Italy
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Marozia- The Woman who Ruled the Papacy
In a previous post, we discussed how the period of history ushered in by the Cadaver Synod was called the pornocracy by historians. Europe was effectively in pieces. Attacks were coming from the Vikings in the North, Muslim pirates in the South and the Magyars in the East. Rome was ruled by the Popes, and the Popes were ruled by one woman, Marozia. Marozia was born between 890 and 892, and she was the daughter of the Roman consul Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, and of Theodora, a senatrix and serenissima vestaratrix of Rome. The two were the power couple of Rome and had made their share of enemies. One of…
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Aelia Galla Placidia- Mother of the Western Roman Empire
If we were judging by famous ancestors, Aelia Galla Placidia had collected quite a few plums. Daughter of Emperor Theodosius I and his second wife, Galla, who was the daughter of Emperor Valentinian I. Her half brothers were emperors Honorius and Arcadius, and nephew was Theodosius II, emperor in Constantinople. Her son went on to become Emperor Valentinian III. Granted, some of the crop was a bit questionable and possibly moldy, but they were plums all the same. Added to, or perhaps in spite of, her famous relative, Galla Placidia was one of the most influential figures of the time. Her biographer Stewart Irvin Oost says, she “played at least…
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The Cadaver Synod
The history of the papacy has many twists and turns, but probably the strangest is the Cadaver Synod or Synodus Horrenda as it was called in Latin. It was ushered in one of the Era of the Bad Popes, one of the most corrupt periods in the history of the papacy. It is seriously called by historians the pornocracy. Seriously. How did this start? The empire Charlemagne had cobbled together was falling apart. Minor kingdoms were breaking off and the Italian peninsula descended into anarchy. Different groups were demanding protection money from Rome, which was still recovering from the sack by the Saracens in 846. Each kingdom wanting a piece…
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The History of Medicine – The development of early hospitals
Following on from our look at Vesalius and the science of Anatomy, I got the idea for this article from the rulebook of the order known as Camillans, who by the time of its publication had been in service for a little over twenty years in Milan. It is offered as regulation so we can surmise that the contents were rigidly adhered to, by the nursing assistants. The Maggiore hospital in Milan was run by an order of brothers, the Camillans, who offered basic healthcare, interspersed with a substantial amount of religious guidance to the poor. Hospitals such as the Maggiore were designated mainly for the treatment of the poor.…
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Andreas Vesalius and the road to modern medicine
Andreas Vesalius was born Andries van Wesel on the last day of 1514, in Brussels. Now part of Belgium, at the time was part of the Netherlands. His Great-grandfather Jan, grandfather Everard, and father Anders, were all in the medical profession. After earning his degree, Jan taught at the new University of Leuven, Everard was the Royal Physician to the Emperor Maximillian and Anders followed in his father’s footsteps as Royal Apothecary, first to Maximillian, and then Charles V. After enrolling in 1528 and studying the Arts at Leuven for four years, Andreas moved to Paris to study for a career in the Military. Here he developed an interest in…
