''Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum'',

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''The Salernitan Rule of Health'' (commonly known as ''Flos medicinae'' or ''Lilium medicinae'' - ''The Flower of Medicine'', ''The Lily of Medicine''), full title: ''Regimen sanitatis cum expositione magistri Arnaldi de Villanova Cathellano noviter impressus,'' is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

didactic poem in

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek as well as in Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of s ...

verse. It is allegedly a work of the

Schola Medica Salernitana The Schola Medica Salernitana () was a medieval medical school, the first and most important of its kind. Situated on the Tyrrhenian Sea in the Mezzogiorno, south Italian city of Salerno, it was founded in the 9th century and rose to prominence in ...

(from which its other name ''Flos medicinae scholae Salerni'' is derived), a medieval medical school in Salerno. This school founded in the 9th century is considered possibly the oldest medical school, in a southern Italian city, which held the most important medical information, the most famous and notable being Regimen santiatis Salernitanum. Nearly 300 copies of this poem are published, in various languages, for medical professionals.

Origin

The ''Regimen'' is believed to have been written in the 12th or 13th century, although some sources place it as early as 1050. Although the work bears the name of the famous medieval medical school, it is not certain if it originated there. Some legends claim the poem was written for the benefit of the Duke of Normandy

Robert Curthose Robert Curthose ( – February 1134, ), the eldest son of William the Conqueror, was Duke of Normandy as Robert II from 1087 to 1106. Robert was also an unsuccessful pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of England. The epithet "Curthose" ...

, while others claim it was a gift from the Saliternitan writers to the king of England. The true author is unknown, but it is sometimes attributed to John of Milan.

Content

This poem concerns domestic medical practice such as daily

hygienic Hygiene is a set of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

procedures and

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

(e.g. it illustrates the therapeutic uses of wine). The ''Regimen'' contains multiple outlets of guidance and instruction for preservation of public and individual health. There is also mention of therapeutics. This poem is written with the focus of the public, specifically in the wordage that can be understood by lay people, rather than a focus towards medical professionals. The poem discusses dietetics, which is a branch of medicine that include environmental factors of health. The early ''Regimen'' was organized by the six non-naturals. According to

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (; September 129 – AD), often Anglicization, anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Ancient Rome, Roman and Greeks, Greek physician, surgeon, and Philosophy, philosopher. Considered to be one o ...

, they are: air, food and drink, sleeping and waking, motion and rest, excretions and retentions, and dreams and the passions of the soul. The original content addressed the Humors, the Complexions (Temperaments), and some diseases. This poem concerns domestic medical practice such as daily

procedures and

(e.g. it illustrates the therapeutic uses of wine). In medieval medicine at this time, there was also the four "humours" that were related to both the body and the four elements, those being; phelgm (water), blood (air), yellow bile (fire) and black bile (earth). The original content addressed the Humors, the Complexions (Temperaments), and some diseases. It also contained a phlebotomy, which provided information on bloodletting. The ''Regimen'' focuses on the non-natural things as measures for diseases, some of which include migraines, strokes, dizziness, and with the segment of therapeutics provides treatment based on natural remedies. The index of subjects of the Code of Health for the School of Salerno, which is derived of the poem, begins with the individual health based on sleep, portioning of foods, wine, diets, and seasoning of food to pertain to certain health benefits. The Health Code then goes into individual foods, such as fruits and fish and dairy products, and then introduces topics such as bones, teeth and veins of the body, medications, hygiene and the Regimen of months. Translations of the Code Book show that the ''Regimen'' shows unparallel value at its time of existence to the school of medicine because of its general knowledge to all aspects of individual and public health that other books or instructors did not include in their works. Preservation in History The original Latin version was annotated and edited by

Arnold of Villanova Arnaldus de Villa Nova (also called Arnau de Vilanova, Arnaldus Villanovanus, Arnaud de Ville-Neuve or Arnaldo de Villanueva, c. 1240–1311) was a physician and a religious reformer. He is credited with translating a number of medical texts ...

. The ''Regimen'' was contemporary with

Secretum Secretorum The or (Latin, 'Secret of secrets'), also known as the (), is a treatise which purports to be a letter from Aristotle to his student Alexander the Great on an encyclopedic range of topics, including statecraft, ethics, physiognomy, Muslim ...

, a health manual written by pseudo-Aristotle. However, the ''Regimen'' was more popular because the rhyming verses were easier to remember. The ''Regimen'' was translated into vernacular languages, including Irish, Bohemian, Occitan, Hebrew, German, Anglo-Norman, and Italian. Following its first appearance in print, the ''Regimen'' was translated into almost every European language, and the book achieved tremendous popularity and nearly forty different editions were produced before 1501. An English translation by

Thomas Paynell Thomas Paynell (fl. 1528–1564) was an English Augustinian and translator. Biography Paynell was an Austin friar. He was educated at Merton Abbey, Surrey, where he became a canon. He then proceeded to the college of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford ...

was printed by

Thomas Berthelet Thomas Berthelet (died 1555) was a London printer, probably from France. His surname was also English orthography, variously spelt ''Berthelot'' and ''Berthelett''. Berthelet was to become King's Printer and King's Bookbinder for Henry VIII. His nam ...

in 1528.de Mediolano, with the Commentaries of Arnaldus de Villa Nova, ''Regimen sanitatis Salerni: This boke techyng al people to gouerne them in helthe, is translated out of the Latyne tonge in to englishe by Thomas Paynell. Whiche boke is as profitable as nedefull to be had and redde as any can be to obserue corporall helthe'' (S.I. In fletestrete, in the House of Thomas Berthelet, nere to ye cundite at ye signe of Lucrece, 1528) The work itself came to be highly revered as a scholarly medical text and was seriously discussed until the 19th century. Various editions and versions of the Regimen circulated throughout Europe, many with commentaries that added or removed material from the original poem. During this interval, the Regimen was expanded from the original 364 lines to 3,526 hexameter verses. The first English translation was made by Sir John Harington in 1608. An attempt to make a medically accurate translation was made in 1871 by the American doctor John Ordronaux.Ordronaux, J. Translation into English verse of Regimen Sanitatis Salerni. Scuola Medica Salernitana. Lippincott, 1871. By 1224, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II made it required that any student wishing to practice and learn Medicine in the Naples Kingdom had to gain approval from the Salerno medical masters, which also help preserve the printed of the poem's verses, as they became a requirement to Southern Italian students and subjects.

Quotes

*Why should a man die who has sage in his garden? (Latin: ''Cur moriatur homo, cui salvia crescit in horto''?). Cf. ''

Contra vim mortis non crescit herba in hortis ''"Contra vim mortis non crescit herba in hortis"'' () is a Latin maxim which literally translates as "no herb grows in the gardens against the power of death." An alternative wording, ' or, "no sage grows in the gardens against the power of de ...

''. :::''Si tibi deficiant medici, medici tibi fiant'' :::''Haec tria: mens laeta, requies, moderata diaeta'' (Latin text). :::Use three physicions still; first Doctor ''Quiet'', :::Next Doctor ''Merry-man'' and Doctor ''Dyet'' (Harington's translation, 1608). :::If doctors fail you, let these three be doctors for you: :::A joyful mind, rest, and a moderate diet. (Modern translation)

References and footnotes

External links

English textEditions reviews''Code of Health of the School of Salernum: Translated Into English Verse''
by John Ordronaux. Internet Archive online document {{Authority control 1480 books 12th-century books in Latin History of medieval medicine Schola Medica Salernitana

Origin

Content

Quotes

See also

References and footnotes

Further reading

External links