14 ZOLTÁN PÉTER BAGI
la Corte intentaba crear un nuevo tipo de institución sanitaria en la primera
mitad de la guerra. Esta institución sanitaria sería distinta a los hospitales
urbanos y capaz de desempeñar sus funciones en el campo de batalla. No
obstante, la lucha del sacerdote español resultó quijotesca, ya que sus planes
se vieron frustrados por deficientes condiciones financieras y por omisiones
o errores humanos. Consecuentemente, la Corte se vió obligada a seguir
utilizando los hospitales urbanos también para la curación de los soldados.
PALABRAS CLAVE: Pedro de Illanes, la Larga Guerra Turca, hospital
de campaña, Zachrias Geizkofler, Rodolfo II, Tobias Coberus.
ABSTRACT
The hired soldiers had to face many perils during the campaign. Naturally,
injuries taken on the battlefields and in sieges were primary among
these. Slash, stab and bullet wounds all were commonplace and required
proper treatment by the barber surgeons, feldshers and doctors who travelled
with the unit or the camp. However, the various diseases posed an
even more severe problem. These could be caused by the poor nutrition,
unfamiliar food and drinks, by the different climate, by the heat or cold, the
lack of sleep, wearing of armor and gear, by prolonged guard duty, the filth
and garbage accumulated in the camp, and by the smoke and harmful fumes
from the gunpowder and fuses. But more than any other contagious diseases,
the military leadership most feared the nearly epidemical syphilis, spread
by the prostitution that was ever present in the camps. Following Illanes’ inducements
and paying attention to his advice, the Court made efforts in the
first half of the Long Turkish War to set up a healthcare facility independent
of the town hospitals and which could operate under field conditions as well.
But it was not successful, due to financial reasons on the one hand and because
of human negligence on the other hand. Thus the Court was obliged
to continue using the urban hospitals to heal the soldiers.
KEY WORDS: Pedro de Illanes, Long Turkish War, field hospital,
Zacharias Geizkofler, Rudolf II, Tobias Coberus.
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Revista de Historia Militar, 127 (2020), pp. 14-40. ISSN: 0482-5748