Taddeo Alderotti
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Taddeo Alderotti (
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 ...
: Thaddaeus Alderottus, French : Thaddée de Florence), born in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
between 1206 and 1215, died in 1295, was an Italian doctor and professor of medicine at the
University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...
, who made important contributions to the renaissance of learned medicine in Europe during the
High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...
. He was among the first to organize a medical lecture at the university. One of his works describes a method for concentrating
ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...
involving repeated fractional distillation through a water-cooled still, by which an ethanol purity of 90% could be obtained.
Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
seems to reference him in the Paradiso (XII, 82-85), indicating he pursued learning not for spiritual reasons but worldly ambition, contrasting him with St. Dominic.


Life

Taddeo Alderotti was born in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, 1210, and received his primary education there.Thomas F. Glick, Steven Livesey, and Faith Wallis, ''Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia'' (Routledge, 2014) In the mid-1260s, Alderotti went to Bologna, a city known for the study and practice of medicine. Through the middle of the fourteenth century, the universities of Bologna,
Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
, and
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
had a virtual monopoly on medical education in
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
.Danielle Jacquart, "La scolastique médicale," in ''Histoire de la pensée médicale en Occident, vol. 1: Antiquité et Moyen Âge'', edited by Mirko D. Grmek (Seuil, 1995) As a professor of medicine, Alderotti quickly gained a reputation as an excellent teacher and commanded large crowds of students. His courses relied on the works of
Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; ; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician and philosopher of the Classical Greece, classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referr ...
,
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 ...
, and
Avicenna Ibn Sina ( – 22 June 1037), commonly known in the West as Avicenna ( ), was a preeminent philosopher and physician of the Muslim world, flourishing during the Islamic Golden Age, serving in the courts of various Iranian peoples, Iranian ...
, which had been given a position of authority since Constantine the African brought these over from north Africa in the 11th century and translated them. The students Alderotti taught during his tenure as professor would become some of the best doctors and professors of the next generation. They included, among others, the logician Gentile da Cingoli; the doctor to the emperor, Bartolomeo da Varignana; Dino del Garbo, commentator of
Avicenna Ibn Sina ( – 22 June 1037), commonly known in the West as Avicenna ( ), was a preeminent philosopher and physician of the Muslim world, flourishing during the Islamic Golden Age, serving in the courts of various Iranian peoples, Iranian ...
; Turisanus (Pietro Torregiano de' Torregiani), commentator of Galen; and the anatomist Mondino de' Liuzzi. A doctor of high repute, Taddeo had a large number of patients, including some far outside Bologna and residing as far away as Modena,
Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...
,
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, and
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
. In his old age, he gave up his lectures and he moved his medical practice to Venice.Plinio Prioreschi, ''Medieval Medicine'' (Horatius Press, 2003) Born to a modest Florentine family, Taddeo was by the time of his death in 1295 a rich man. His last will and testament indicates that his medical practice, his lecture, and his investments had paid off handsomely.


Works

* ''Consilia medicinalia''. Modern edition, Nardi, Turin, 1937. * ''In Claudii Galeni artem parvam commentarii''. Naples, 1522. * ''Expositiones in arduum aphorismorum Hippocratis volumen, in divinum phognosticorum Hippocratis volumen, in praeclarum regiminis acutorum Hippocratis opus, in subtilissimum Joanniti Isagorgarum libellum''. Venice, 1527. *''Sulla conservazione della salute'' or ''Libello per conservare la sanitate''. (''On the preservation of health''.) Latin edition, ''De conservatione sanitatis'', Bologna, 1477; Italian edition, G. Manuzzi and L. Razzolini, eds., Florence, 1863. * ''De virtutibus aquae vitae'' ( apocryphal)


See also

* Distillation * Timeline of chemistry


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alderotti, Taddeo 13th-century births 1295 deaths 13th-century Italian writers 13th-century Italian physicians Physicians from Florence Year of birth uncertain Italian alchemists Academic staff of the University of Bologna 13th-century writers in Latin 13th-century alchemists