Published: 2022-12-30

In health and in sickness. Dietary recommendations in selected medieval medical treatises from Salerno (11th-13th centuries)

Beata Wojciechowska
Saeculum Christianum. Historical Writings
Section: Rozprawy i Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/sc.2022.29.2.1

Abstract

The concern for health, the elimination of suffering and illness in the physical and spiritual dimension has been the subject of theoretical reflection since antiquity. Medieval medical treatises, written at the Salerno medical school, dealt in detail with food substances, classifying them as nourishment and effective remedies for many conditions. Diet was considered an integral part of a person's overall wellbeing. Food and drink had nutritional, preventive, and healing functions. Dietary recommendations were based on formed knowledge, observation, experience and were justified by the rules of humoral pathology. They were based on the principles of balance, moderation, and an individual approach to a person.

Keywords:

diet, food, medicine, medical treatises, early Middle Ages

Download files

Citation rules

Wojciechowska, B. (2022). In health and in sickness. Dietary recommendations in selected medieval medical treatises from Salerno (11th-13th centuries). Saeculum Christianum. Historical Writings, 29(2), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.21697/sc.2022.29.2.1

Cited by / Share


This website uses cookies for proper operation, in order to use the portal fully you must accept cookies.