Alisha Rankin’s book Poison Trials: Wonder Drugs, Experiment, and the Battle for Authority in Renaissance Science (Poison Trials) is a fascinating journey through the evolution of Renaissance medicine and science focusing on the testing of poison antidotes by the ecclesiastical and secular nobility of Western Europe and the discovery and development of cure-all’s. Rankin earned her Ph.D. from Harvard in the History of Science and studied at Trinity College in Cambridge before joining the history department at Tufts University. Rankin’s research interests include the History of Science and Medicine, Early Modern Europe, Women’s History, and the History of the Body and sexuality. In Poison Trials, Rankin explains how medical experimentation was shaped by the contest for authority and rank among the nobility in sixteenth-century Europe. She does this by presenting three sub-arguments and supporting them with relevant and detailed case studies on poison trials (chapters 1-4) and the creation of cure-alls and panacea (chapters 5 and 6). Overall, Poison Trials is an informative, enjoyable read that should be a welcome addition to any Historian of science or medicine’s collection.
In Poison Trials, Rankin explores how panaceas, experimentation, and notions of medical authority were affected by poison and antidote testing in sixteenth-century Europe. Following this idea, Poison Trials delved deeper into the subject by splitting the book into three sections, each exploring two case studies focusing on that section’s argument. The first part, “Authorities,” sheds light on the history of poison trials and explores the social and political reasons for holding them. Part two, “Experiments,” looks at the peak of poison trials in the sixteenth century, including the careful procedural dance done by political advisors to make the trials acceptable to the public, and part three, “Wonder Drugs,” is a fascinating look into how poison antidotes made way for the discovery and production of cure-alls and panaceas. These arguments, arranged chronologically, highlight each of the sections of her thesis and go in-depth into them. Each section analyzes a relevant case study using the historical analysis from the previous section in a stepping-stone fashion. In her conclusion, Rankin demonstrates how the procedures developed for poison trials continued to influence scientific experimentation in the late seventeenth century.
Poison Trials examines the influence of sixteenth-century antidote trials and panaceas over scientific and cultural medical experimentation. The antidote trials performed on human and animal subjects and the observations made by the physicians who ran them contrast the testimonials hawkers of “empirics” used as proof their cures worked. Physicians who took part in these trials viewed their methods as far superior to the uneducated practitioners who went from town to town selling these untested remedies. Rankin posits that the evolution of documenting these trials and the moral questions surrounding the trials were crucial in setting the course for medical experimentation in the seventeenth century. Rankin discussed the difficulty in testing drugs since everyone’s humoral balance was different physicians had to formulate drugs for each person. These difficulties did not exist when dealing with poisons as they affected everyone the same way, bypassing the humors. This difference allowed poison trials to take place with concrete results.
The records of these poison trials contained excruciating detail of the experience of those who were ingesting the poison and the antidote. Physicians believed that these records legitimized the tests. Chapter four of Poison Trials details the 1580 poison trial undertaken by condemned thief Wendel Tumler. Count Wolfgang II of Hohenlohe, known for his interest in the natural world and alchemy, called the trial. Wolfgang’s counselors took great pains to ensure that everything above the trial appeared above board so as not to agitate the public. Rankin’s analysis of the situation gives the reader a view into beliefs about death, what constitutes a good death, and the public’s role in executions. This inclusion of societal norms and the concern nobles had concerning keeping the general public happy may seem out of place, but those concerns influenced how physicians tested these antidotes and drugs.
Poison Trials is a strong entry into the academic literature of the History of Science. The book uses primary sources to demonstrate how poison trials influenced the course of medical and scientific experimentation. Rankin’s case studies strengthen her thesis and are engaging and well-written. The personal and background details Rankin included about her subjects make the book engaging, and the images are on point and add to the book’s value. However, if it has one, Poison Trial’s weak point is Rankin’s attempt to connect sixteenth-century poison trials with the COVID pandemic. When Rankin was writing the book in the spring of 2020, things were very uncertain, but today, that feeling of uncertainty does not connect anymore. Rankin’s extensive research on sixteenth-century poison trials, a subject she states has been overlooked in the history of science, adds depth to the field of medical history and gives a window into the moral and social pressures physicians faced when running poison trials. Although Poison Trials takes place in the sixteenth century, its argument and the way the book shows the progression of experimentation throughout the Renaissance means it fits perfectly with the material for a class on the scientific revolution. Rankin intended her monograph for a specialist audience, but a knowledgeable general reader would also find it enjoyable.
Poison Trials is an enjoyable, informative read that proves its argument but also makes the reader want to know more about the cure-alls of sixteenth-century Europe. Rankin also briefly discusses the role of women in medicine in the medieval and Renaissance. While this section does not add to the book’s overall evidence, it piques the reader’s interest. The explanation of ancient poison trials and their influence on Renaissance physicians added context and background to her argument. Rankin’s section on wonder drugs and those practitioners who sold them fit well into the book and inspired this review to dig into the subject deeper. The Poison Trials: Wonder Drugs, Experiment and the Battle for Authority in Renaissance Science by Alisha Rankin is well researched, well written, informative, and enjoyable to read and is recommended for historians of science and medicine as well as the informed general reader.
