Dietetics

Aldobrandino's Régime du corps is a dietetic text written in the 13th century drawing heavily on the writings of earlier medical authors (Avicenna, Ali Abbas, Rhazes, Isaac, Johannitius). These selections are the chapters on kinds of cereals and bread, and on types of beverages.

Subjects covered in this issue: medieval cookery and medicine; Tacuinum Sanitatis; benches, shelves, and tables; a typical Swiss or South-German coif; and late 15th century swords.

Subjects covered in this issue: medieval cookery and medicine; and trestle tables.

The Art of Cookery is most beneficial to health when it is influenced by the applicatio n of Humoural Theory, which began as the medical model for the explanatio n and treatment of the human body. We must give considerat ion to the diet in health.

A 15th century recipe collection and dietetics text from the court of Bayern-Landshut translated by Giano Balestriere.
Meister Eberhard is a text that belongs into a south German context, most likely associated with the court of Bayern-Landshut during its ascendancy in the first half of the 15th century. AFAIK we know nothing about the putative author other than that he most likely was part of the kitchen staff there. The text contains an eclectic mix of recipes and dietetic advice heavily cribbed from a variety of sources, including the (unattributed) writings of St Hildegardis Bingensis.

In medieval times, as today, many foods were thought to have medicinal value. Many a medieval diet was ruled by these beliefs and many physicians and patients of that time swore by the value of them.

The following list of tomes provides a modest beginning point for understand ing the framework behind English kitchen thought in terms of medical theory.

The Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, written sometime during the 12th or 13th centuries, is one of the most popular poems in the history of both medicine and literature. Although the work claims to be the product of the famous medical school of Salerno, Italy, and written for an anonymous English king, the true author is entirely unknown. The manuscript probably has its origins in an Arabic work, originally entitled "Sirr al-asrar." The work is filled with what is essentially common sense advice - don't eat too much, use moderate exercise, keep yourself clean, etc. For the modern enthusiast of the Middle Ages, the Regimen is an ideal source for information on daily life, beliefs, thoughts, and practices; it is also a source for authentic attitudes and prescriptions concerning every day foodstuffs, such as vegetables, herbs, and meats, along with advice on when to eat, how much to consume, and what foods were safe and which should be avoided to prevent disease.

Though he was not a physician, Sir John Harington wrote a loose translatio n of the Regimen Sanitatis Salernitan um, the Medical Poem of Salerno, into English verse.