28-05-2016, 09:27 PM
A quote from a letter of historical interest for the evolution of Salerno's medical tradition...
This letter is from a diplomatic (spying) mission to Constantinople in the 10th century.
What happens is that the host tries to insult Liudprand by using "Lombard" as a derogatory term ("You are not Romans but Lombards"), to which Liudprand of Cremona bristles, and responds:
"History tells us that Romulus, from whom the Romans get their name, was a fratricide born in adultery. He made a place of refuge for himself and received into it insolvent debtors, runaway slaves, murderers and men who deserved death for their crimes. This was the sort of crowd whom he enrolled as citizens and gave them the name of Romans. From this nobility [note the sarcasm here] are descended those men whom you style 'rulers of the world.'
But we Lombards, Saxons, Franks, Lotharingians, Bavarians, Swabians and Burgundians, so despise these fellows that when we are angry with an enemy we can find nothing more insulting to say than -'You Roman!' For us in the word Roman is comprehended every form of lowness, timidity, avarice, luxury, falsehood and vice. You say that we are unwarlike and know nothing of horsemanship. Well, if the sins of the Christians merit that you keep this stiff neck, the next war will prove what manner of men you are, and how warlike we."
Liudprand was born in Pavia (south of Milan), was associated with Cremona, but was Lombardian (and judging by his tirade, proudly so).
Salerno fell to the Lombards in the 7th century and the famous medical school that spawned many of the herbal traditions was founded and the area declared independent from the surrounding Italic city-states. It grew fairly large, encompassing a substantial part of the "boot".
I personally don't give a rat's behind about ethnicity, but I do care about understanding the proper historical context of the VMS and when you scoff at Salerno being Germanic (which it was prior to and during the formation of the medical school and the herbal manuscript tradition that emanated from that area), you need to do some more research. As I alluded to up-thread, the communications conduit between Salerno and the Holy Roman Empire becomes evident when you follow the dispersal of herbal manuscripts throughout the rest of Europe over the next several centuries. If we ignore this dynamic, we might overlook an important aspect of the Beinecke 408 provenance (or at least some of the possible influences).
This letter is from a diplomatic (spying) mission to Constantinople in the 10th century.
What happens is that the host tries to insult Liudprand by using "Lombard" as a derogatory term ("You are not Romans but Lombards"), to which Liudprand of Cremona bristles, and responds:
"History tells us that Romulus, from whom the Romans get their name, was a fratricide born in adultery. He made a place of refuge for himself and received into it insolvent debtors, runaway slaves, murderers and men who deserved death for their crimes. This was the sort of crowd whom he enrolled as citizens and gave them the name of Romans. From this nobility [note the sarcasm here] are descended those men whom you style 'rulers of the world.'
But we Lombards, Saxons, Franks, Lotharingians, Bavarians, Swabians and Burgundians, so despise these fellows that when we are angry with an enemy we can find nothing more insulting to say than -'You Roman!' For us in the word Roman is comprehended every form of lowness, timidity, avarice, luxury, falsehood and vice. You say that we are unwarlike and know nothing of horsemanship. Well, if the sins of the Christians merit that you keep this stiff neck, the next war will prove what manner of men you are, and how warlike we."
Liudprand was born in Pavia (south of Milan), was associated with Cremona, but was Lombardian (and judging by his tirade, proudly so).
Salerno fell to the Lombards in the 7th century and the famous medical school that spawned many of the herbal traditions was founded and the area declared independent from the surrounding Italic city-states. It grew fairly large, encompassing a substantial part of the "boot".
I personally don't give a rat's behind about ethnicity, but I do care about understanding the proper historical context of the VMS and when you scoff at Salerno being Germanic (which it was prior to and during the formation of the medical school and the herbal manuscript tradition that emanated from that area), you need to do some more research. As I alluded to up-thread, the communications conduit between Salerno and the Holy Roman Empire becomes evident when you follow the dispersal of herbal manuscripts throughout the rest of Europe over the next several centuries. If we ignore this dynamic, we might overlook an important aspect of the Beinecke 408 provenance (or at least some of the possible influences).