After being hailed, by his 19th century peers, as "the greatest historian in France" -- Jules Michelet (1798-1874) was attacked and vilified for a later work, which praised many neglected women.

These were the "Sagas" of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance who administered as nurses, doctors, midwives to the poor. They used many herbal medicines, which generations of them had discovered. One of these -- nightshade, containing the alkaloid atropine, for heart ailments -- is still called "belladonna", Italian for "beautiful woman", because that's what their male patients called them in gratitude for their ministration.

A Renaissance quack, Paracelsus (1493-1541), discovered their herbal medicines and "suddenly" began to achieve amazing results of healing. Paracelsus is credited with founding "modern medicine and pharmacy". Michelet exposed his "theft" from The Sagas, and for this Michelet was vilified by his peers.

Unfortunately, some these caretakers of the poor had been attacked, by jealous parties and sometimes by clerics, as witches -- even being burned on this charge. These attacks and burnings increased after the conflict about their medicinal efforts and those of contemporary doctors became better known.

(You'll find an account of Michelet and The Sagas -- a subject neglected by "The Feminists" -- in one chapter of a book, The Myth of Madness, by Thomas Szasz, an anti-psychiatrist psychiatrist, who argues that most "psychotics" and "neurotics"" shoud be taught how to live, instead of being drugged or subjected to electric shock treatments.)