The Map of Knowledge: How Classical Ideas Were Lost and Found: A History in Seven Cities by Violet Moller

Author:Violet Moller [Moller, Violet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781509829606
Google: 2epqDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1509829601
Goodreads: 41563262
Publisher: Picador
Published: 2019-02-21T00:00:00+00:00

18. A nineteenth-century view of Salerno.

As a result, a tradition of medical scholarship developed in tandem with the general wealth and success of a city that, by 900, was the most important and prosperous in the whole of Southern Italy. Close ties with neighbouring Amalfi, the first great European maritime power since antiquity, had brought riches to this area of the Italian coast. Amalfitan merchants travelled the length and breadth of the Mediterranean, buying and selling goods; their privileged links with Byzantium and Arab states, notably Egypt, made them major importers of luxury goods from the East, and suppliers of wood, linen and agricultural produce to North Africa. The port of Amalfi itself was tiny and separated from the rest of the country by steep, densely forested mountains, so only the most precious goods, such as exotic textiles, jewels and gold, were imported directly. According to the writer and traveller Benjamin of Tudela, who visited the area in the twelfth century, the Amalfitans were, ‘merchants engaged in trade, who do not sow or reap, because they dwell upon high hills and lofty crags, but buy everything for money.’6 Like their Venetian cousins to the north, the inhospitality of their homeland forced the Amalfitans to be imaginative, to look outwards towards the sea to make their fortunes.* As a result, these enterprising people established colonies in every major port from Rome to Constantinople, via Sicily, North Africa and the Middle East, including a monastery on Mount Athos and settlements inside the Holy City of Jerusalem – decades before the first crusaders arrived in 1095. Salerno’s close proximity to Amalfi, broad natural harbour and extensive overland links with the rest of Italy ensured that it was the most important centre for Amalfitan trade; both cities thrived on the profits. As al-Idrisi, the twelfth-century Muslim scholar, noted, Salerno was, ‘a remarkable town, with well-stocked markets and all sorts of goods, in particular wheat and other cereals.’7

Of all the types of goods being traded and transported, spices were some of the most lucrative and, in relation to this story, the most important. A huge array of roots, berries and plant extracts was imported from distant lands: pepper, ginger, cloves, saffron and cardamom. These spices were, of course, used in cooking, but also in the preparation of medicinal remedies. At this point, Salernitan medicine was primarily grounded in the practical treatment of patients, rather than theoretical expertise. Pharmacology was a significant area of this, especially as practitioners were able to create and study drugs using both local plants and exotic ones supplied by Amalfitan merchants, increasing their repertoire of remedies. They used recipes from Dioscorides’ De materia medica, copies of which had been circulating in Benevento in various forms since antiquity, supplemented by other local recipes that were added over the years. These collections of remedies were used by all kinds of medical practitioners, and certainly by doctors in Salerno when treating the many patients who arrived there in search of therapy and help.

The medical

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.