From Monastic Benevolence to Medical Beneficence: The Inception of Medical Ethics in Wallachia and Moldavia before the Second Half of the 19th Century

Sorin Hostiuc (), Oana-Maria Isailă (), Octavian Buda and Eduard Drima
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Sorin Hostiuc: Department of Legal Medicine and Bioethics, Faculty of Dental Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 020021 Bucharest, Romania
Oana-Maria Isailă: “Mina Minovici” National Institute of Legal Medicine, 042122 Bucharest, Romania
Octavian Buda: Department of History of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 020021 Bucharest, Romania
Eduard Drima: Department of Psychiatry, “Dunărea de Jos” University, 800008 Galați, Romania

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 16, 1-12

Abstract: In Middle Ages, in Moldavia and Wallachia, the healthcare system was almost non-existent, medical practice being the attribute of old women, midwives, charmers, and later monastic personnel. The first elements of medical ethics are identifiable in written texts from the 17th century, associated with a process of laicization of medicine and the appearance of the first combined civil and penal codes (Vasile Lupu’s Law from 1646 and Matei Basarab’s Law from 1652). In the next 150 years, elements of medical ethics were rarely identified, usually in legal regulations, personal letters, or literary works. Starting with the end of the 18th century, associated with the emergence of the position of public physician, detailed regulations regarding the healthcare system associated with an increased number of ethical norms began to emerge. The purpose of this article is to increase awareness to an international audience about the history of Romanian medical deontology and the roots of concepts appertaining to medical ethics in the territories of Moldavia and Wallachia.

Keywords: monastic benevolence; beneficence; consent; justice; competence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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