Who Should Smoke? Tobacco and the Humoral Body in Early Modern England

Few products received the attention of tobacco in the early modern world, with a plurality of opinions from medical, religious, political, and economic authorities arriving in the wake of the arrival of the product. In England, much of the language of this discussion was gendered, with a consensus emerging that smoking might be acceptable for men, but was potentially dangerous for women. By focusing upon the earliest period of tobacco’s arrival in England, this article reveals the connection between medical authorities who interpreted bodily functions as a process of balancing the humors and the beginning of popular tobacco consumption among men and women.