Carlos III's baths in Trillo. The extension of hydrotherapy

Abstract

With the Royal Decree of the 29th of June 1816 Ferdinand VII founded the Corps of Doctors of Baths. Studies have concentrated on the evolution of this Corps and medical hydrology in Spain since 1816. But works on the prior period do not abound and it is generally believed that the king's initiative had been a "legislative caprice". This is what we want to question as regards the "fields of knowledge" related to cures, medicine and hydrotherapy. The baths at Trillo are also known as the "Carlos III baths". This site allows to apprehend bathing facilities around 1780, the construction undergone, the baths and the waters rules of use as well as ideas as regards their composition and the cures that they provided for particular pathologies. This study also emphasizes questions regarding management in these establishments dependent on the Government through the Council of Castile. All of the above elements seek to show how these diverse elements paved the way for the legislation of the 1816 Decree.