Page 101 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(1) (2025)

Exploring Cannabis and Opium in Post-Medieval Portugal and Related Nations
Through Archaeological and Literary Evidence
Raziskovanje konoplje in opija v novoveški Portugalski ter sorodnih državah
na podlagi arheoloških in literarnih virov

Miguel Martins de Sousa
ArqueoHoje, Conservação e Restauro do Património Monumental
msousa@arqueohoje.com

Abstract
This paper examines cannabis (Cannabis sp.) and opium (Papaver somniferum) in post-medieval Europe,
with a focus on Portugal and regions shaped by global trade and colonial networks. Covering the six- 101
teenth–nineteenth centuries, it synthesizes historical texts such as medical treatises, travel narratives,
and ethnographic accounts, alongside fragmentary material evidence to trace how these substances
were perceived, used, and culturally embedded. The sources suggest diverse roles, from therapeutic and
recreational applications to broader symbolic meanings within early modern life. While the evidence is
dispersed and often partial, the study contributes to a growing historiography of psychoactive substanc-
es in Europe. By foregrounding Portuguese examples within wider intellectual and cultural currents, it
advances inquiry into how cannabis and opium intersected with evolving notions of the body, health,
and consciousness in the early modern period.
Keywords: cannabis, opium, Portugal, 16th–19th centuries, consuming habits.

Izvleček
Članek obravnava izbrane vidike konoplje (Cannabis sp.) in opija (Papaver somniferum) v postsrednjeve-
ških evropskih kontekstih, s posebnim poudarkom na regijah, kot je Portugalska, ki so jih oblikovali
vplivi globalne trgovine in kolonialnih povezav. Za obdobje od 16. do 19. stoletja se prispevek opira na ar-
heološke sledi ter književne in medicinske vire, da bi raziskal, kako so bile te snovi dojemane, uporablje-
ne in kulturno umeščene.
Konoplja in opij se pojavljata v zgodovinskih besedilih – od medicinskih traktatov in potopisov do
etnografskih opazovanj – ob razpršenih materialnih dokazih. Ti viri omogočajo vpogled v raznolike
vloge, ki so jih te snovi igrale v zgodnjem novem veku, vključno z zdravljenjem, doseganjem spremenje-
nih stanj zavesti ter s simbolnimi pomeni. Čeprav dokazi ostajajo fragmentarni in številna vprašanja od-
prta, prispevek dopolnjuje razumevanje zgodovine psihoaktivnih snovi v Evropi. Z vključevanjem por-
tugalskih primerov v širši kulturni in intelektualni okvir odpira pot nadaljnjim raziskavam o odnosu
med telesom, zdravjem in zavestjo v zgodovinskem času.
Ključne besede: konoplja, opij, Portugalska, 16.–19. stoletje, potrošniške navade.

Introduction news of tobacco spread, depicted as a valuable
lthough some Europeans had already panacea. Known as herva sancta (holy herb) in
encountered tobacco smoking as early Portugal during the early periods of contact, it
Aas 1492 (Columbus 1893, 71), this habit, quickly became an addiction for many Europeans
whether through cigarettes or pipes, is assumed across all social classes in the second half of the
to have gradually reached Europe during the six- seventeenth century, assuming a prominent role
teenth century. By the second half of the century, in the eighteenth century ‘consumer revolution’
https://doi.org/10.26493/2350-5443.13(1)101-112 © author/authors