The Trotula Analysis

If we are to think of The Trotula as a bridge spanning two different worlds of medicine and academics, from east to west, we must think of the Galenic and Hippocratic traditions as the eastern end of the bridge, the foundation on which twelfth century medicine was built. Even with Galenic and Hippocratic tradition as the foundation for The Trotula, even they had to begin somewhere. Their foundation consisted of the natural philosophy teachings of Aristotle, and while his teachings are fascinating and vastly important, I cannot do Aristotle justice in this piece. Although Hippocrates was the first to introduce the idea of the four humours, Galen expanded on it drastically, writing the treatise On the Natural Faculties where he discussed the transformation of nutrition from the form it was consumed in, to elements that could be used by the human body. These ideas of balancing the humours form the basis of many of the remedies contained within the Trotula.
Galen refers to Nature, the creator of human anatomy, as female. Conversely, in the introduction to the Trotula credits God with the creation of
Indeed, in the first section of The Trotula, Book on the Conditions of Women (also referred to as the Trotula major), the author ends his introduction. This is the first example of the bridge, of the Trotula bringing together old and new. Galen and Hippocrates were natives of Greece, not so far removed from Salerno in Italy, although it would take the involvement of the Arabs for their teachings to reach that seat of medical knowledge. Remedies from these traditions come together with remedies from the Middle East, also brought over by the Arabs. This incorporation of medical techniques, as well as herbs from beyond familiar borders, also illustrates the increased sharing of knowledge between cultures, even before universities rose as the chief centers of