Adventures of Mr. X. IX. A merchant of Carthage
...X. was a merchant from Carthage trading with Sicily and Italy. Suffering from an illness during his short stay in Salerno, he took refuge with the king's brother Gusulf. A doctor named Abbas of Curiat was the interpreter. X. noted that Abbas did not even ask for the bottle of urine, and the Italian doctor who came to examine the bottle was inexperienced. X. concluded that medicine in Italy was limited to simple practical knowledge, which led X. to ask whether there were in Italy any good books on medicine. Abbas said no. X., who had an extensive general knowledge, felt he had a civilizing mission to accomplish.
... He returned to Carthage. He studied medicine for three years and collected many books on medicine. He made distant journeys, some of which brought him into the Far East. He became familiar with the Oriental languages and studied Arabian literature. This led to great jealousy on the part of his professional brethren and to much unpleasantness, for he is even said to have been accused of practicing magic. X. left Carthage and accepted the position of secretary of the Emperor Constantine Monomachus in Reggio, a small town near Byzantium. Then he left this post, too, and traveled to southern Italy carrying with him this medical books.
...X. walked towards Salerno, passing through the coast of Lucania by boat. It is north of the Gulf of Polycastro, a storm arose at sea damaging some manuscripts. The first three parts of the books of Ali Ibn Abbas Al Majoussi were lost. X. arrived at Salerno with what remained of the books, and converted to Christianity. In Salerno, X. became a professor of medicine. A few years later he became a Benedictine monk, living the last two decades of his life in the Monte Cassino monastery.
... In the monastery, X. was received with open arms by the Abbot Desiderius, who afterwards became Pope Victor III. X. occupied himself with the writing of books, being stimulated thereto by Desiderius who was his most intimate friend. His best-known work is the so-called "Liber Pantegni", which is a translation of the "Khitaab el Maleki" of Ali Ben el-Abbas. This book he dedicated to Desiderius. He also wrote some original works, but it has been found so difficult to separate what is undoubtedly genuine from what came to be attributed to him in time, that there is no certainty as to his original contributions to medicine. X. translated into Latin books of the great masters of Arabic medicine: Razes Ali Ibn Massaouia Baghdad, Ibn Imran, Ibn Suleiman, and Ibn Al-Jazzar. They were used as textbooks from the Middle Ages to the seventeenth century.
... After X.'s arrival, Salerno gained the title of "Town of Hippocrates.” The "Schola Salerni" that was founded on X.’s translations and works became the medieval world's first medical school. Medical practitioners of Salerno, both men and women, were unrivalled in the world. A legend ascribes the foundation of the school to four masters: the Jewish Helinus, the Greek Pontus, the Arab Adela, and the Latin Salernus. In the school, besides the teaching of medicine (in which women too were involved, as both teachers and students), there were courses of philosophy, theology, and law.
...The most famous doctor and medical author at the school is Trotula (Dame of Trot) of Salerno who is accredited with several books on gynaecology and cosmetics, collectively known as The Trotula. It was first published around 1100 AD and was a prominent text until the early 1600s. Many historians debate whether Trotula was a woman or if she even existed. By the mid 1500's, women were no longer allowed to study at universities. Without concrete biographical evidence that Trotula existed, her manuscripts were attributed to a man and the name Trotula was a pseudonym.
It was suggested that this man was X.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_African
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04295b.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schola_Medica_Salernitana
http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/trotula.html
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/5168/02.07.20.html?sequence=1
... He returned to Carthage. He studied medicine for three years and collected many books on medicine. He made distant journeys, some of which brought him into the Far East. He became familiar with the Oriental languages and studied Arabian literature. This led to great jealousy on the part of his professional brethren and to much unpleasantness, for he is even said to have been accused of practicing magic. X. left Carthage and accepted the position of secretary of the Emperor Constantine Monomachus in Reggio, a small town near Byzantium. Then he left this post, too, and traveled to southern Italy carrying with him this medical books.
...X. walked towards Salerno, passing through the coast of Lucania by boat. It is north of the Gulf of Polycastro, a storm arose at sea damaging some manuscripts. The first three parts of the books of Ali Ibn Abbas Al Majoussi were lost. X. arrived at Salerno with what remained of the books, and converted to Christianity. In Salerno, X. became a professor of medicine. A few years later he became a Benedictine monk, living the last two decades of his life in the Monte Cassino monastery.
... In the monastery, X. was received with open arms by the Abbot Desiderius, who afterwards became Pope Victor III. X. occupied himself with the writing of books, being stimulated thereto by Desiderius who was his most intimate friend. His best-known work is the so-called "Liber Pantegni", which is a translation of the "Khitaab el Maleki" of Ali Ben el-Abbas. This book he dedicated to Desiderius. He also wrote some original works, but it has been found so difficult to separate what is undoubtedly genuine from what came to be attributed to him in time, that there is no certainty as to his original contributions to medicine. X. translated into Latin books of the great masters of Arabic medicine: Razes Ali Ibn Massaouia Baghdad, Ibn Imran, Ibn Suleiman, and Ibn Al-Jazzar. They were used as textbooks from the Middle Ages to the seventeenth century.
... After X.'s arrival, Salerno gained the title of "Town of Hippocrates.” The "Schola Salerni" that was founded on X.’s translations and works became the medieval world's first medical school. Medical practitioners of Salerno, both men and women, were unrivalled in the world. A legend ascribes the foundation of the school to four masters: the Jewish Helinus, the Greek Pontus, the Arab Adela, and the Latin Salernus. In the school, besides the teaching of medicine (in which women too were involved, as both teachers and students), there were courses of philosophy, theology, and law.
...The most famous doctor and medical author at the school is Trotula (Dame of Trot) of Salerno who is accredited with several books on gynaecology and cosmetics, collectively known as The Trotula. It was first published around 1100 AD and was a prominent text until the early 1600s. Many historians debate whether Trotula was a woman or if she even existed. By the mid 1500's, women were no longer allowed to study at universities. Without concrete biographical evidence that Trotula existed, her manuscripts were attributed to a man and the name Trotula was a pseudonym.
It was suggested that this man was X.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_African
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04295b.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schola_Medica_Salernitana
http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/trotula.html
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/5168/02.07.20.html?sequence=1