In a remote area in the heart of the Apennines, in the Umbria region, an art was developed for centuries: that of cutting.
From Norcia, southwest of Perugia, came the
norcini
, whose refined technique in cutting meat made them, at first, expert butchers and, later, surgeons recognized in European courts.
The
norcini
were butchers and master butchers since the time of Ancient Rome: they slaughtered pigs and preserved their meat in different ways.
According to the historian Ignazio Pappalardo in
Litotomi e oculisti preciani e norcini
(1963), the
norcini
“acquired a special skill in cutting, gutting and dissecting animals and their knowledge of anatomy was perfect.
Additionally, to improve the pork and make it softer, they castrated the animals when they were young.”
Thus, the
norcini
worked itinerantly and in pairs, both throughout Umbria and, later, throughout the country, during the period in which the slaughters have traditionally been carried out: between San Andrés (November 30) and San Antonio Abad (January 17).
“The
norcini
had a limited range of action and tended not to compete with each other, which is why they created their territorial monopolies,” explains Alberto Grandi in
Denominazione di origine inventata
(Mondadori, 2018).
This skill with the knife soon led them to treat human ailments.
According to the Giovanni Trecanni encyclopedia, “thanks to his knowledge, it was not uncommon for the people to go to them for simple surgical operations, since it was cheaper than the surgeon.
“They treated tumors, hernias and cataracts, and were in great demand for the castration of children who would pursue a musical career as white voices.”
Italian sausages from Umbria.Michelle Lee (Michelle R. Lee)
The truth is that the development of some of the
norcini
butchers as doctors coincides with a historical fact that positioned them as perfect candidates: in 1215, through the Fourth Lateran Council, the Catholic Church prohibited religious people from practicing surgery under penalty of excommunication. .
The idea behind this, which had been consolidated a century before in different councils such as Reims and Tours, was that priests and monks should be concerned with saving only souls and not bodies.
The medical knowledge that came from the ancient Greeks and Romans, and that had been largely lost between the 4th and 10th centuries, was in the hands of monasteries such as that of Monte Cassino (Lazio), founded precisely by Saint Benedict of Norcia in 529 BC (to which legend attributes the miraculous power to cure kidney stones and in whose rules is found the famous
ora et labora
, but also the responsibility of caring for the sick).
It was at that time that some of those skilled butchers took over the surgical practices of the Benedictine monks.
“Today, in Italy,
norcini
just means butcher, which ironically is the trade from which an entire dynasty of doctors came,” says historian Fiona Davidson.
They were the only specialists who could operate on kidney stones, cataracts and inguinal hernias, for which they developed precise instruments and innovative techniques to fight infections, bleeding and pain.
“The determining factor that contributed to the renowned Preci Nephrological School (within Norcia) was the empirical study of surgery on animals, mainly pigs,” details Mario Timio, from the Foligno Hospital.
The relationship between the two professions is not incomprehensible and neither is their success, “due to their art with cutting,” says Paolo Savoia in
Knowing Nature by Its Surface: Butchers, Barbers, Surgeons, Gardeners, and Physicians in Early Modern Italy
(Centaurus .
Journal of the European Society for the History of Science
, 64, 2, 2022).
They are a perfect example of what anthropologists and historians call
trading zones
, that is, bidirectional exchanges between different professionals and experts.
In this case, between men of practical knowledge and theoretical knowledge, whose knowledge surpassed species.
In this way, already in 1581, Vicenzo Cervio, author of
Ragionamento sopra l'officio del trinciante
described how barbers and butchers were “professional food cutters” and knew how to give names to each part of the meat that was served on the table. .
“Chefs, butchers, food cutters and surgeons share cognitive models that involve an intellectual approach that gives relevance to the surface of the body, and a practical attitude to manipulate the different layers of the bodies that they are repairing, dismembering or composing as edible matter. ”, adds Paolo Savoia.
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