El inicio de la veterinaria en Españade la ilustración al liberalismo

Résumé

To study the beginning of the veterinary science in Spain, force us to confront the evolution of the veterinary surgery with the evolution of the rest of the sanitary sciences during the Enlightenment period, understanding the veterinary science as part of the group of useful sciences which the government try to activate in order to modernize the country. The first Spanish contact with the modern veterinary medicine begins to be conceived in 1774 in the Royal Stable. It is the first attempt to establish a methodical education of the veterinary science in Spain, linking it directly to the absolutist monarchy through the equerry of the king. The demise of the duke of Medina Sidonia in 1779, equerry and right-hand man of the king Carlos III, means the standstill of those intentions. The project is taken up again in 1783 with a clear military influence and an obvious political support. The rising Veterinary Medicine School is a military institution, in contrast with the rest of the sanitary sciences at that moment, which evolve towards a civil model closely bound to the Royal House through the sumiller de corps of the king. We determine the role carried out by different characters, and also the role of institutions as the Royal Stable and the Royal Premier Veterinary Surgeon Court. Concerning the Royal Stable, we offer an unprecedented view, turning its horses into the main characters through the veterinary medicine and the professionals responsible for taking care of their health. In relation to the Royal Premier Veterinary Surgeon Court, we supply documentary evidence about its functioning system and we dig into its knowledge, resulting in a more professional and appreciated veterinary surgery than it was spread by the veterinary historiography.