Whatever was wrong with you, the Tacuinum Sānitātis
seems to have a cure for it including enhancing your love-life and treating
scorpion bites – not at the same time, of course. We’ll start with asparagus.
Full marks to whoever battled through the Mediaeval
manuscript; I have added notes and vocabulary along with the translations
together with comments in italics along the way.
Texts like this, apart from giving you an insight into the importance
attached to the healing properties of plants of the Middle Ages, there is some
very useful vocabulary – not all of it, of course, but you can identify words
that are common.
Sparagus │ Asparagus
Complectiō [ = complexiō] calida et hūmida in prīmō │Nature: hot and wet in the first degree*.
- calidus, -a, -um: hot
- complexiō, complexiōnis [3/f]: (Mediaeval) constitution; nature
- hūmidus, -a, -um: wet; humid; moist
* hot and wet in the first degree:
“Common to all traditional medical systems is the concept of
the temperature of a medicine. This is related to both its nature, and medicinal
effect. Whereas usually a medicine is classed as 'hot', 'warm', 'cool' or
'cold', the Western tradition … elaborated by giving degrees of heat and cold,
1st degree being mild, while a 4th degree denotes extreme. In addition, they
add the secondary qualities of dryness and moisture. Therefore a medicine may
be Hot in the 2nd degree and dry in the first degree.”
https://www.medicinetraditions.com/temperatures-of-medicines.html
Ēlēctiō recentēs cuius summitātēs dēclīnant ad terram
│ Optimum [refers to the best or most favorable condition]: fresh
and ¦ with the tip ¦ towards the earth [the tips of which bend]
- ēlēctiō, ēlēctiōnis [3/f]: choice; selection
- recēns, recentis: fresh; recent
- summitās, summitātis [3/f]: the highest point (of something)
Iuuāmentum [ = in the manuscript /u/ and /v/ are
not distinguished which is a standard practice] addunt in coitū et
aperiunt op(p)ilatiōnēs │ Benefit: they promote intercourse and
open up obstructions
- addō, -ere, addidī, additus [3]: add to; augment
- coitus, -ūs [4/m]: meeting; joining; (here) (sexual) intercourse
- iuvāmentum, -ī [2/n]: (Late Latin) aid; assistance; help
- oppīlātiō, oppīlātiōnis [3/f]: (Late Latin) blockage; obstruction
Nocumentum nocent uillīs stomachī │ Harm: they damage / do harm to the
fibrous tissues of the stomach.
- nocumentum, -ī [2/n]: (Mediaeval) harm; nuisance
- noceō, -ēre, -uī, nocitus [3]: injure; harm; do harm to; the verb is followed by the dative case
- stomachus, -ī [2/m]: stomach
- villus, -ī [2/m]: literally refers to shaggy hair; the term is still used in Biology and Botany
Remōtiō nocumentī ¦ postquam elisātī* sunt ¦ comedantur
¦ cum muri(ā)** aut acētō │ Remedy for harm: cooked and seasoned
afterwards [after they have been salted ¦ they should be / are to be eaten]
with brine or vinegar.
Scribes sometimes made mistakes, but, when dealing
with anything of this age, you cannot make assumptions; you can only check
references as much as you can and, if there is no listing anywhere, then you
can conclude that it might be a mistake
*elisātī: I cannot find this listed anywhere although the
manuscript is clear in using the word; given that the text is referring to
seasoning, I suspect it’s from:
saliō, -īre, -iī
[4]: to salt; (perfect passive participle) salītus, -a, -um: salted
**cum muri; the
ending in the text does not apply to either of the two possibilities: muria,
-ae [1/f] or muriēs, -ēī [5/f]: brine; pickle
Does the scribe
omit the final /a/ of muriā because the next word begins with /a/ (aut), or is
it just a slip of the quill?
- acētum, -ī [2/n]: vinegar
- comedō, -ere, comēdī, comēsus [3] eat; consume
- remōtiō, remōtiōnis [3/f]: removal > remōtiō nocumentī: removal of harm = remedy
Quid generant nūtrīmentum bonum │ Effects [literally:
what they produce] good nutrition.
- generō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1]: produce
- nūtrīmentum, -ī [2/n]: nourishment; sustenance
Conueniunt frīgidīs et siccīs* senibus et dēcrepitīs
in vēre et in regiōnibus in quibus reperiuntur. │ Advisable for the cold
and dry [temperaments], the elderly and decrepit, in spring and in the regions
where found.
*The text says literally “They are suitable for the cold and
dry (something in the plural)”; the translation refers to temperaments,
a rather archaic term for conditions
- conveniō, -īre, -vēnī, conventus [4]: (here) be suitable for
- dēcrepitus, -a, -um: very old; decrepit
- frīgidus, -a, -um: cold
- reperiō, -īre, repperī, repertus [4]: find; discover; in regiōnibus ¦ in quibus reperiuntur │ in the regions ¦ in which they are found (passive)
- senex, senis [3 m/f]: old person
- siccus, -a, -um: dry
- vēr, -is [3/n]: spring
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