A NEIGHBOR HELPS A NEIGHBOR: EXCHANGE OF HEALTHCARE SERVICES

The state archives in Dubrovnik is a treasury of data on the cooperation between citizens of the Republic and those of Bosnian Eyalet, which lasted for over three centuries. They include innumerable topics and innumerable stories, some about tensions and hostilities, and many about various ways of nourishing neighborly relations. The mutual reliance of neighbors is very clearly confirmed by their willingness to help the sick, give them a medicine and provide a doctor, at any time and always when it was needed.

               Doctors from Dubrovnik often went to treat sick Bosnian beylerbeys, sanjak-beys, women in their harems, members of their courts and other notables. In letters to Dubrovnik authorities, the latter sometimes described what disease they suffered from: one it was an ulcer on the foot, another time it was about “blurred” eyes. Sometimes, they named the doctors they asked for, which means that they had known them from before and that they were familiar with their skills. At times, the sick would come to Dubrovnik for treatment; for instance, in 1509, the sanjak-bey's son came, suffering from syphilis, and in 1539, the visitor was sanjak-bey's favorite slave, who fled as soon as he got better and thus gave many headaches to people of Dubrovnik.

            Many letters have been preserved which revealed a need for a doctor, as well as gratitude for their coming and doing a good job. Clearly, the letters were written in Ottoman Turkish and that is why a great significance is attached to one letter, which was written by the captain of Gabela in Latin alphabet, in warm and friendly words, “three days before Eid of 1684.”:

            From me, the captain of Gabela and the Neretva and other agas in Gabela, nice and very kind and friendly greetings to all honorable and noble and worthy of pride, our brave friend the noble bey Knez (duke) and the other nobility and their wives from Dubrovnik; our old man Abazaga Šagravić is sick, he farts and swells from the waist down, and there is no master here who could guess which disease it is and who would begin to treat him, that is why we write and ask for your mercy to send us doctor Nikola Boljahnić from Ston to see which disease it is and if he agrees to treat him we would pay him for his effort, and we therefore kindly beg of you to ask policemen from Zažablje and several men of ours to escort him, we would be very grateful; please give us instructions and write if he can come, and we will do whatever your grace orders us, and stay well ...

            Notables from Bosnia and Herzegovina often asked for drugs as well. The list is long and, among other things, it includes syrup from peach seeds and a potion made of cinnamon for stomach troubles, syrup of maidenhair for lung diseases and preparations made of tamarind and citrus flowers, which served as laxative. The “magic” mandrake, a very strong pain killer and narcotic, was also requested. A mixture of white wine, brandy, lemon juice and pepper probably also served as a healing potion, since it was ordered by sanjak-bey of Herzegovina in 1723.

            Several times, Ottoman dignitaries and their court doctors asked for venomous snakes for preparing various drugs. Sending them in 1738, people of Dubrovnik wrote:

            We have also received your request for about six snakes, but very fresh, and that is why we sent people to look for them on these rocks and cliffs, and they brought several, out of which we chose the best twelve, which have been put into a box properly made, and firmly covered and bound, and we are sending you the box by this man, but be very careful when taking the snakes out of the box, because they are very fierce, and few men survived their bite.

            On the other hand, Bosnia had a superb medicine which was gladly and frequently consumed by people from Dubrovnik, i.e. medicinal waters of Kiseljak and surroundings of Travnik. Whenever somebody from Dubrovnik wanted to use these waters for treatment, the authorities would ask the Bosnian beylerbey to issue an order, bujuruldijua, which would guarantee the patient safe journey and treatment:

            Our nobleman Luko Sorgo, your servant, suffers from gastritis, and wants to go to treatment at Kiseljak, in the nahiya of Fojnica. We therefore kindly ask you, Your Highness, to issue a firm bujuruldija to kadis and other officers of the kadiluks he will pass through on his way from Dubrovnik to Kiseljak, so that he, his escort, assets and belongings would not be threatened by anybody.

            Besides Luko Sorgo, Kiseljak was visited by many other noblemen as well as commoners. For example, when Antun Vitković fell seriously ill working by fire and smoke in the mint of Dubrovnik for about twenty years, doctors told him that only Bosnian medicinal waters could help him. With financial support by Dubrovnik authorities and permission of beylerbey, he immediately went to treatment.

            Medicinal waters near Travnik were extensively described by doctor Makro Flori from Dubrovnik. He visited the court of Bosnian beylerbey in Travnik several times and used the opportunity to get familiar with the surroundings. He recorded that innumerable springs rise from the soil there, which are very cold even in the mid-summer and famous by the worth of their water. Many people from Dubrovnik were successfully healed with these medicinal waters. Several thousand kilometers away from the medicinal springs there were mineral waters, the course of which was visible at three sites. One spring, which exceed the others by abundance and healing properties, rises chattering from the ground in a waste area near a tiny river. Water of this spring is very tasteful. Waters which he tasted in Italy, Flori concluded, were considerably weaker than Bosnian ones