Francisco Núñez de Oria was a physician at the court of Philip II and the author of several medical treatises as well as poetry. This medical work reveals a particular concern with disseminating and making his profound knowledge of medicine accessible, along with an evident passion for poetry, which he intersperses throughout his writings. Among his seven medical works is the one presented here: Regimiento y aviso de sanidad, que trata de todos los géneros de alimentos y regimiento della, a corrected and expanded version of his Aviso de sanidad of 1572. This text offers a thorough analysis of the foods commonly consumed in his time, including some of the newly introduced products from the Americas, which the author refers to as from “India or New India,” even recounting interesting details about the eating habits encountered by the conquistadors. Núñez de Oria provides guidance on the effects of these foods on health and the healthiest ways to consume them. At the end, the work includes the first edition of the Tractado del uso de las mujeres.

Treatise on the Use of Women. Núñez de Oria composes a treatise on coitus: “In which it is declared what coitus, or the venereal act, is, and whether the delight of such an act is greater in the woman than in the man…” (“En el qual se declara, que cosa sea el coyto, o acto venereo, y si la delactacion de tal acto sea mayor en la muger que en el varon”). He affirms that sexually women are “of insatiable appetite and more lustful than men. That in coitus or venereal union the appetite and delight of women increase more than in men, both because of the friction made by the man and by the movement of the womb” (“de apetito insaciable y mas lujuriosas que los varones. Que en el coytio o ayuntamiento venereo se augmenta el apetito y delectacion de las mujeres mas que en los varones, asi por la friccion que hace el varon como por el movimiento de la matriz”).

He recommends sexual relations in moderation for their benefits: they lighten the body, cheer the spirit, calm anger, dispel troubling thoughts, relieve the head and the senses, and help preserve a firm and youthful body, among other effects. However, he warns that excessive coitus causes ailments: “it harms the eyesight… it damages the nerves and the stomach, and for women it has caused miscarriages or abortions” (“hace daño a la vista… haze daño a los nervios y al estomago, y a las mujeres han malparido o hecho aborto,”). He maintains that the best season of the year for the “exercise” of coitus is summer, because the strength of the body is more robust.

The Tractado del uso de las mujeres is composed of twelve chapters, dealing primarily with coitus, though it also addresses other subjects: what coitus is; its benefits and advantages; the harms and ailments caused by excessive use of coitus; the season of the year in which it is harmful; to which temperaments of men he recommends moderate intercourse and who are most apt for it; at what time of year and hour it is most fitting; recommendations for religious men and those wishing to preserve chastity; what should be done by those who want to avoid temptations; on baths and the conditions they should have; on cold-water baths; on sleep and the benefits of digestion; the uses and advantages of sleep, and the harms when it is excessive; and the proper hour for sleep and the disposition of the body.

In Book I, Chapter III, on the “strange dietary customs of certain peoples,” the author writes: “Many consider incredible the things that are told of certain nations, both in their customs and in their appearance and ceremonies. Even now, when such accounts are given, they are often not believed: especially what some authors before our time have written of the memorable things of the Indies, though many seeds, many varieties of wheat, diverse birds, and animals have been brought from there, never before seen… We read of many peoples of the Scythians who eat human flesh, and now in the New India the same is done by those people called Cannibals, which might seem unbelievable…”. [In Mexico-Tenochtitlán and other cultures, following human sacrifices, parts of the body could be consumed in ritual banquets, as offerings to the gods. Their consumption was symbolic and sacred rather than nutritional.]

Chapter V of the First Book, “On the foods of the New Indies and their regimen,” is devoted to nourishment in America. “It is certain that on those islands there is found such fertility of herbs, of trees, of shrubs of precious fragrance, of animals, of birds, that it caused in all of us no less admiration than Alexander the Great had among his own… Well then, let us begin with the Island of Puerto Santo [on the coast of Venezuela, explored by Columbus in 1498]. This island is very fertile in wheat and rye, and in every kind of livestock. There is a great abundance of hares and rabbits. Here is the Isle of Madeira, so abundant in sugar that from it are formed infinite kinds of confections and marzipans… Those who wrote about the Indies said that they ate barley bread; besides this, they eat meats, cheese, and milk….Hispaniola, an island first discovered by the navigation of Columbus [the first Spanish territory in America, today Santo Domingo], has inhabitants similar to the Cannibals, who eat human flesh. On this island, they cultivate certain roots in the manner of turnips; they have the taste of chestnuts, although when fresh, they are unpleasant in flavor. On that island, they are called Ages, and in other places, batatas [sweet potato or yam]. From them, they make bread. On the island of Guadalupe, there is a nation that eats human flesh, and for this reason, they are called Anthrophagi. It breeds many parrots larger than peacocks, with wings of various colors, the rest of the body red; they fatten them, and they are most delicious to eat. There is another island not far from Cuba, whose people consider as their greatest and most delicate delicacy the flesh of serpents, to such a degree that it is served at the tables of kings and princes. Curtana is an island discovered by Pero Alphonso, very abundant in most delicate and exquisite foods [referring to the island of Cumaná, discovered by Pedro Alonso Niño, who collaborated with Columbus in the discovery of America] Amerigo Vespucci arrived at an island whose people eat the flesh of their enemies, and they say it is most delicious… [Americo Vespucci, who took part in at least two voyages of exploration to the New World, and in whose honor the name America was given.] In his first voyage, Amerigo Vespucci discovered a land where the natives did not know what bread was; their food consisted of herbs and roots, apples, and fish. They have a root which they grind, and from its flour they make bread to eat. This root some call cazaui, others yucea, others yname, and others…”

On New Spain and its new foods, he writes: “In certain Spanish islands which they call New Spain, there is a seed called maize, from which is made a bread softer than that of wheat, for the bread from its flour is prepared with greater ease, and it nourishes more and gives greater strength… Many trees grow everywhere without being sown or transplanted. They bear a great abundance of apples and fruits. There are some apples in the color and shape of lemons, and they are sour-sweet. There are others like citrons in size and color… This land produces pine nuts and abounds in palms. Moreover, there grow roots as large as turnips, and as great as truffles, which they call patatas or batatas [potatoes]. They grow like truffles, without being planted, from the richness of the soil. These roots have a skin harder and more viscous than turnips and truffles, but inside they are very white and very tender; they are eaten raw and roasted like chestnuts, and resemble them in taste… They eat crickets, and cicadas, locusts, crabs, and snails, and they salt all these little creatures to eat, and carry them to the innermost parts of the Indies… Finally, in this New Spain there are diverse kinds of plants, herbs, livestock, game, birds, and roots, which are not found in other lands.”

Among the birds, he refers to turkeys: “There is also a kind of Indian hens which in Spain they call pavos, because they are nearly of the same size, and they have various colors in their feathers…” (folio 115v) [The turkey was called guajolote by the pre-Hispanics, from the Nahuatl huexólotl (hueyi: great, and xólotl: strange monster), meaning “great monstrous bird” or “great strange bird.” It was considered a prestigious animal in pre-Hispanic banquets]. In the Third Book, on vegetables, he refers to the sweet potato, newly arrived in Spain, at first used as an exotic or medicinal plant and later as food: “From the Indies they bring certain turnips, or long and thick roots in the manner of turnips, which they call batatas. They are cooked with meat like turnips, and are tender and juicy. They have the taste of cooked chestnuts…” (folio 212v) (“Traen de las Indias unos nabos, o raices largas y gruesas a manera de nabos que llaman batatas, cuecen las con carnes como nabos y son tiernas y jugosas. Tiene el sabor de castañas cocidas…”).

In the Fourth Book, on spices, the author speaks of cinnamon and refers to a cinnamon from Quito: “From the Indies of Quito is brought a certain kind of cinnamon, very different in appearance from ours, although in fragrance, taste, and effect it is the same. It is in truth the fruit of a tree like a laurel, shaped like a mushroom, for it has a small cup like a cap. It has the same effects as ours. It is beneficial against the harmfulness of bad waters and against plague” (folio 304). Regarding pepper, he says: “What is truer about the pepper they say comes from the Indies is that it has a certain accidental moisture. This is planted in gardens, very beautiful in its color, and it stimulates the appetite more. This other pepper is a long red fruit of pyramidal shape… In wintertime, in cold persons, and when put into cold and moist dishes, it is very suitable for stews and sauces…”

As a colophon to the treatise, Núñez de Oria inserts the recipe of a purgative in the form of a Latin epigram, dedicated to Philip II, which he then translates into Castilian as a sonnet.