title: [The Protomedicato Tribunal and midwives. A relationship at the service of surgery].
abstract: We reviewed the bibliography on the history of midwives, and examined municipal and legislative sources, to investigate the relationship between midwives and the Protomedicato in Castile during the 16th to  18th centuries. Our thesis is that the Protomedicato exerted little control over the professional activity of midwives or over improvements made in the The Art of Attending Childbirths. Instead, it appears to have played a greater role in the professional and scientific consolidation of surgeons, by recognizing their authority in obstetric matters.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de anatomía Patológica e Historia de la Ciencia, Universidad de Granada.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ortiz Gómez
mesh_terms: D013502:General Surgery / Q000266:history*; D006077:Government Agencies / Q000266:history*; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D008007:Licensure, Medical / Q000266:history*; D008880:Midwifery / Q000266:history*; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000266:history*; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000266:history*; D013030:Spain
vernacular_title: Protomedicato y matronas. Una relación al servicio de la cirugía.