A produção jesuítica sobre as artes de curar: reavaliando protagonismos, experiências e trocas interculturais (América platina, séculos XVII e XVIII)

Abstract

In this article, based on information extracted from the Cartas Ânuas of the Jesuitic Province of Paraguay, from the work Materia Medica Misionera (1710) –  attributed to Jesuit brother Pedro de Montenegro –, and from the manuscript, so far unpublished, Paraguay Natural Ilustrado (1771-1776), written by Jesuit priest José Sánchez Labrador –, we analyse the significant process of intercultural exchange that took place in the colleges and reductions of the Company of Jesus in Platin America, highlighting the role played by indigenous informants, nurses and scribes, in the identification, gathering and experimentations with native plants, as well as in the circulation of the knowledge of Medicinal Botanics systematised by the Jesuit missionaries, above all in the 18th century.