The Autopsy of Ferenc Barkóczy (1765) : Medical and Legal History of Autopsy in the Hungarian Kingdom and the Habsburg Empire

Kristóf, Lilla Alida and Németi, Balázs and Báthory, Orsolya (2024) The Autopsy of Ferenc Barkóczy (1765) : Medical and Legal History of Autopsy in the Hungarian Kingdom and the Habsburg Empire. Virus: Beiträge zur Socialgeschichte der Medizin, 23 (1). pp. 221-238. ISSN 1605-7066

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Abstract

Early traces of the methodology of pathological anatomy, systematized in the 19th century, were found in a document dating back to 1765 containing the description of an autopsy. This document records observations made during the autopsy of Ferenc Barkóczy (1710–1765), the head of the Hungarian Roman Catholic Church and the Archbishop of Esztergom. The systematic description, the sequence of opening body cavities, and the structure of the record roughly follow the canonized methods established about eighty years later. The reason why this description preceded its time can be primarily explained by the fact that the autopsy, in addition to determining the cause of death, also aimed at excluding the possibility of foul play (poisoning). In other words, the dissection of the body served a forensic purpose, also evidenced by the presence of the official state physician during the procedure.

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