Simon of Genoa's Medical Lexicon

“Simon of Genoa's Medical Lexicon”, an edited volume based on the conference held on March 17th, 2012, is part of the Simon Online project – a dynamically growing Wiki edition of Simon of Genoa's Clavis sanationis, a Latin-Greek-Arabic medical dictionary from the late 13th century. In the individual articles, written by well-known scholars, authorities in their fields of research, Simon and his major work, are approached from different perspectives and as a whole. The volume offers a comprehensible and well-balanced collection of current research on Simon and Clavis sanationis. The volume demonstrates the importance of the Clavis, not only for the history of pharmacology and medicine, but also for Byzantine and medieval studies, Roman, Greek, Latin and Arabic philology and lexicography. Barbara Zipser (Doctor of Philosophy, Wellcome Trust University Award 2006, 2010) is a researcher at the Centre for the Study of the Body and Material Culture, History Department, Royal Holloway University of London. Her main field of research is Greek medicine from Galen to the late Middle Ages, with an emphasis on textual criticism, manuscript transmission, and the formation of Greek vernacular terminology. Dr Zipser is a well-known and promising young scholar in the field of Ancient and Medieval Medicine. She runs Simon Online (http://www.simonofgenoa.org) – the joint edition and translation project of Simon of Genoa's Clavis sanationis, a dictionary of Latin, Greek and Arabic medical terminology in Wiki format

Revisions of Theophanes Chrysobalantes De Curatione [version 2; referees: 4 approved]

Background: Theophanes Chrysobalantes' De curatione is a little known but highly relevant therapeutic manual dating to the tenth century AD. The text has come down to us in  an unusually large number of manuscripts, most of which transmit a mainstream version of the text. Methods: In the present article, three versions deriving from the mainstream text are being examined. For this, these versions are being compared to the mainstream text, in order to understand the aim behind the alterations and additions they were subjected to. The overarching goal is to understand, why these changes were made, and how skilled the editors were. It is a rather unusual approach, as divergent versions are usually not examined in research literature, since they are secondary to the original text. Results and conclusions: The results clearly show that the text was redacted several times, but not by highly sophisticated editors. The general aims of the redactions were to make the text easier to understand

Chapter 5 Galen in Byzantine iatrosophia

Within the academic community there are a number of common and widespread prejudices about the nature of iatrosophia. Iatrosophia are usually regarded as vernacular compilations of medical texts lacking structure or intellectual value and being of a purely practical scope. In addition, because they are often transmitted in only one manuscript, iatrosophia are viewed as ‘dead ends’ of the transmission. Even though these views capture some characteristics of the majority of known iatrosophia, they hardly suffice in defining a genre. For instance, a number of texts fit the description but are not called iatrosophia. Moreover, there are texts called iatrosophia that do not fit this description. Because of these very basic problems in understanding the genre, it is necessary to take a look at the evidence to determine what iatrosophia actually are before examining the reception of Galen in such works

Chapter 5 Galen in Byzantine iatrosophia

Within the academic community there are a number of common and widespread prejudices about the nature of iatrosophia. Iatrosophia are usually regarded as vernacular compilations of medical texts lacking structure or intellectual value and being of a purely practical scope. In addition, because they are often transmitted in only one manuscript, iatrosophia are viewed as ‘dead ends’ of the transmission. Even though these views capture some characteristics of the majority of known iatrosophia, they hardly suffice in defining a genre. For instance, a number of texts fit the description but are not called iatrosophia. Moreover, there are texts called iatrosophia that do not fit this description. Because of these very basic problems in understanding the genre, it is necessary to take a look at the evidence to determine what iatrosophia actually are before examining the reception of Galen in such works

Galens de anatomicis administrationibus und der par. gr. 2203

Although Galen's work on anatomical procedures was frequently used and cited in antiquity, only a very small number of manuscripts has come down to uso We have evidence, that in humanist times some more sources existed than we can establish now. Par. gr. 2203 contains a fragment of this text, which had been overlooked by the cataloguer. Probably it has been copied to amend a part of another codex. 2203 mostly goes together with Pbis, a good, but also fragmentary source

Galens de anatomicis administrationibus und der par. gr. 2203

Although Galen's work on anatomical procedures was frequently used and cited in antiquity, only a very small number of manuscripts has come down to uso We have evidence, that in humanist times some more sources existed than we can establish now. Par. gr. 2203 contains a fragment of this text, which had been overlooked by the cataloguer. Probably it has been copied to amend a part of another codex. 2203 mostly goes together with Pbis, a good, but also fragmentary source

Chapter Substitutes in John Archiatros's Therapeutics

Ioannes Achiatros' Therapeutics are a Byzantine medical manual that has been transmitted in several versions. Of particular is here a version dating to around the late 13th century, which is written in vernacular Greek. It contains a commentary and it is clearly rooted in practical medicine outside wealthy settings. The present article examines substitutes for pharmacological ingredients that are mentioned in the commentary. For instance, the commentator could refer to drug X in case drug Y is not available. These substitutes allow us to draw conclusions on the medicines available to ordinary people at the time, a topic that is not often described