Lorsch Pharmacopoeia

The Lorsch Pharmacopoeia was probably written at the end of the 8th century during the reign of Charlemagne in the Benedictine Abbey of Lorsch and is thus the oldest medical book of the occidental Middle Ages. This outstanding document of early medieval monastic medicine gathers various medical treatises in Latin and contains a total of 482 pharmaceutical recipes. The introduction vehemently defends medicine, which at that time was still considered an intervention in God's plans, as an act of Christian charity. Numerous additional recipes and marginal notes also testify to the intensive use of the manuscript in the 9th and 10th centuries. The codex, carefully written in Carolingian minuscule, also contains the only known early medieval (partial) index of an imperial library. Indeed, it was in the possession of both Emperor Otto III and Emperor Henry II, who donated the pharmacopoeia to the cathedral library of the bishopric of Bamberg, which he had founded. Thus, the Lorsch Pharmacopoeia is not only a milestone in the history of medicine, but also a unique historical document of inestimable value.