The transmission of "Women's secrets": from Salerno to the 14th Century

Abstract

Books about “secrets”, which hint at the revelation of the mysteries of nature, became popular during the Middle Ages, particularly those pertaining to medicine. Espe-cially widespread were books of women’s secrets, halfway between theoretical and practi-cal medicine. This paper analyzes the modes of transmission of these female mysteries, which have always been subjected to taboo. They arose from Arabic translations, were influenced by popular medicine, were written down by the Salernitan authors and finally were added to 14^th-century compendia.