Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Bologna

  • Salernitan women

    Vicent Rodilla Alicia López-Castellano Valencia, Spain   Figure 1. A miniature from Avicenna’s Canon representing the Salernitan Medical School. Source The first medical school in the Western world is thought to be the Schola Medica Salernitana (Figure 1), which traces its origins to the dispensary of an early medieval monastery.1 The medical school at Salerno…

  • Julius Caesar Aranzi, anatomist and surgeon of Bologna

    Julius Caesar Aranzi (Aranzio, Arantius) was born in Bologna in 1529 or 1530. As a young man he received a good education even though he hailed from a poor family. He studied under the supervision of his uncle Bartolomeo Maggi, an outstanding surgeon and at one time principal court physician to the Pope. Admitted to…

  • Foundations of anatomy in Bologna

    JMS PearceEast Yorks, England Home to the oldest western university,1 the University of Bologna was founded in 1088 and was a center of intellectual life during the Middle Ages, attracting scholars from throughout Europe. The University began as a law school. Medical teaching started circa 1156 and was taught in Latin translations, principally based on…