Diagnosing Desire: Bodily Signs of Lovesickness in Early Modern Problem Literature

The medical understanding of lovesickness in the Early Modern period emerged from the convergence of several intellectual traditions, including Hippocratic and Galenic diagnostics, medieval theories of amor hereos, and natural-philosophical problem literature. This article examines how Spanish physician-authors writing in the vernacular popularized and transformed medical knowledge about the bodily signs of erotic passion through the genre of the problem book. Focusing on works by Francisco López de Villalobos, Juan de Jarava, Agustín de Ruescas, and Alonso López de Corella, it analyzes the symptoms most frequently associated with lovesickness, such as alterations of the pulse, insomnia, sighing, emaciation, and changes in the eyes and complexion. By contextualizing these texts within both ancient and medieval medical traditions, the study demonstrates how problem literature functioned as a vehicle for disseminating complex medical theories to a broader readership. The conclusion shows how this medical lore could be reworked in a playful and ironic manner in literary texts such as La pícara Justina, where conventional symptoms of lovesickness become the object of parody.