Book contents
- Drugs in the Medieval Mediterranean
- Drugs in the Medieval Mediterranean
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Note to the Reader
- Medieval Mediterranean Pharmacology
- Part I Transmission of Pharmacological Knowledge
- Part II The Borders of Pharmacology
- Chapter 7 Making Magic Happen
- Chapter 8 Remedies or Superstitions
- Chapter 9 When the Doctor Is Not Around
- Chapter 10 Digestive Syrups and After-Dinner Drinks
- Chapter 11 Late Byzantine Alchemical Recipe Books
- Chapter 12 Making Connections between the Medical Properties of Stones and Philosophy in the Work of Albertus Magnus
- Chapter 13 Healing Gifts
- Index
- References
Chapter 11 - Late Byzantine Alchemical Recipe Books
Metallurgy, Pharmacology, and Cuisine
from Part II - The Borders of Pharmacology
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 October 2023
Book contents
- Drugs in the Medieval Mediterranean
- Drugs in the Medieval Mediterranean
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Note to the Reader
- Medieval Mediterranean Pharmacology
- Part I Transmission of Pharmacological Knowledge
- Part II The Borders of Pharmacology
- Chapter 7 Making Magic Happen
- Chapter 8 Remedies or Superstitions
- Chapter 9 When the Doctor Is Not Around
- Chapter 10 Digestive Syrups and After-Dinner Drinks
- Chapter 11 Late Byzantine Alchemical Recipe Books
- Chapter 12 Making Connections between the Medical Properties of Stones and Philosophy in the Work of Albertus Magnus
- Chapter 13 Healing Gifts
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter focuses on a selection of recipes included in Byzantine alchemical and pharmacological compendia that are preserved in manuscripts dating between the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries: MSS Parisinus gr. 2314, Bononiensis 1808, and Vaticanus gr. 1174. These manuscripts represent important case studies that are compared with similar collections, from late antique medical encyclopaedias to Byzantine alchemical writings and Nicholas Myrepsos’ pharmaceutical handbook. Through an in-depth analysis of the contents and the terminology of these works, I track the transformation of their technical vocabulary, focusing on cross-cultural exchanges between the Byzantine, Arabic, and Latin traditions. Byzantine authors and copyists reshaped and ‘updated’ a long-lasting technical tradition deeply rooted in late antique and early Byzantine writings, which continued to be read and commented on during the Palaiolοgan period, when scholars compiled large selections of formulas and prescriptions belonging to different, yet overlapping fields, such as metallurgy, pharmacology, and cuisine.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Drugs in the Medieval MediterraneanTransmission and Circulation of Pharmacological Knowledge, pp. 336 - 365Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023
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