Incense in medicine: an early medieval perspective

Switzerland
9th Century
Source: Burridge, C. (2020). Incense in medicine: an early medieval perspective. Early Medieval Europe, 28(2), 219–255.
Recipe Details

Ingredients

cozumber, confita, aloeswood, camphor, musk, ambergris, storax, frankincense, myrrh, mastic, spikenard, saffron

Preparation Steps

The recipe 'Confectio timiame' (p. 247) includes a complex mixture of ingredients: cozumber, confita, aloeswood, camphor, musk, ambergris, storax, frankincense, myrrh, mastic, spikenard, and saffron (p. 14, Table 1). The recipe sits between two medical antidotes labelled Diaterseron antidotum and Antidotum diaprassiu (p. 9).

Original Recipe Text

The recipe 'Confectio timiame' (p. 247) includes a complex mixture of ingredients: cozumber, confita, aloeswood, camphor, musk, ambergris, storax, frankincense, myrrh, mastic, spikenard, and saffron (p. 14, Table 1). The recipe sits between two medical antidotes labelled Diaterseron antidotum and Antidotum diaprassiu (p. 9).

Evidence

"a recipe for incense entitled Confectio timiame is situated in the middle of this collection on page 247."

Remarks

The medical half of csg. 44 is dated to the second half of the ninth century (p. 9). The author argues that because these ingredients appear alongside complex medical preparations like oxymel, incense was intended for multipurpose use, including potential inclusion in other liquid or semi-liquid remedies (p. 15).

Scientific Analysis
Analytical Techniques
textual analysis
palaeography
Certainty Level
Inferred
Instrumentally Verified
Not Verified
Metadata
Material Type
ink
RegionSwitzerland
Approx. Year850
Source Information
AuthorBurridge, C.
CollectionCodex Sangallensis (csg.) 44
Language
N/A
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