Western Medieval Manuscripts : Johannes de Sancto Paulo, Breviarium; Matthaeus Platearius, De simplicibus medicinae

Western Medieval Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>The medical school of Salerno, near Naples in Italy, features prominently in this small but bulky 15th century manuscript. It consists of two popular medical texts. The first is the <i>Breviarium de signis morborum</i> of Johannes de Sancto Paulo (d. c. 1215) (known also as his <i>Practica</i>, which describes the symptoms of illnesses. The text is found in manuscripts across Europe, from Spain to Scotland. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>This is followed by a work on medicinal simples attributed to another Salernitan author, Matthaeus Platearius (d. 1161), and commonly known by its opening words, 'Circa instans'. In order to facilitate searching, the entries are arranged in alphabetical sections, each starting with a list of contents for the section. After the preface, the author begins with Aloe and (De Aloe, f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(253);return false;'>124r</a>) and its uses. He ends in entries on the sweetness of Sugar (De Zucharo) and the usefulness of Zedoary (De Zeduarum) (f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(480);return false;'>237v-238r</a>) as an antidote to poisonous reptile bites. The survival of over 240 manuscripts of this text testifies to its importance to medieval pharmacology. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Tuija Ainonen<br /> Project Cataloguer<br /> Cambridge University Library</p>