Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans). Leipzig: Bey Thomas Fritschen, 1709-13.
Eleonora Maria Rosalia (1647-1704), the Duchess of Tropau and Jägerndorf, was a German-Austrian noblewoman. Her book – which contained both medical and culinary recipes – was first published in 1695 in Vienna. It proved a success, and was reprinted regularly in both Germany and Austria through the 1750s.
Like many other noblewomen, Eleonora Maria viewed her medical work as a charitable enterprise. She wanted to provide medical advice for people of the non-noble classes who either couldn’t afford to pay expensive doctor’s fees or lived far from the urban centers where medical professionals tended to congregate. Her recipes were therefore simple to prepare and relied on ingredients that could be easily obtained.
The book contains more than 1500 medicinal recipes, the majority of which focus on diseases of women and children.
