ABSTRACT
At Zaragoza’s main hospital, Santa Gracia, in 1667, a doctor making his rounds in the syphilis ward stopped by the bed of Bernardo Martínez, an adolescent student at Vicente Ferrer University College, and remained long enough to interrogate him thoroughly, despite the unpleasant stench of nearby patients sweating profusely due to mercury poultices and the heavy nightgowns and blankets heaped on them. 1 For some unknown reason – possibly resulting from an examination in situ, received information, or Bernardo’s behavior – the doctor asked Bernardo if he had gotten sick from sexual contact with a woman. The hospital constitutions and regulations from 1655 do not require this question. Bernardo must already have undergone a preliminary, even if verbal and probably hurried, exam. 2 Given the details of his sexual experiences that would surface later, Bernardo probably had anal syphilitic chancres.
