Nicholas of Salerno, also known as Nicolaus Salernitanus
Nicholas of Salerno, also known as Nicolaus Salernitanus
fl. 1140
Italian physician who is traditionally considered the author of a famous medieval treatise on pharmacology and antidotes known as the Antidotarium Nicolai. This formulary is an important source of information about medieval pharmacy, materia medica, dentistry, and pharmacotherapy, and it was probably based on the anonymous Antidotarius magnus (composed between 1087 and 1100). That text was probably based on an older Salernitan manuscript by Constantine the African (Constantinus Africanus, 1020-1087). Nothing is actually known about the life of Nicolaus Salernitanus, who allegedly lived during the first half of the twelfth century. The name Nicolaus became associated with the Antidotarium and other traditional formularies after the twelfth century. The first printed edition of the Antidotarium Nicolai was published in Venice in 1471. A text containing a reprint of the first printing, along with a modern German translation, was published in 1976. The Antidotarium has also been translated into Dutch and Czech. Scholars continue to struggle with the dating and lineage of the work.