Basilica of San Zeno

Theodoric as King of Italy did not just want to be king of the land; rather, he wanted to be seen as king or custodian of or successor to the Roman Empire. He therefore restored and renovated many public buildings as well as building new ones.

One of these new buildings was a small church built for St. Zeno. Zeno of Verona (c.300 - 371) was an early saint with a couple of backstories. One says that he came from Mauretania, an area in Africa known for Berbers, where he tutored children in their schoolwork and taught them about Christianity. Another theory was that he was a follower of Athanasius, an opponent of Arianism, who visited Verona in 340. The style of the nearly 100 sermons we have from Zeno support an African origin. One tradition says he was the eighth bishop of Verona, and Gregory the Great calls him a martyr.

Zeno supposedly—among his other good works—converted man from Arianism to Roman Christianity. Despite this, the Arian Christian Theodoric thought it wise to build a church for Zeno. The place was expanded into a basilica under King Pepin of Italy (Charlemagne's son) in the 9th century. In the 10th century, Zeno's body was moved to a different church after the building was damaged by Magyars, but it was returned eventually to its original crypt. The church was rebuilt with the patronage of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I. The current expanded building was completed in 1398.

You can learn more about the church and see its interior here. The church's sculptures show scenes from Theodoric's life. One scene is Theodoric riding into Hell (see it in the previous post), but also there are depictions of Theodoric's fight with Odoacer. Not depicted, however, is a famous story having nothing to do with Theodoric but known to all. The crypt below the church, where St. Zeno's bones lie buried, is supposed to be the crypt where two young lovers killed themselves because their families denied them their union. These two families of Verona were the Montecchi and Cappelletti, although you may know them as the Montagues and Capulets.

Regarding Gregory the Great: he has been mentioned only a few times in this blog, but he made a decision once that affected the whole of English History (and probably Western Civilization) forevermore. I'll explain next time.

Theodoric Lives On!

Long after the death of Theodoric in 526, legends rose of the Germanic warrior who led his people to conquer various armies. (Theodoric even shows up on the Rök Stone.) As time passed, however, he wasn't called Theodoric of Ravenna: he was called Dietrich von Bern (of Verona). The name "Dietrich" means "Ruler of the People," which is the same definition as "Theodoric." The legends come from the late Holy Roman Empire and are largely written in Middle High German.

As is typical with the oral tradition of tale-telling, the details got muddled. Theodoric was born shortly after Attila the Hun died and a century after the Gothic King Ermanaric; he later invaded Italy and became its "king" by defeating Odoacer (the previous invader), with his capital in Ravenna. Dietrich, on the other hand, was the king of Italy already, ruling from Verona, but was forced into exile by his evil uncle, Ermenrich, and winds up at the court of Etzel (Attila) and the Huns. The switch from Ravenna to Verona suggests that the legends arose from the Lombards, whose capital was Verona (Ravenna was still part of the Byzantine culture).

Dietrich also differed from Theodoric in that he sometimes was depicted as breathing fire. This suggests a hint of the demonic. There may be an origin of this in some of the ideas about Theodoric. A 12th-century German chronicler, Otto of Freising, wrote that Theodoric rode to Hell (while alive) on an "infernal" horse. (See the illustration, thought to represent that ride of Theodoric, who is here labeled regem stultum, "stupid king," on the church portal of San Zeno Maggiore in Verona.) Some traditions called Theodoric a son of the devil. Because Theodoric was a practicing Arian, the prevailing Roman Christianity had reasons to "demonize" him.

An early (c.820) German heroic lay, Hildebrandslied, includes the story of the main character's flight alongside Dietrich to escape Odoacer, one of the few people that handed Theodoric defeats (until Theodoric negotiated a treaty and then slew Odoacer during the celebratory feast). Later legends become less and less historical, with Theodoric/Dietrich slaying a dragon, or fighting dwarves and giants.

The Church of San Zeno Maggiore, whence comes the above illustration, has a few more interesting historical tidbits I'd like to share. At first I thought it might be linked to Zeno, the Byzantine Emperor who put Theodoric in charge of the military and set him against Odoacer, but it turns out that it's a lot more interesting than that. See you tomorrow.

Theodoric's Mausoleum

Once Theodoric was King of Italy and essentially in charge of the Western Roman Empire, he did what he could to manage Rome as it would have been managed at the height of the Roman Emperors. He embarked on an extensive building/re-building project, restoring many buildings and refurbishing aqueducts, the Senate's Curia, and other valuable infrastructure.

To manage government services, he hired Boethius, a Roman aristocrat, Christian, and "renaissance man." Things were running smoothly enough that the Eastern Emperors during Theodoric's time let him be. After all, he was "letting Romans be Romans" with their own laws, while his Goths lived under their own customs and laws. Tolerance was practiced: when a synagogue in Ravenna was destroyed by a mob in 519, he ordered the city to rebuild it.

A new Eastern Emperor, Justin I, was less open to allowing the Western Empire to function independently. In 522, a problem with the Senate looked like a conspiracy against Theodoric, so he had his chief administrator, Boethius, and Boethius' father, Symmachus, arrested in 523. While in prison, Boethius wrote his Consolation of Philosophy. He was executed in 524.

Two years later, Theodoric died of dysentery while planning to attack the Vandals after their King Hilderic killed Theodoric's sister, Amalafrida (well, she was trying to change succession rules after her husband, the Vandal King Thrasamund, died). With no male heir, Theodoric's grandson Athalaric succeeded him; Theodoric's daughter and Athalaric's mother was regent.

Theodoric's Mausoleum (pictured above) was part of his Roman rebuilding campaign. In it, his sarcophagus consists of a porphyry tub from a Roman bath situated in the center of a second story. Made of very large stone blocks from a quarry 249 miles away, it has a roof made from a single piece of stone 33 feet in diameter. The roof alone weighs 230 tonnes (a metric tonne is 1000 kilograms or 2205 pounds). Its Gothic style is unlike Roman or Byzantine. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is the only example of a 6th century royal tomb.

Theodoric's long reign, success in leading his people, and his management of the Western Roman Empire made him an important Germanic figure; so much so, that he lived on later as a German hero, Dietrich von Bern. Let's look at those legends tomorrow.

Theodoric's Successes

Odoacer was a Germanic soldier who overthrew the Western Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus (who was only a pre-teen) and declared himself King of Italy. The Eastern Roman Emperor, Zeno, asked Theodoric of the Ostrogoths to deal with the Odoacer situation. The two leaders battled for a couple years before finally negotiating a treaty to share the rule of the Western Empire and ignore Zeno's demands.

Theodoric went to Ravenna, where a feast was planned for 15 March 493 to celebrate their treaty. Theodoric made a toast to honor his co-ruler, drew his sword, and sliced Odoacer from collarbone to thigh. His men killed Odoacer's retainers, and Theodoric proclaimed himself King of Italy.

He was now King of the Ostrogoths (since 471), and King of Italy, so he had room in which his people could settle. He realized the danger of spreading some tens of thousands over too wide an area, rendering them less able to defend themselves and more difficult to gather together if he needed an army. He concentrated the Ostrogoths in Ravenna (his capital), Pavia, and Picenum. Theodoric ruled Italy from 493 until his death in 526.

Of all the "barbarian" groups that overtook Rome, Theodoric and the Ostrogoths were the ones who most wanted to maintain Roman culture. Theodoric issued his own coins (see illustration), he made laws that ensured fairness for Goths and Romans, and he mandated religious tolerance. Romans were Trinitarian Christians (literally "Roman" Catholics), while Theodoric and the Goths were Arians. He also promoted rebuilding of Roman cities, especially in Ravenna, where he rebuilt walls, aqueducts, churches, baths, and other structures and amenities.

One of his enduring buildings is his mausoleum, one of those ancient edifices that causes modern architects to ask "How did they do that?" I'll talk more about Theodoric's end tomorrow.

Theodoric's Troubles

After Theodoric (454 - 526) was made commander of the Eastern Roman Empire's forces by Emperor Zeno, you might have thought that his future was assured. Zeno, however, was annoyed when Theodoric dealt with a famine by asking—not conquering, asking—Zeno for permission to expand into new land where they might produce more food. Zeno's retaliation was to offer command of the forces to Theodoric "The Squinter" Strabo, the person whose defeat by our Theodoric earned him the command in the first place!

Theodoric was not going to suffer this insult quietly or let his people starve, so he invaded communities in the Rhodope Mountains in southeastern Europe (Bulgaria), slaughtering peasants and taking supplies. Their savagery drew an attempt from Zeno to make a truce, but Theodoric was not satisfied. He sent an emissary to Zeno, who was in Epidaurum at the time.* Meanwhile, Zeno sent soldiers to attack Theodoric's people, stealing (supposedly) 2000 wagons of supplies and capturing 5000 Ostrogoths.

Zeno made many bad political decisions—including losing the Western Roman Empire—and in 483 he offered Theodoric the position of absolute top military commander and made him consul in 484. Consuls were the chief magistrates of the Roman Republic. This position did not mean hostilities ended between Theodoric and Zeno. Theodoric continued to plunder Eastern Empire territories, approaching Constantinople itself.

Zeno engaged the Bulgars to attack Theodoric; the Bulgars were defeated. Theodoric besieged Constantinople, hoping to pressure Zeno into giving him land for the Ostrogoths. Zeno was having trouble with Odoacer, the Germanic ruler who was king of Italy, and offered Theodoric to defeat Odoacer and take Italy. Theodoric initially lost against Odoacer in 490; the two rulers spent the next few years fighting across Italy, finally negotiating a co-ruler treaty to stop the hostilities.

One of the two never intended to honor the treaty. I'll tell you which one next time.

*Epidaurum would be devastated two centuries later by Avar and Slavic invaders; citizens would flee north several miles and found a new city, Ragusa.

Theodoric the Great

There were many Theodorics in the Middle Ages, but only one was called "The Great." As the son of a king, and later a king himself, we can be certain of several details about him.

He was born in 454CE, right after his people, the Ostrogoths, freed themselves from domination by the Huns after the death of Attila a year before. That was not to say the Ostrogoths were from then on masters of their own faith. His father, Theodemir, made a treaty with Emperor Leo I of the Eastern Roman Empire. One of its conditions was Theodoric's removal to Constantinople as hostage to secure good behavior by the Ostrogoths. (There was also a tribute each year to Constantinople of 300 pounds of gold.)

Theodoric, who was about seven or eight years old, benefitted from this move. Because his father had consolidated lands that had belonged to Theodemir's brothers, the Ostrogoths ruled a large territory, making Theodoric as the next heir a valuable partner for the Empire and someone the Empire wanted to make sure would be a valuable ally in the future. He was therefore educated in reading, writing, and arithmetic by the best imperial teachers and learned far more about the world than he might have otherwise.

Theodoric was returned to his family when he was 15 or 16, and was given command of part of the Osgtrogoth kingdom held by one of his uncles. Shortly after, he proved his value to the kingdom when a Sarmatian king, Babai, attempted to invade an area near Theodoric that was under Constantinople's control. Theodoric with 6000 warriors defeated the invaders and killed Babai.

Theodoric increased his reputation in the 470s by leading military campaigns against enemies of the Goths and the Eastern Roman Empire. When Theodoric was successful against Theodoric the Squinter, a Thracian Goth who had led a revolt against the Emperor Zeno, Zeno rewarded him with command of the Eastern Roman forces.

In 471, he was made King of the Ostrogoths. With this position and the favor of the Emperor Zeno, his star was ascendant. Zeno, however, was a fickle emperor, as we shall see next time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodoric_the_Great

http://dailymedieval.blogspot.com/2012/08/4-stages-of-gothichistory-culture.html

Aëtius of Amida and Acne

Galen was one of the primary sources of medical expertise in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, often to the neglect of other authors. The works of the 6th century Aëtius of Amida have more recently undergone closer scrutiny and revealed his originality and importance in his field.

He was born in Amida in Mesopotamia (what is now the city of Diyarbakir in Turkey), but at some point moved to Constantinople. His writings refer to Petrus—the personal physician to Theodoric of the Ostrogoths—as a contemporary, which would indicate that Aëtius was writing at the end of the 5th century or early in the 6th.

As a Byzantine Greek in the 5th-to-6th centuries, he was likely a Christian.  His closeness to the emperor(s) of Constantinople can be discerned by the title sometimes attached to his name in records: κόμης ὀψικίου ("komés opsikiou"), the "chief officer" who is part of the emperor's retinue. He might have been given official duties outside of his medical profession, since he traveled to copper mines on Cyprus, and at Jericho and the Dead Sea.

His great work was Sixteen Books on Medicine, which later editors thought to organize into four tetralogies. He does quote the Greco-Roman Galen and Oribasius (personal physician to the Roman Emperor Julian), but adds much original information. Some of his work directly applied to pregnancy—or rather, avoiding such. He is known to have developed a concoction for causing a pregnancy to abort; the ingredients are not known. He also developed a contraception medicine consisting of aloe, pepper, saffron, and the seeds of the wallflower (a member of the cabbage family).

He described a condition of the skin, a particular kind of blemish that arises when one is in the "acme" of his or her life, during puberty. Due to a typographical error, however, when he described it as part of the acme (ἀκμή) of life, the word was written as ἀκνή, accidentally substituting the "n" sound in place of the "m" sound. The word "acne" never having been seen before, it was assumed that this was his name for the blemishing, and the scourge of adolescent complexions through the ages got its name.

About his contemporary, Petrus; or rather, about Petrus' chief patient: I've referred to Theodoric more than a few times, but haven't yet dug into the details of the man who was king of one thing or another from 471 to 526—a pretty substantial length of time. It's time we looked into his life in a little more detail, which we shall do tomorrow.

Saint Blaise

The man who would become known to Western Europe as Saint Blaise was Bishop Vlasi of Sebastea in Armenia. His life was written about 400 years after his death, in the Acts of Saint Blaise:

Blaise, who had studied philosophy in his youth, was a doctor in Sebaste in Armenia, the city of his birth, who exercised his art with miraculous ability, good-will, and piety. When the bishop of the city died, he was chosen to succeed him, with the acclamation of all the people. His holiness was manifest through many miracles: from all around, people came to him to find cures for their spirit and their body; even wild animals came in herds to receive his blessing. In 316, Agricola, the governor of Cappadocia and of Lesser Armenia, having arrived in Sebastia at the order of the emperor Licinius to kill the Christians, arrested the bishop. As he was being led to jail, a mother set her only son, choking to death of a fish-bone, at his feet, and the child was cured straight away. Regardless, the governor, unable to make Blaise renounce his faith, beat him with a stick, ripped his flesh with iron combs, and beheaded him.

This incident forever joined the saint's name to throat ailments, but he is also the patron saint for infants, animals, builders, stonecutters, carvers, drapers, wool workers, wool industry, veterinarians, physicians, healing, the general sick, choking, and Ear Nose and Throat illnesses.

As well as a plethora of causes for which one might appeal to Blaise, there were numerous locations that claimed his patronage: several towns in Italy, in Sicily, Sebastea, and Dubrovnik, whose Republic of Ragusa even has his likeness on their flag! Dubrovnik and others have parades and festivities on 3 February for the saint's feast day.

Blaise was very popular in the Middle Ages, with many churches and locations named for him. A shrine near where he was martyred was commented on both by Marco Polo and William Rubruck.

Outside of works on saints' lives, he was mentioned by Aëtius of Amida, a medical writer, for his healing abilities. Aëtius is interesting for many reasons, one of which is the typographical error in one of his works that named a near-universal medical issue. But that's a story for tomorrow.

The Siege of Ragusa

A 9th-century Arab dynasty almost ended the city of Dubrovnik in its infancy. At the time, it was called Ragusa, founded about 615CE by refugees fleeing the destruction of the Roman city Epidaurum during the war between the Avars and Slavs. Ragusa/Dubrovnik was an ideal spot, having a sandy shore onto which boats could be dragged when not plying the waves, and a source of fresh water for the inhabitants.

They built their town with the natural timber found all over, namely the Holm Oak, whose name in Croatian, dubrava, gave the town its later name. Mindful of their war-torn origin, they fortified the town against possible invaders.

Invaders came in the form of the Aghlabids of Ifriqiya, functioning as pirates and looking for new territory to conquer. Byzantine records state that the Aghlabids launched a campaign against the south-eastern coasts of the Adriatic in 866. They succeeded in plundering cities along the coast until they reached Ragusa. Finding the city fortified, they set up a siege, intending to wait out the inhabitants.

Ragusa turned out to be better prepared than expected; they withstood the siege for fifteen months! They could not last indefinitely, however, and snuck messengers out of the city to request aid from the Byzantine Empire. Byzantium had once controlled and patrolled the region but had allowed that vigilance to subside; it was their absence that enabled the Aghlabids to invade.

The latest emperor, however, wished to re-assert control over areas to the west. Emperor Basil I sent a fleet of 100 ships under the command of admiral Niketas Oryphas. News of the Byzantine fleet's approach caused the Aghlabids to withdraw. Admiral Oryphas planned future expeditions to push Saracens out of the region, slowly returning the Adriatic and southern Italy to Christian rule.

Every 3 February modern Dubrovnik celebrates with parades and several days of festivities in honor of their patron saint, Sveti Vlaho, or, as he is better known in the West, Saint Blaise. Let me tell you his story next time.

Ragusa to Dubrovnik

The modern city of Dubrovnik began as a town called Ragusa, founded by Romans fleeing war. From its start in the 7th century, it developed into a forward-looking community as well as an important port city on the eastern Adriatic coast.

King Stjepan I of Croatia gave a grant of land that extended Ragusa's rule 16km north along the coast. The region was covered in the Holm Oak, which is significant for two reasons. Holm Oaks can grow close to 100 feet tall, making it suitable for large construction projects like community structures and ship-building.

The second significant point is in the Croatian word for the Holm Oak: dubrava. This evolved into the name of the city, and Ragusa in the late Renaissance became increasingly known as Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik was no ordinary medieval city. Roman architectural knowledge enabled them to fortify the city that would allow them to withstand long sieges by Arabs in the early days of the city's development. During war between Byzantines and Normans, when Venice started expanding its authority over the region, the annoyed Ragusans fought for more and more independence from other distant powers. When Pope Calixtus II elevated their bishop's diocese to an archbishopric in 1120, they gained more autonomy in the region.

In 1358, Dubrovnik finally freed itself from Venetian rule when war between Venice and Hungary-Croatia forced Venice to relinquish influence over its possessions in Dalmatia. A few years later, Venice tried to get revenge by forbidding its boats from trading with Dubrovnik and other Dalmatian ports. This merely prompted Dubrovnik to seek trade elsewhere, building even larger ships that could manage longer voyages along the wider Mediterranean routes. In 1365 Dubrovnik negotiated a trade deal with the Ottomans, since they were now sailing to Egypt and the Levant. Dubrovnik even grew strong enough to start expanding its territory, annexing some islands in southern Dalmatia. In the 1500s, Dubrovnik was trading with India and even the Americas.

One of their impressive achievements was a very early one: resisting an Arab siege for 15 months. Next time I'll tell you about the Siege of Ragusa, and how it might have ended the Republic of Ragusa and the growth of Dubrovnik when it was still in its youth.

The Pearl of the Adriatic

The oldest apothecary in Europe was founded in Dubrovnik, in southern Dalmatia in Croatia. At the time, it was called Ragusa; to be fair, it was called both names for centuries, "Ragusa" being used since the 10th century (it was the center of the "Republic of Ragusa") and "Dubrovnik" showing up a century later as the town name and widely used in the 16th and 17th centuries up to now. 

It was founded in the 7th century by Romans from the south fleeing fighting between Slavs and Avars. Byzantium initially protected this part of the world, but later it would fall (like much of the Adriatic coast) under control by Venice.

One of the things Ragusa became known for was ship-building; in fact, they built their ships indoors because their methods were so innovative that spies wanted to copy them.

A very forward-thinking city, they adopted a code of laws and public services that sound very modern. A medical service was started in 1301, the apothecary mentioned above was established in a monastery in 1317 and still functions today. In 1347 they opened an almshouse (just in time for the Bubonic Plague which arrived a year later), and a quarantine hospital in 1377. Ragusa established a separate town outside the walls for those suffering from leprosy. 

Their law only allowed a doctor to be paid when the patient was healed. A female doctor was mentioned in records in 1325. A service for removing garbage from the town was first recorded in 1415. The city paved the streets, and shop-owners were required to sweep the area in front of their shop. Aqueducts and sewage systems were installed in 1436. Underground silos were built that could hold 1200 tons of grain (which they had to import). They voted to abolish slavery in 1416.

Ragusa/Dubrovnik has so much fascinating history that I want to continue this tomorrow.

The Plague Continues

The Bubonic Plague, also called the "Black Death," first hit the European Middle Ages primarily in 1348-1351, but that wasn't the end. To be fair, it was revving up to the east long before 1348. It was responsible for deaths in the 1200s in China. In the 1340s it was killing people living around the Black Sea. In fact, we know that it existed among rodent populations high up in the Alps.

How do we know this?

The spread of the plague has been better understood in recent decades thanks to modern science and the sequencing of genomes. The bacterium Yersinia pestis has been sequenced, and modern science can detect it from bones of the long-dead. In many cases, those bones are easier to identify because the plague killed so many so fast that the corpses were thrown into mass graves quickly. In fact, the approach of the plague did prompt preparation: the mass graves in London were dug before the plague actually arrived. (The illustration shows a mass grave of plague victims in France.)

Therefore, by examining skeletons from different eras, we can track the spread and durability of the plague, which was endemic in Europe after the mid-14th century appearance. Plague returned approximately every decade or so for centuries. Whatever the cause (see the link in the first paragraph), folk realized they should try to stay away from those who were infected. This led to quarantining when news of a plague resurgence came to a community. You could either barricade yourself in your house or escape the town. In 1377, the town of Ragusa on the Adriatic initiated the first wide-spread, mandatory quarantine. In the second half of the 1400s, quarantines were common around the Mediterranean, whose warm weather and coastal ports allowed plague to thrive and spread.

Ragusa actually had a reputation for doctors. If you search for Ragusa on a map today, it will show you a city in southern Sicily, not on the coast of the Adriatic. That's because it's got a different name now: Dubrovnik. Let's talk about its medieval history tomorrow.

Causes of the Bubonic Plague

The Bubonic Plague's first appearance in medieval Europe from 1348-1351, and it was terrifying. At least one-quarter to one-third of the population died in those few years; entire villages were depopulated, and no country was untouched.

King Philip VI of France asked the University of Paris to determine the cause. Forty-nine members of the medical staff studied the matter and wrote the Paris Concilium.

They produced more than one theory of why humans were suffering from it, while maintaining that the plague was too mysterious for human beings to ever truly understand the origin. They drew from the available authorities: Avicenna's work on pestilential fever, Aristotle's Meteorology on weather phenomena and putrefaction, Hippocrates' Epidemics on astrology in medicine.

Their theories:

—The Concilium followed Aristotle's idea that a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn was disastrous. Albertus Magnus believed a conjunction of Jupiter and Mars would bring plague. A conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars took place in 1345 right after solar and lunar eclipses, under the sign of Aquarius, compounding the disastrous effects of the planets. Jupiter was sanguine, hot and wet—the worst combination that would lead to putrefaction.

—Another possible cause was poisonous gases released during earthquakes. Disadvantageous conjunctions of constellations produced winds that distributed gases rising from rotting carcasses in swamps. The poisonous vapors would be inhaled and go straight to the heart (they thought the heart was the organ of respiration), and then cause the body's vital organs to rot from the inside.

—There was also the possibility of God's punishment for man's wickedness.

Of course, there was no reason to believe that these causes were mutually exclusive.

The plague was devastating, and also didn't end in 1351. It remained endemic to Europe, as I'll discuss next time.

A Few Medical Firsts

Gentile da Foligno was a physician who learned his art at Padua and Bologna and then became a teacher—quite a wealthy one, as it happens. At the University of Perugia in Siena he made 60 gold florins per year (1322 - 1324). He then went back to his origin at the request of the Lord of Padua, Ubertino I da Carrara.

Besides teaching, he produced several medical treatises. One was a massive and widely copied commentary covering the Canon of Medicine by Avicenna. The Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493 referred to him as Subtilissimus rimator verborum Avicenne, "that most subtle investigator of Avicenna's teachings"; the illustration above shows Gentile learning "at the feet of Avicenna."

He is said to have performed the first medical dissection in centuries. Even the Romans, for all their search for knowledge, did not approve of cutting open the deceased. Examining the insides of the human body was necessary for starting to learn how organs work; for example, how liquids flow through the body.

Foligno wrote a commentary on urine and suggested that the blood passes through "porous tubules" (per poros euritides) in the kidneys, which strain it and pass the urine to the bladder. He was also the first to suggest that a fast pulse rate led to higher urine output (as a faster metabolism would). He also believed there was a correlation between the heart and the color of urine. A Journal of Nephrology article says he may have been the first cardionephrologist in history.

He also wrote a popular treatise on the Black Death, and recommended theriac for its treatment. Unfortunately, theriac preparation was complex and time-consuming, so there may not have been enough of it to go around. Not that it would have helped: presumably Foligno would have had access to some; however, he died of the plague at its start, on 18 June 1348.

To cure the plague, you would probably want to know what caused it, and that was a puzzle. Tomorrow I'll tell you of the Paris Consilium, who believed they had the answer.

The Poison that Cures

It started with King Mithridates IV of Pontus (132 - 63 BCE), who was afraid of being poisoned. He wanted to know all about poisons, so he not only tested them on criminals so he would understand their symptoms (and antidotes), but also he ingested the poisons himself in order to build tolerance. His personal physician developed for him a universal antidote which he named mithridatum, composed of 40 ingredients, including opium, myrrh, saffron, ginger, and cinnamon.

Mithridates' method of self-inoculation worked so well that, when he was captured by Pompey, he tried to poison himself, but the poison had no effect. His writings about developing the cure-all was found by Pompey's people and translated into Latin. Nero's physician added more ingredients, most notably mashed and roasted viper's flesh.

The search for a panacea, a universal cure, has a long history. Mithridatum is one example. The Greek physician Galen (mentioned many times in this blog) wrote an entire book on the making of his cure-all; he called it Galene after himself, but it also became known as theriac (from the Greek word for a wild beast); it contained viper's flesh, opium, honey, wine, cinnamon, and more than 70 other ingredients. It needed to ferment for six years and then be applied orally or topically; it kept its potency for 40 years.

In the 7th century a theriac made by the inhabitants of Anatolia was given to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang apothecary declared its usefulness against a hundred illnesses. The Middle East called it Tiryaq. Medieval English apothecaries called it "Venice Treacle" because it came from the Mediterranean, and was distributed by the Worshipful Company of Grocers. "Treacle"? Yes. Produced from cane sugar, the thick and sweet syrup was considered "good for what ails you"; the word is actually linked to theriac. In modern medicine, the word "treacle" is defined as

A medicinal compound once in wide use as an antidote to poisons. Treacle was a kind of salve. It was reputed to be a remedy against venomous bites in particular and against poisons in general. It also came to be considered a "cure" for cancer. [source]

In Henry Grosmont's 1354 treatise,  Le Livre de Seyntz Medicines or "The Book of Holy Medicines," he mentions theriac: "the treacle is made of poison so that it can destroy other poisons."

You may ask: if they believed it was so effective, wouldn't they try to make vast amounts to keep on hand? Would they try it as a cure for the Bubonic Plague? Well, one man thought that was a good idea, but ... well, we can talk about him next time.