https://constantinusafricanus.com/2026/01/27/what-would-constantine-do-a-post-on-science-and-migration-in-honor-of-world-leprosy-day-2026/https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/hild_cand_1.pnghild_cand_1https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/hild_cand_2.pnghild_cand_2https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-8.pngimagehttps://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-7.pngimagehttps://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-6.pngimagehttps://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-5.pngimagehttps://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-4.pngimagehttps://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-3.pngimagehttps://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-2.pngimagehttps://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1.pngimage2026-01-28T03:04:21+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2025/01/26/leprosy-in-the-global-middle-ages-a-slow-pandemic/2025-01-25T03:16:58+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2024/01/28/the-stigma-of-neglect-why-we-know-less-than-we-should-about-medieval-leprosy/2024-01-27T15:21:41+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2018/12/22/constantinus-redivivus-reclaiming-a-forgotten-cultural-translator/https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/post-11-3.pngThe Esdra MaiorThe opening of the Esdra magna recipe from a manuscript of the Antidotarium magnum, probably copied in England in the second quarter of the twelfth century. Source: London, Medical Society of London, MS 138, f. 22v (detail).https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/post-11-2.pngConstantine's (?) PantegniQuestioning Constantine’s role in the production of the Pantegni began very early. In this early 12th-century manuscript from England, he is not mentioned at all in the heading: “Here begins the book whose name is Pan Tegne, or Pasa Tegne, that is, ‘the whole art.’ The name of the author is, according to the Greeks, Rasis.” (Incipit liber cuius nomen Pan Tegne, vel Pasa Tegne, id est tota ars dicitur. Nomen auctoris est Rasis apud Grecos.) London, British Library, MS Additional 22917, f. 2v (detail). https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/post-11-1-1.pngConstantine's 'De oblivione'This is the opening of Constantine’s translation of Ibn al-Jazzār’s Risāla Fī-Nisyān (Treatise on Forgetfulness), which is written in the first-person as an epistle. Who is the ego? In this copy, and in four of the five 12th-century copies, Constantine is not named, but neither is any other author. Image: Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin- Preussischer Kulturbesitz, MS lat. qu. 198, an. 1131/32, f. 150r, detail.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/post-11-1.pngConstantine's 'De oblivione'This is the opening of Constantine’s translation of Ibn al-Jazzār’s Risāla Fī-Nisyān (Treatise on Forgetfulness), which is written in the first-person as an epistle. Who is the ego? In this copy, and in four of the five 12th-century copies, Constantine is not named, but neither is any other author. Image: Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin- Preussischer Kulturbesitz, MS lat. qu. 198, an. 1131/32, f. 150r, detail.2018-12-22T13:43:54+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2018/11/22/of-monks-and-miracles-constantine-the-african-and-two-of-his-twelfth-century-readers/https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/post-10-becket-ampulla.jpgAs William of Canterbury’s account of this miracle attests, Thomas Becket was regarded as a particularly efficacious healer. (Even the saint himself notes, “Wow! Aren’t I a good doctor?”—“Heus… nonne bonus medicus sum?”) One characteristic memento pilgrims to his shrine received were ampullae like this twelfth-century example, containing what William mentions here, water and the blood of the martyr, which other miracles confirm the healing powers of. British Museum, 1921,0216.62. https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/post-10-vita-prima-of-bernard-of-clairvaux.pngVienna, Schottenstift MS 189, f. 40vWilliam of St.-Thierry himself wrote one of the most important early sources for Bernard’s life. A few early manuscripts of this text, like this thirteenth century copy from the Schottenstift in Vienna, depict Bernard himself. Because of William’s connection to Bernard, he has sometimes been overshadowed by his influential colleague and friend. His work on the body and soul, however, is one text where we can discern the breadth and originality of his thought. 2018-11-23T20:39:01+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2018/10/22/inside-investigations-anatomical-texts-and-images-in-the-12th-and-13th-centuries/https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/post-9-4-ashmole-399-fol-22r.jpgAshmole 399 fol. 22rThe Muscles, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Ashmole 399, f. 22r. Late 13th century, England. Ashmole 399 is fully digitized online here. https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/post-9-3-gonville-and-caius-all-9-images.pngGonville and Caius all 9 imagesFrom L-R: The Veins, Arteries, Bones, Nerves, Muscles, Male Reproductive System, Stomach and Organs of the Abdomen, Female Reproductive System, and Brain and Ocular System. Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 190/223, ff. 2r-6r. c. 1200, England. https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/post-9-2-clm-13002-vein-and-artery-figures-with-arrows.pngClm 13002: Vein and artery figures with arrowsThe Veins and the Arteries, Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 13002, f. 2v (detail). 1265, Prüfening, Bavaria, Germany.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/post-9-1-clm-13002-fol-2v-3r.jpegCLM 13002 fol 2v-3rThe Five-Figure Series, Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 13002, ff. 2v-3r. 1265, Prüfening, Bavaria, Germany. From L-R, top-bottom, the images are: veins, arteries, bones, nerves, and muscles. The entire manuscript is digitized in full: http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0010/bsb00104093/images/index.html?fip=193.174.98.30&seite=1&pdfseitex2018-11-17T15:21:06+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2018/09/22/a-fantasy-pharmacy-the-arabic-pharmacopeia-arrives-in-the-latin-west/https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/post-8-image-4.pngThe beginning of the list of ingredients in the recipe for Esdra in Copenhagen, Det Kgl. Bibliotek, Gamle Kgl. Samling, MS 1653, late 11th century, f. 159v. Note that in the left margin, a slightly later hand has written Confita nigra Constan[tini] (“Constantine’s black concoction”). Perhaps a reference to an alternate recipe that Constantine preferred?https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/post-8-image-1.gifpost 8 - image 1https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/post-8-image-1.jpgpost 8 - image 1London, British Library, MS Sloane 1621, f. 40v, part of the list of ingredients of a compound remedy.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/post-8-image-3.pngLondon, British Library, MS Sloane 1621, f. 41r: the final lines of a list of pharmaceutics, ending with the newly imported substance, sugar (zaccara). In the second line from the top, the Arabic word uzifur (cinnabar) appears.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/post-8-image-2.pngpost 8 - image 2London, British Library, MS Sloane 1621, f. 40v, some the ingredients beginning with the letter ‘A’ in a compound remedy. New here are ambra (ambergris, in the first line), and antimoniu (antimony) in the bottom line.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/post-8-image-1.pngLondon, British Library, MS Sloane 1621, f. 40v, part of the list of ingredients of a compound remedy.2018-10-10T13:06:07+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2018/08/22/a-star-is-born-reading-constantine-the-african-in-medieval-england/https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/screenshot-2018-08-23-17-35-14.pngFigure 5A comparison of (left) an annotated page in the Bury St Edmunds copy of the Pantegni Theorica, <a href="http://trin-sites-pub.trin.cam.ac.uk/james/viewpage.php?index=1129">Cambridge, Trinity College, MS R.14.34 (906)</a>, fol. 10v, with (right) a passage excerpted from that same work in Bethesda, National Library of Medicine, MS E8, fol. 8v.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/screenshot-2018-08-23-17-34-30.pngScreenshot 2018-08-23 17.34.30https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/post-7-image-5.pngFigure 5A comparison of (left) an annotated page in the Bury St Edmunds copy of the Pantegni Theorica, Cambridge, Trinity College, MS R.14.34 (906), fol. 10v, with (right) a passage excerpted from that same work in Bethesda, National Library of Medicine, MS E8, fol. 8v. https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/post-7-image-5-2.pngpost 7 - image 5-2https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/post-7-image-5-1.pngFigure 5A comparison of (left) an annotated page in the Bury St Edmunds copy of the Pantegni Theorica, Cambridge, Trinity College, MS R.14.34 (906), fol. 10v, with (right) a passage excerpted from that same work in Bethesda, National Library of Medicine, MS E8, fol. 8v. https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/post-7-image-4.jpgFigure 4Examples of Constantine the African named as a medical authority in the text and margins of Bethesda, National Library of Medicine, MS E8, an early twelfth-century medical notebook produced at the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds in England.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/post-7-image-4.pngFigure 4Examples of Constantine the African named as a medical authority in the text and margins of Bethesda, National Library of Medicine, MS E8, an early twelfth-century medical notebook produced at the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds in England.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/post-7-image-3.pngFigure 3The opening of Constantine’s Liber de cirurgiis (“Book of Surgeries”), Book IX of the Pantegni Practica, in Bethesda, National Library of Medicine, MS E8, fol. 149r. (Photo courtesy of Monica Green.)https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/post-7-image-2.pngFigure 2The end of Book I and opening of Book II of Constantine the African’s Pantegni Theorica in Cambridge, Trinity College, MS R.14.34 (906), fol. 11r, produced around 1125 in the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/post-7-image-1.pngFigure 1The Prologue of Constantine the African’s Pantegni Theorica in London, British Library, MS Additional 22719, fol. 3r, probably made at Bath Abbey in the 1120s or 1130s.2020-12-18T02:12:28+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2018/05/22/an-eleventh-century-webmd-the-viaticum-of-constantine-the-african/https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/screenshot-2018-05-22-12-15-03.pngWellcome MS Arabic A406In planning the layout of the Viaticum, Constantine wanted to emulate works like the Passionarius and the Pantegni, as well as the manuscripts of his Arabic source. Like this fragmentary modern copy of Ibn al-Jazzar’s text, Wellcome MS Arabic A406, the Viaticum gave a list of all of the chapters of the entire work at the beginning.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/screenshot-2018-05-21-13-07-21.pngVatican, BAV, Archivio Capitolare San Pietro, MS H 44, f. 23rThe text and chapter lists of this manuscript of the Passionarius are written in Beneventan, a striking script that flourished in southern Italy in Gariopontus and Constantine’s eleventh century. Vatican, BAV, Archivio Capitolare San Pietro, MS H 44, f. 23r.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/post-6-image-1.jpgFlorence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, MS Plut. 73.41, f. 122vOnly a handful of images depict or illustrate medical practice in the period before Constantine was active in southern Italy; the tenth-century images found in this manuscript, Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, MS Plut. 73.41 (here f. 122v), illustrate how to cauterize patients suffering from various illnesses.2018-05-23T21:06:57+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2018/04/22/he-wrote-what/https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/post-5-image-3.pngpost 5 - image 3The Ellesmere Manuscript of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (San Marino, CA, Huntington Library, MS EL 26 C 9, f. 102v, detail). The passage mentioning Constantine appears on f. 108v.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/post-5-image-2.pngpost 5 - image 2Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 1123, f. 172r. This is a second, anonymous translation of Ibn al-Jazzār’s treatise on intercourse, made in the later Middle Ages. This translator, unlike Constantine, retained the original author’s name.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/post-5-image-1.pngpost 5 - image 1The Hague, Koninklijke Bibliothek, MS 73 J 6 (olim 542), last quarter of the 11th century, at Monte Cassino, f. 1va (detail). This is the oldest known copy of the Pantegni Theorica, and was likely made under Constantine’s supervision. This is the beginning of Book I, chapter 3, which does the formal “accessus” analysis of the book, listing the six key questions that needed to be assessed.2018-04-22T23:21:11+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2018/03/22/but-of-the-practica-of-the-pantegni-he-translated-only-three-books-for-it-had-been-destroyed-by-the-water-the-puzzle-of-the-practica/https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/post-4-image-3-e1521751585146.pngPractica, Book III, on feversParis, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS lat. 6886, s. xiii med. (Italy), f. 133ra, here showing the beginning of Practica, Book III, on fevers, which is the first book created whole cloth out of other Constantinian materials by an anonymous editor. This manuscript is in the running for being the oldest copy of the completed (“re-created”) Pantegni.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/post-4-image-2-e1521751548449.pngPantegni Practica, Book VI, chapter 5Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin-Preussischer Kulturbesitz, MS lat. qu. 303a, mid-12th century (Italy), f. 2v (detail), Pantegni Practica Book VI, chap. 5: De raucitate (“On Hoarseness”). This, together with manuscripts in Munich, Oxford, and Uppsala, preserves the otherwise “lost” Books VI and VII of Constantine’s translation of al-Majūsī’s original Arabic.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/post-4-image-1-hague-pantegni-e1521751609366.pngpost 4 - image 1 hague pantegniThe Hague, Koninklijke Bibliothek, MS 73 J 6 (olim 542), last quarter of the 11th century, at Monte Cassino, f. 1ra (detail). This is the oldest known copy of the Pantegni Theorica, and was likely made under Constantine’s supervision. The detail shows Constantine’s dedication of the text to his patron, Desiderius, the abbot of Monte Cassino. The holes (which look huge here because of enlargement) are actually tiny worm holes made by burrowing insects.2018-03-22T20:52:35+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2018/02/22/once-settled-in-this-monastery-he-translated-a-great-number-of-books-from-the-languages-of-diverse-peoples-the-constantinian-corpus/https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/post-3-image-3.pngpost 3 - image 3Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS lat. 7102, s. xii in. (Bobbio), ff. 35v-36r, showing the opening of the new translation, from the Greek, of the Hippocratic Aphorisms made, apparently, specifically for use in the Articella collection. Several pages of this copy are a palimpsest over the Old Latin Aphorisms translation. https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/post-3-image-2.pngpost 3 - image 2This passage falls at the point of transition between Constantine’s portion of the translation of the Surgery (Pantegni, Practica, Book IX) and the completion by Johannes, a converted Muslim, and Rusticus of Pisa. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preussischer Kulturbesitz, MS lat. fol. 74, 12th century, f. 261r. This Berlin manuscript, and one still in the library of Monte Cassino (cod. 200), are the only independent witnesses to this completed translation.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/post-3-image-1.pngpost 3 - image 1Constantine’s dedication of his treatise On the Stomach to his patron, archbishop Alfanus of Salerno (d. 1085). This copy was made in England in the later 13th century. Credit: Oxford, Pembroke College, MS 21, f. 1ra. 2018-03-22T15:07:33+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2018/01/22/in-latin-books-i-found-no-author-who-gave-certain-and-authentic-information-therefore-i-turned-to-the-arabic-language/https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/easternmed1096-e1516591617658.jpgThe Eastern Mediterranean, c. 1096In the tenth and eleventh centuries, the Islamic territories covering a huge swathe of Eurasia were renowned for their power, wealth, and cultural refinement. But even more than the breadth of the controlled, however, the vitality of Islamic civilization is suggested by the fact that centers of major cultural importance could be found at opposite ends of this territory, from Córdoba in Al-Andalus (now modern Spain) to Ghazna (Ghazni, in modern Afghanistan). (It is telling, as well, is that few maps do justice to the territorial extent of Islam in this period.) Map © Ian Mladjovhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/kassel-ms1-e1516579501941.pngKassel, MS Med. 15As in his work on urines, Constantine's other texts describe the difficulty of mastering medicine from Latin texts in vivid detail. Here, in the <i>Liber febrium</i>, Constantine explains that the sad state of his student John (including "continual tears" and "sweet words") finally convinced him to translate a work on fevers. Kassel, MS Med. 15, f. 1r.https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/bl-egerton-747-f-106r-sugar-cane-e1516585896574.jpgBL Egerton 747 f 106r - sugar caneConstantine the African's translations played a central role in introducing medicinal substances from Islamic medicine, such as sugar cane, into the Latin medical tradition, here pictured in a thirteenth-century copy of the <i>Tractatus de herbis</i>, an expanded version of the Salernitan pharmaceutical treatise, <i>Circa instans</i>. British Library, MS Egerton 747, f. 106r. https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=101162018-10-22T10:52:50+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.com/2017/12/22/ego-constantinus-africanus-montis-cassinensis-monacus/https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/post-1-image-3.pngCassinese Calendar, Constantine the AfricanThe Cassinese Calendar, written at Monte Cassino in 1098-1099, under the direction of Leo Marsicanus, who first started the monastery’s chronicle. The second line of this entry for the 22nd of December (the 11th kalends of January) indicates the date of death for Constantinus monachus medicus. Source: Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Borg. lat. 211, f. 13r (detail).https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/post-1-image-2.pngConstantine the African, De melancholia Book IIn this passage from Book I of the De melancholia (On Melancholy), a translation of Ishaq ibn ‘Imran’s treatise on the same topic, Constantine follows his source in identifying “the sudden loss of his learned books” as the reason someone might fall into the despair of melancholy. Source: London, British Library, MS Burney 216, f. 95ra (detail).https://constantinusafricanus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/post-1-image-1.pngConstantine the African, De urinisThis is from the preface to Constantine’s translation of Isaac Israeli’s (d. 932) book on urines. In the 4th and 5th lines, Constantine identifies himself: “Quem ego constantinus affricanus montiscassinensis monachus. latinȩ linguȩ ad transferendum destinaui dare” (“which [book] I, Constantine the African, monk of Monte Cassino, committed myself to translate into the Latin language”). Source: Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Urb. lat. 1415, f. 1v (detail). 2018-01-21T19:30:37+00:00monthlyhttps://constantinusafricanus.comdaily1.02026-01-28T03:04:21+00:00