As I always understood it, the religious prohibition against Christian doctors performing surgery went back well before the 17th century. In fact, it dates back to 1163 CE. In both France & England, barber-surgeons were organized into guilds during the 14th century. While I couldn’t find any specific references to pre-17th century barber poles, most of the sources I checked agreed that they, along with the barber-surgeon tradition, date to the Middle Ages.
Darn, Wolfgrrl, you beat me to it. I’m certainly no expert in this, but felt real proud of myself in finding this link on the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) that describes the proscription of surgery by the clergy (check out cannon 18). This takes the subject out of the “Galileo and Pilgrims” era back to the “crusades and heretics” fun times. Love that Cannon 19, forbiding the blessing of water and hot iron for “judicial tests and ordeals”.
I’m facinated at the historical struggles between science and religion, and this is great stuff.
