484 Medina
Persian, Indian, and Jewish sources on anatomy and dis-
eases formed the basis of the study and development of
the medieval medical sciences in Islam. In the 10th cen-
tury Arabic physicians such as IBNSINA(Avicenna) and
AL-RAZIsynthesized the classical heritage with their own
experience in their writings. By the 11th century these
theoretical and practical achievements were known to the
West, especially in southern ITA LY.
VARIOUS ADVANCESThe practice of medicine, was a basic part of the daily
activity in Western monasteries, involving simple surgical
treatment and the healing of wounds. With the establish-
ment of the medical school at Salerno, just south of
NAPLES, in about 1030, medical science became a system-
atic field of study in the West. Treatises written in Arabic
were translated into LATIN. Jewish physicians living in the
West and trained in the study of anatomy contributed to
medical knowledge in the 12th century. In the 13th cen-
tury, medicine became part of the university curriculum
in the West. After that, new trends of study based on an
emphasis on experimentation over mere theory devel-
oped. Dissections on animals and human beings, though
considered morally dubious, increased real knowledge of
the human body. By the 14th century, dissections were
part of the study program at medical schools in Italy and
especially at MONTPELLIER. Developments in chemistry
and other natural sciences advanced pharmaceutical
remedies and prompted systematic research on the heal-
ing properties of plants and chemicals. A more popular,
magical, and traditional medicine was practiced by HER-
MITSand village women. At the end of the Middle Ages,
the church began to persecute those woman as witches.
According to the theories prevalent at that time, the
human body was composed of the humors fire, earth, air,
and water or hot, cold, dry, and wet. The doctor’s role
was to maintain or restore a balance among these pri-
mary qualities in the bones, nerves, flesh, vessels, mem-
branes, and organs and the four liquid substances or
humors in blood such as phlegm and bile. The preserva-
tion of health and the treatment of sickness relied on
three types of therapy: dietetics, pharmacology, and
surgery. Medieval medicine created and organized the
medical profession. Charlatans and quacks were perse-
cuted, although defining what might be inappropriate
about their treatments was not always clear beyond their
lack of university training.
See also ANATOMY; BOTANY; CONSTANTINE THE
AFRICAN;GERARD OFCREMONA; HOSPITALS; PLAGUE;TROTA.
Further reading:Edward Kealey, Medieval medicus: A
Social History of Anglo-Norman Medicine (Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981); Katharine Park,
Doctors and Medicine in Early Renaissance Florence
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1985);
Nancy Siraisi, Avicenna in Renaissance Italy: The Canon
and Medical Teaching in Italian Universities after 1500
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1987);
Nancy G. Siraisi, Medieval and Early Renaissance
Medicine: An Introduction to Knowledge and Practice
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990).Medina(Medina al-Monawwara, Madinat al-Nabi, City
of the Prophet) One of the two most important cites for
ISLAM, “Medina” means “the town.” It had its origins in
the ancient oasis of Yathrib. After the Hegira in 622 until
his death in 632, MUHAMMADfound refuge in the town
with a related clan after he had fled his hometown of
MECCA, which had rejected his message. His partisans,
called the “émigrés” or al-muhajiran,followed him. He
achieved political recognition through his successful raids
against the caravans of his old Meccan tribe. An intertribal
confederation, the umma or “the rightly-guided group,”
took Mecca in 630, then controlled all western Arabia.
After Muhammad’s death, the town became the center
of the first Muslim caliphate, which carried out great
conquests before being swamped in intertribal war. It lost
the position of Islamic capital to DAMASCUS, then al-Kufa,
in the 660s.
See alsoABUBAKR.
Further reading:W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad
at Medina(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956); W. Mont-
gomery Watt and R. B. Winder, “Al-Medina” in Encyclo-
pedia of Islam 5:994–1,007; Michael Lecker, Muslims,
Jews, and Pagans: Studies on Early Islamic Medina(Leiden:
E. J. Brill, 1995).Mehmed II (Mehmet, Muhammad, the Conqueror)
(r. 1444–1446, 1451–1481) founder of the Ottoman Empire
Mehmed was the sultan between 1444 and 1446 and
from 1451 to 1481. Born on March 30, 1432, at ADRI-
ANOPLE, he was the fourth son of MURADII and took the
throne when his father abdicated in 1446. His first sul-
tanate ended in chaos, and his father had to return to
power. On his father’s death in 1451, he had another
chance and was one of the most successful Ottoman
rulers. He carefully prepared for the capture of CON-
STANTINOPLE, providing large cannons for military opera-
tions. The ensuing siege lasted from April 6 to May 29,- After sacking the city, he declared HAGIASOPHIAa
MOSQUE. He extended the OTTOMANEMPIREinto ANATO-
LIA, the Balkans, WALLACHIA,MOLDAVIA, and the Crimea.
Tolerant of minorities, he encouraged learning, inviting
Christians to his rebuilt capital, Constantinople. He also
codified Ottoman law. He died, possibly poisoned, on
May 3, 1481.
Further reading:Kritovoulos, History of Mehmed the
Conqueror,trans. Charles T. Riggs (1954; reprint, West-
port, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1970); Franz Babinger,
Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time,trans. Ralph Man-
heim (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1978);
Halil Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age,