Historians working on recipes often use sources that, from the
outside, do not look like recipe books. One of the most common places
for recipes to be found in pre-modern manuscripts is in liturgical
books, and other works for priests. A recipe from a sixteenth-century
Croatian liturgical manuscript reads:
Help for the teeth: On Holy Saturday when the church
bells sound Gloria in Excelsis Deo … say three Pater Nosters and three
Ave Marias in honor of God and Mary and Saint Apolonia.
Za zubi pomoć: na Velu sobotu kada se počne zvoniti k Slava va višnih
Bogu on trat… rci 3 Očenaši i tri Zdrave Marie v čast Bogu i svetoi
Marie i v čast sveti Polonii
This recipe is in the Croatian redaction of Church Slavonic language.
Church Slavonic was the common language of liturgy and learning among
Slavs in the Middle Ages. It is written in the Glagolitic alphabet; its
angular variant was used primarily in the Croatian context. This
particular recipe is then readable only by a select few. But its topic –
toothache – and its location – in a religious (moral-didactic) book –
is much more familiar. Marginal recipes are extremely widespread, as previously discussed on The Recipes Project. This post will take us into the world of marginal recipes by and for Catholic Slavs. Kingdom of Croatia from Wiki Commons
In rural parts of medieval Croatia, a kingdom hugging the Adriatic
sea, and a meeting point between the Mediterranean and Central Europe,
priests also acted as medical practitioners. Recipes and therapeutic
instructions are valuable sources, shedding light on outbreaks of
epidemics, on ways of treating diseases, as well as on old terminology.
The term “medical” has to be taken in its broadest sense, i.e. it
pertains to the basic knowledge the priests possessed.
Medical texts in the Žgombić Miscellany (Croatian Glagolitic manuscripts, early 16th c.) by Marija-Ana Dürrigl
Texts in Croatian Glagolitic recipe collections do not follow a
strict order (which organs are afflicted; which complaints are present;
which kind of procedure is to be applied; which quantity of ingredient
is to be used), but seem to have been copied randomly from various
sources.
Extant recipes against diseases can be grouped into two broad categories. Concrete texts
are instructions for curing ailments that invlolve administering
various medications (based on experience and on older written sources).
Such “concrete” recipes are applied to treat renal stones, sick eyes,
gastrointestinal disorders, and other ailments. Prescribed medications
are based primarily on local, Mediterranean, medicinal plants. In
Glagolitic sources concrete healing instructions are interwoven with
what we term abstract texts, i.e. incantations, prayers and
amulets, for example against headaches, insomnia, and sore throats.
Religious approaches to disease and healing share space on the pages of
Croatian medieval recipe collections with empirical instructions, and
both co-existed throughout many centuries. One did not exclude the
other, and this kind of promiscuitas may seem a curiosity to
the modern reader. However, a strict delineation between the different
spheres of knowledge and belief did not happen for another few
centuries. A page from Žgombić Miscellany (Croatian Glagolitic manuscript, early 16th c.) by Marija-Ana Dürrigl
Here we present three small medical texts from a “marginal” source. The book called the Žgombić Miscellany
(today in the Archive of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in
Zagreb) contains moral-didactic texts and religious prose (legends,
visions, contrasts). On the last folios there are three recipes for
treatment of toothache, one of which is quoted above.
The second reads:
Za zubi pomoć: kuša v belom vini kuhai tere zvanu stavi ča naiteple moreš ako bude Bog otil oćeš imat pomoć Help for the teeth: Cook sage /Salvia officinalis/ in white wine
and use it as a very warm compress – God willing you will have help Recipe in the Glagolitic Alphabet by Marija-Ana Dürrigl
Sage is often mentioned in Croatian Glagolitic recipe collections;
one is reminded of the Latin saying „Cur morietur homo quia salvia
crescit in horto?“ ‒ Why should man die, when salvation lies in the
Garden? The use of sage in this case can be rationally explained, for it
contains aetheric oils and can have antibacterial effect. It is still
used modern stomatology for disinfection of the mouth.
The third recipe reads:
Za zubi pomoć: ružmarina i smažera od smreki … i beloga vina skup kuhai ako li pol zvre onem maži zubi imaš lek z Božiju volu Help for the teeth: prepare an ointment by cooking rosemary
/Rosmarinus officinalis/ and resin of the juniper tree /Picea albis/ in
white wine and smear on the teeth – you will have help with God’s will.
This instruction, as well as the ingredients, suggests that it was
more likely used to those suffering with gingivitis or similar problems,
rather than against toothache. The resin of the juniper is rich in
vitamin C which is important in healing of the gums. Both empirical
recipes suggest white wine, which may have been of help in alleviating
pain. Both also end with a smilar phrase reflecting a religious view of
healing – if it is God’s will, you will be helped.
This sketch from the Croatian Glagolitic heritage shows the
significance of “marginal” sources in tracing medical texts. Although
not large in number, Croatian Glagolitic medical texts reflect the
intersection of (medieval) Christianity and empirical healing. They
should be included into a study of the wide framework of healing
practices in medieval Europe.
Marija-Ana Dürrigl, Ph.D., is a senior research associate at the Old
Church Slavonic Institute, Scientific Centre of Excellence for Croatian
Glagolitism Zagreb, Croatia.
Stella Fatović-Ferenčić, Ph.D, is a Professor at the Department for
the History of Medicine, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb,
Croatia.
References:
1 Dürrigl
MA, Fatović-Ferenčić S, „Marginalia miscellanea medica“ in Croatian
Glagolitic monuments – a model for interdisciplinary investigations, Viator 30, 1999: 383-396
2 Fatović-Ferenčić S, Dürrigl MA, Za zubi pomoć ‒ odontološki tekstovi u hrvatskoglagoljskim rukopisima, Acta Stomatologica Croatica 1997, 31: 229-236 (Help for teeth – odontological texts in Croatian Glagolitic manuscripts)
