Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 73

THE AFRICAN CONSTANTINE (ca. 1020-1087) Opera, con[q]uisita undi[que] magno studio. . . . Apud Henricum Petrum 1536 [16] 387 [1] pp. 28.7 cm.

Constantine is an important figure in the history of medicine because of his role in linking Arabic medical ideas and works to the expanding intellectual thought of the later Middle Ages in the western world. A native of Carthage, Constantine traveled widely throughout the Middle East, Persia, and India where he studied the medical sciences and learned a number of languages including Arabic. He eventually returned to Carthage but found it necessary to flee when accused of being a magician--no doubt because of the knowledge he had acquired through exposure to other cultures. Constantine fled to Salerno where he became secretary to Robert Guiscard, the Norman ruler of the Sicilies. It is believed that he later served on the medical faculty at Salerno before retiring to the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, where he became a monk and devoted himself to the translation of Arabic medical works into Latin. His translations included works of Hippocrates, Galen, Haly Abbas, Isaac Judaeus, and other Arabic writers. He produced no original works, but was chiefly a translator and compiler. His works were quickly incorporated into the curriculum at Salerno and so were permanently preserved in Latin, the universal language of the western world. Constantine's was not selective in his translations and it was not unusual for him to include texts from different eras and of varying qualities. This volume, assembled from different Arabic authors, discusses the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases; contains information on anatomy and surgery; and provides prescriptions for compounding a great number of remedies. It was followed by a second volume in 1539 containing more of his translations.

Cited references: Durling 1015; Garrison-Morton 46; Waller 2098; Wellcome 1574

Gift of John Martin, M.D.