As mentioned in the last post, Constantine Africanus was a widely acclaimed teacher of medicine at the school in Salerno and may have been the teacher of Trota de Ruggerio. Constantine was born in Carthage, Ifriqya (modern Tunisia) about 1010 AD. Carthage at that time was ruled by the Zirid Dynasty, a Berber dynasty that came to power in 1048 and was eventually overthrown by the Normans in 1148. His early life is obscure, but it is said that he traveled extensively in the Arab world and the Far East, gaining so much knowledge that his contemporaries in Carthage accused him of practicing magic. He was supposedly expelled from Carthage and took flight to southern Italy, becoming secretary to Robert, Duke of Salerno. Another legend suggests that when Constantine became ill himself, he was treated by a doctor who didn't even ask for a urine sample. The color, taste, and smell of urine was a major diagnostic schema of the time. Thus, Constantine became convinced that Italian medicine was rather backward and needed his help. Constantine taught at Salerno c. 1070-1076, after which he retired to the Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cassino where he remained until his death in c. 1087. His best-known work is the so-called "Liber Pantegni", which is really a translation of the "Khitaab el Maleki" of Ali Ben el-Abbas. He also wrote some original works, but it is so difficult to separate what is undoubtedly genuine from what came to be attributed to him in time, that there is no certainty as to his original contributions to medicine. He is especially known for translations of both Arab and Greek medical texts from well-known physicians such as Razes Ali Ibn Massaouia Baghdad, Ibn Imran, Ibn Suleiman, Ibn Al-Jazzar, Hippocrates and Galen. These texts were widely used until the 17th century.
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| Constantine Africanus |
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| Constantine examines urine from students. Note the woman in the picture. |
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| Constantine treats a wound |
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