Never did the far-famed sanctuary of the god of medicine in Epidaurus witness such an influx of invalids as gathered in the hospitals of Salerno and pressed through the streets of the Hippocratic city, seeking the aid of those doctors whose marvelous cures had given them a world-wide reputation. Small wonder, then, that the Regimen Santatis Salernitanum—that famous code of health of the school of Salerno—has been translated into almost all the languages of modern Europe, and that since 1480 no fewer than two hundred and fifty editions of it have been published. "Not to have been familiar with it from beginning to end, not to have been able to quote it orally as occasion might require, would, during the Middle Ages, have cast serious suspicion upon the professional culture of any physician."[194] But the noblest claims of the Hippocratic city to the gratitude of humanity yet remain to be told. A German traveler in the thirteenth century wrote:
"Laudibus æternum nullum negat esse Salernum
Illuc pro morbis totus circumfluit orbis."[195]
This was because Salerno was universally recognized as the "day star" and "morning glory" of the best culture in the healing art, and, still more, because of the thorough instruction she gave in her schools of medicine and the preëminence she so long held in every department of medical lore.
The course of study in medicine was long and thorough, and the candidate applying for a degree had to pass a rigid examination and give proof not only of his proficiency in every branch of the healing art, but also of perfect acquaintance with the various branches of science and letters as well. At the time of Frederick II, who organized all the different schools of Salerno into a single university, a three years' course in philosophy and literature was required before one could present himself for entrance into the school of medicine. The courses in medicine lasted five years, at least, after which a year of practice with an old physician was required. In addition to this, if the candidate wished to practice surgery he was obliged to devote one year to the study of human anatomy and to the dissection of human bodies. Considering the progress of knowledge since the time of Frederick II, it must be admitted that the legal requirements enforced by the faculty of Salerno compare favorably with those of the best of our medical schools of to-day.
Still more to the credit of Salerno, long known as the Athens of the two Sicilies, was her boundless liberality toward scholarship and culture regardless of sex. For, with a chivalrous admiration for intellect, wherever found, and with a sense of intellectual justice that has put to shame all medical schools outside of Italy, until less than fifty years ago, the school of Salerno was the first to throw open its portals to women as well as men, and give to an admiring world a number of women—those celebrated mulieres Salernitanæ—who were eminent not only as physicians, but also as professors of the theory and practice of medicine. For this reason, if for no other, it can be truly affirmed that "No school of medicine in any age or country, if only for this, can ever over-peer her in renown; and, even as formerly in the universities of Europe, at the bare mention of the name of the learned Cujacius, every scholar instinctively uncovered himself, so at the very name of Salernum, the fount and nurse of rational medicine, every physician should recall her memory 'with mute thanks and secret ecstasy' as among the most spotless and venerated chapters in the history of his art."[196]
The most noted professor and successful practitioner among the women of Salerno was Trotula, wife of the distinguished physician, John Platearius, and a member of the old noble family of the Ruggiero. She flourished during the eleventh century and enjoyed a reputation as a physician that was not inferior to that of the most noted doctors of her time. Besides occupying a chair in the school of medicine and having an extensive practice, she was the author of many works on medicine which had a great vogue among her contemporaries. Some of them, especially those relating to diseases of her own sex,[197] were published several times after the invention of printing, and many manuscript copies of her works are still found in various libraries of Europe. But she did not confine her practice to the diseases of women. She was also well versed in general medicine and exhibited, besides, as her works testify, marked skill as a surgeon in many cases that would even now be considered as peculiarly difficult of treatment.
One of her books was entitled De Compositione Medicamentorum—the Compounding of Medicaments—and it was this work, doubtless, that gave her much of the fame she enjoyed beyond the confines of Italy. Rutebœuf, a noted French trouvère of the thirteenth century, gives us a quaint picture of a scene frequently witnessed in his day. Crowds were frequently attracted by herbalists—venders of simples—who, stationed at street corners or in other public places, near tables covered with a cloth of flaring colors, were wont to descant, somewhat after the style of certain of our patent-medicine hawkers and quack-salvers, upon the extraordinary curative properties of the various drugs and panaceas which they had for sale.
"Good people," one of these traveling herb doctors would begin, "I am not one of those poor preachers, nor one of those poor herbalists who carry boxes and sachets and spread them out on a carpet. No, I am a disciple of a great lady named Madame Trotte of Salerno, who performs such marvels of every kind. And know ye that she is the wisest woman in the four quarters of the world."
Ordericus Vitalis, an English Benedictine monk, in his Historia Ecclesiastica, tells us of the impression made by Trotula on Rudolfo Malacorona, one of those famous itinerant scholars of the Middle Ages, who spent their lives in wandering from one university to another in pursuit of knowledge. He had been a student from his youth and was a man of remarkable attainments in every department of learning. After visiting and conferring with the learned men of the most celebrated universities of France and Italy, he finally arrived at Salerno, where, he informs us, he found no one who could cope with him in disputation except quandam sapientem matronam—a certain very learned woman.[198] This was Trotula, who, by reason of the extraordinary cures she effected, was known among her contemporaries as magistra operis—a consummate practitioner. When, however, we consider the thorough course of study that every one aspiring to a degree in medicine was obliged to complete, women as well as men, it is not so surprising that Trotula should be regarded both as a learned woman and as a successful physician.
Among other women doctors who did honor to Salerno and whose names have come down to us were three who are known in history as Abella, Rebeca de Guarna and Mercuriade. All of them achieved a great reputation by their writings on medical subjects, especially Mercuriade, who distinguished herself in surgery as well as in medicine. Still another woman deserving special mention is Francesca, wife of Matteo de Romana, of Salerno. After passing a very severe examination before a board composed of physicians and surgeons, she was accorded the doctorate in surgery. An official document of the time referring to this event reads as follows: "Whereas the laws permit women to practice medicine, and whereas, from the viewpoint of good morals, women are best adapted to the treatment of their own sex, we, after having received the oath of fidelity, permit the said Francesca to practice the said art of healing," etc.[199]