[Sca-cooks] Charlemagne and the doctors
Terry Decker
t.d.decker at att.net
Mon Mar 8 14:37:26 PST 2010
A Latin transcription of Liber medicinalis is available here:
http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/serenus.html
The sources for Liber medicinalis are primarily Pliny and Discorides and I
would expect that any introduction of Hippocrates's humoral theory came
through Discorides (although Pliny was familiar with it). Galen and Serenus
were contemporaries in Rome with different focii, so I would not expect
either to much influence the other.
Walafrid was a friend of Einhard and wrote the prologue for the Life of
Charlemagne after Einhard's death. He also edited the format to introduce
titles and chapters.
Bear
----- Original Message -----
According to Hans-Dieter Stofföler in his commenterd edition of Walahfrid
Strabo's Hortulusa, the most widespread medical text of the Carolingian era
was Quintus Serenus' 'liber medicinalis'. Serenus' main source was Pliny, of
all people. I've also found Anthimus and a collection of 'Ariostotelian'
adages that clearly do refer to humoral theory, though they don't really lay
it out.
I haven't been able to traclk down a copy yet, but according to Stoffler,
Serenus original text is in Aemilius Baehrens' collection Poetae Latini
minores (Vol III, pp. 103 ff, Leipzig 1879)
CHeers
Giano
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