This monograph contains the first edition of a Greek medical text from the High Middle Ages. The text is a rare witness from a world we still have little knowledge of, the world of ordinary medical practice — this book is telling us about medicine as a craft, not as a scholarly concept. The text often seems crude and goes into more detail than one would expect in a more learned specimen. It is also partially composed in dialect.
As with most Byzantine medical writings, its theoretical frame work is indebted to Galen and other authorities from antiquity. It does not question established medical knowledge, just as modern clinical handbooks would not reflect upon the historical back ground of physiological concepts such as the vascular system or the discovery of antibiotics, but briefly offer the information one might require in a hospital emergency or when confronted with an unfamiliar case in everyday practice. Thus, the approach is pragmatic and down to earth, the author aims to answer questions such as ‘how do I treat a chronic cough’ or ‘how can I induce labour if the child dies inside the womb’.

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