Drugs in the Medieval Mediterranean

In this volume a distinguished international team of scholars examines the history of drugs within all the major medical traditions of the medieval Mediterranean namely Byzantine Islamicate Jewish and Latin and in so doing analyses a considerable number of previously unedited or barely explored texts. A Mediterranean-wide perspective permits a deeper understanding of broader phenomena such as the transfer of scientific knowledge and cultural exchange by looking beyond single linguistic traditions or political boundaries. It also highlights the diversity and vitality of the medieval Mediterranean pharmacological tradition which through its close links with cookery alchemy magic religion and philosophy had to be able to adapt to multiple contexts not least to changing social and political realities as in the case of drugs as diplomatic gifts.