Chocolate: or, An Indian Drinke (ePub)

Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma was a Spanish physician and writer of the early 17th century, known for his contributions to the medical field and his work on the subject of chocolate. His most famous treatise, 'Chocolate: or, An Indian Drinke', originally published in Spanish as 'Curioso tratado de la naturaleza y calidad del chocolate', translates and elaborates on the preparation and health benefits of chocolate, which was then a relatively new delicacy in Europe, having been introduced from the Americas. Colmenero de Ledesma's book serves as one of the earliest European texts dedicated to the subject. He combined his medical expertise and knowledge of New World botany to assert chocolate's medicinal properties, helping to popularize its consumption among the European aristocracy of the time (Coe & Coe, 2007; Norton, 2006). His scholarly approach included citing other eminent figures and incorporating aspects of humoral theory, which underpinned much of the medical understanding during that era. By framing chocolate within this medical paradigm, Colmenero de Ledesma contributed to the beverage's integration into the pharmacopoeias of Europe and its subsequent diffusion into everyday life. His literary style is characteristic of Renaissance didactic works, merging scientific inquiry with a pedagogical intent, thus encapsulating the transitional phase between medieval scholasticism and empirical enquiry that defined the period's scientific explorations.