page_title: Constantine the African
section_title: Scientific production
hierarchical_section_title: Constantine the African / Scientific production
caption_attribution_description: Lefthand side folio viii; righthand side folio 001r from an 11th century copy of the Liber pantegni The black circles are holes created by worms eating away at the parchment sometime during the nine and a half centuries since it was written This is the earliest known copy (prior to 1086) of the Liber pantegni, made at Monte Cassino under the supervision of Constantine the African It is dedicated to Abbot Desiderius of Monte Cassino (1027-1087), before he became Pope Victor III Folio 1r, middle of left column: &#39;&#39;Cum totius pater scientiae generalitas tres principales partes habeat [...]&#39;&#39; Read backgroud information in Dutch and in English
context_page_description: Constantine the African was a physician who lived in the 11th century. The first part of his life was spent in North Africa and the rest in Italy. He first arrived in Italy in the coastal town of Salerno, home of the Schola Medica Salernitana, where his work attracted attention from the local Lombard and Norman rulers. Constantine then became a Benedictine monk, living the last decades of his life at the abbey of Monte Cassino.
  It was in Italy where Constantine compiled his vast opus, mostly composed of translations from Arabic sources. He translated into Latin books of the great masters of Arabic medicine: Razes, Ibn Imran, Ibn Suleiman, and Ibn al-Jazzar; these translations are housed today in libraries in Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, and England. They were used as textbooks from the Middle Ages to the seventeenth century.
context_section_description: Constantine arrived at Cassino, bringing with him the manuscripts of medicine that he took from Tunis. They include works of the Kairouanese El Baghdadi:
  The Kairouanese books
  The book of melancholy of Ishaq Ibn Imran.
  The book of the pulse, urine and food regime of Ibn Ishaq Suleiman.
  The book "Zad Al Mussāfir" (Viaticum) of Ahmed Ibn Al Jazzar.
  The Baghdadi books
  The book "Al Hawi" of Abu Bakr Al Razi
  The book "Al Kamil “ of Ali Ibn Al Abbas Al Majoussi, at least in part. Constantine translated the first ten books (on the theory of medicine) but his translation of the second ten books (on practice) do not entirely survive. (The same book was retranslated in the twelfth century by Stephen of Antioch, who was dismissive of Constantine's translation.)
caption: Eleventh-century manuscript version of the Liber pantegni, made at Monte Cassino under the supervision of Constantine the African
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