismthroughincision |