¿Por qué los Hombres tienen diversas Maneras de Ojos? Curiosities about the Eyes in Juan de Jarava’s Problemas o Preguntas problemáticas (1544)

Abstract

The so-called ‘problem books’ of the 15th and 16th centuries originate from the pseudo-Aristotelian Problemata, which were rediscovered around 1300. Their authors were often physicians who prepared medical information for a broad public and combined it with highly heterogeneous pools of knowledge. This article deals with different questions in regards to the eye and the sense of sight in Juan de Jarava’s Problemas o Preguntas Problemáticas, published in 1544. The physician, a man with Erasmist inclinations whose existence remains a mystery, divides his work into three parts, with each relating to love, natural phenomena, and wine. In all three parts, questions related to the eyes are raised. These issues are contextualized in the scholarly discourse of the time in order to determine to what extent Jarava is representative of knowledge about the eyes in the early modern period. The example of vision and the eyes can be used to show how early modern medical writers such as Juan de Jarava and Agustín de Ruescas tackled the complexity of the world in their problem books.