Monica H Green
@monicamedhist.bsky.social
Medhist = medieval + medical history (https://hcommons.org/members/mhgreen2/). Daughter #2 of Marlon & Eleanor Green. Focusing on Global Health. Latest: https://www.history21.com/owit-module/the-black-death-the-medieval-plague-pandemic/
So, it turns out I did already transfer my 2023 Twitter thread on Hansen & Han over to Knowledge Commons. Here's the link: doi.org/10.17613/pad....
November 23, 2025 at 6:15 AM
So, it turns out I did already transfer my 2023 Twitter thread on Hansen & Han over to Knowledge Commons. Here's the link: doi.org/10.17613/pad....
Okay, done. I've captured the leprosy genomes out of the aDNA pathogen database that Sikora et al. pub'd in July. As they noted in their own analysis, it's now been well documented that leprosy was circulating in N Europe thruout the Middle Ages, & seems to have been tied to trade in squirrel skins.
![Sikora et al. 2025 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09192-8), Main text (p. 1015), on leprosy:
"We also report new cases of other bacterial pathogens previously detected in paleogenomic data. The leprosy-causing bacterium M. leprae was identified in seven individuals (0.5% detection rate) from Scandinavia and only appeared from the Late Iron Age onwards (earliest case RISE174, 1,523-1,339 cal. bp). Because M. leprae can infect both red squirrels and humans[35], and archaeological evidence demonstrates that fur trade from Scandinavia, including squirrel fur, increased substantially during the late Iron and Viking Ages[36], our results support the suggestion that squirrel fur trade could have facilitated transmission[37]. Our findings are also consistent with the widespread distribution of leprosy in medieval Europe[38]."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:twqucin7jqhlteuk37lqltr7/bafkreidq7hry63vk5s3dahnachlqoqf5tfxhefuwu3fsrh73gfwwelsq6u@jpeg)
November 23, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Okay, done. I've captured the leprosy genomes out of the aDNA pathogen database that Sikora et al. pub'd in July. As they noted in their own analysis, it's now been well documented that leprosy was circulating in N Europe thruout the Middle Ages, & seems to have been tied to trade in squirrel skins.
And that's clearly what's needed, I know. I've been updating my "Who/What is 'Trotula'?" cheat sheet for years to try to get people to understand what happens when we change the way we're asking questions. This is what gender analysis can do for us! doi.org/10.17613/s0j... #histmed #GenderHistory
November 21, 2025 at 4:34 PM
And that's clearly what's needed, I know. I've been updating my "Who/What is 'Trotula'?" cheat sheet for years to try to get people to understand what happens when we change the way we're asking questions. This is what gender analysis can do for us! doi.org/10.17613/s0j... #histmed #GenderHistory
I heard the most amazing presentation this morning. The folks at the @intbocced.bsky.social explained their ambition to create a new, open-access critical edition of all of Boccaccio's writings based on a single principle: altruism. B/c it will make us good people to do good & generous things. ♥️♥️♥️
November 21, 2025 at 4:28 PM
I heard the most amazing presentation this morning. The folks at the @intbocced.bsky.social explained their ambition to create a new, open-access critical edition of all of Boccaccio's writings based on a single principle: altruism. B/c it will make us good people to do good & generous things. ♥️♥️♥️
Oh wow, I didn't know about this catalog of pathology collections you're curating: forskning.ruc.dk/en/projects/.... What a phenomenal resource that will be for aDNA!
November 21, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Oh wow, I didn't know about this catalog of pathology collections you're curating: forskning.ruc.dk/en/projects/.... What a phenomenal resource that will be for aDNA!
Well, re-identified. We've known about her since 1985, & w/ more exactitude since 1995 and 2007. The difference now is simply we have newly available photographic proof. Here's a quick timeline:
November 21, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Well, re-identified. We've known about her since 1985, & w/ more exactitude since 1995 and 2007. The difference now is simply we have newly available photographic proof. Here's a quick timeline:
Delighted to have my schedule set for the @rsaorg.bsky.social meeting in February. Looking forward to the first of two sessions on "Medicine and Science in the Early Modern Pacific." My paper will be examining evidence for leprosy's global dissemination 1000s of years prior to European colonialism.
November 20, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Delighted to have my schedule set for the @rsaorg.bsky.social meeting in February. Looking forward to the first of two sessions on "Medicine and Science in the Early Modern Pacific." My paper will be examining evidence for leprosy's global dissemination 1000s of years prior to European colonialism.
Some of the collections Roman coins commemorate the assassination of Julius Caesar.
November 20, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Some of the collections Roman coins commemorate the assassination of Julius Caesar.
My morning webinar: Sheilagh Ogilvie talking on how society affects epidemics.
November 20, 2025 at 3:08 PM
My morning webinar: Sheilagh Ogilvie talking on how society affects epidemics.
Yep. As soon as I saw the headline, I knew who this was. (Note that the headline of this story had already changed from what was originally posted in the morning newsletter to what's there now.)
Story: www.azcentral.com/story/news/p...
Story: www.azcentral.com/story/news/p...
November 20, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Yep. As soon as I saw the headline, I knew who this was. (Note that the headline of this story had already changed from what was originally posted in the morning newsletter to what's there now.)
Story: www.azcentral.com/story/news/p...
Story: www.azcentral.com/story/news/p...
Rather, the "marginalization" happened later. Trota was clearly recognized as an authority in her day, & was famous thruout Europe. (I surveyed her oeuvre in 2007: works.hcommons.org/records/6gb9...). But her reputation shifted by around the late 13thC. Her sex was questioned in the 16thC.
November 20, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Rather, the "marginalization" happened later. Trota was clearly recognized as an authority in her day, & was famous thruout Europe. (I surveyed her oeuvre in 2007: works.hcommons.org/records/6gb9...). But her reputation shifted by around the late 13thC. Her sex was questioned in the 16thC.
Addendum: this recovery of the ♀️ author Trota was, as noted above, started by Benton in 1985 & completed by me by 2007. Separately, however, Hiersemann's "Trottus" interpretation had become embedded in Rossiter's "Matilda Effect." Still trying to root it out: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
November 19, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Addendum: this recovery of the ♀️ author Trota was, as noted above, started by Benton in 1985 & completed by me by 2007. Separately, however, Hiersemann's "Trottus" interpretation had become embedded in Rossiter's "Matilda Effect." Still trying to root it out: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
In short, recovery of the Breslau Codex allows scholars of #MedievalMedicine & #GenderHistory to continue to interrogate this important document. Would I give anything to find the original again? Yes! Deciphering this image, for example, might be possible. But am I amazed what can be done now? YES!
November 18, 2025 at 8:23 PM
In short, recovery of the Breslau Codex allows scholars of #MedievalMedicine & #GenderHistory to continue to interrogate this important document. Would I give anything to find the original again? Yes! Deciphering this image, for example, might be possible. But am I amazed what can be done now? YES!
This is actually a passage I overlooked when I was doing my gender analysis of the Salernitan writers in 2008. By itself, this one mention of an obstetrical intervention wouldn't be enough to "sex" our author "Trot'." But the passage fits w/ a larger pattern I had found: Trota's work is "hands-on."
November 18, 2025 at 8:17 PM
This is actually a passage I overlooked when I was doing my gender analysis of the Salernitan writers in 2008. By itself, this one mention of an obstetrical intervention wouldn't be enough to "sex" our author "Trot'." But the passage fits w/ a larger pattern I had found: Trota's work is "hands-on."
S/he explains why it can be necessary to *induce* vomiting sometimes, & that is when a woman is laboring from a dead fetus in her uterus. The plaster described is to be laid on her belly, & then immediately removed once the fetus is expelled. This circumstance is never mentioned by any male authors!
November 18, 2025 at 8:07 PM
S/he explains why it can be necessary to *induce* vomiting sometimes, & that is when a woman is laboring from a dead fetus in her uterus. The plaster described is to be laid on her belly, & then immediately removed once the fetus is expelled. This circumstance is never mentioned by any male authors!
So, what's the deal w/ this abbreviation "trot'"? A German medical student, Conrad Hiersemann, who did his medical thesis on this MS in 1921 (yes, you could still get an MD then w/ a history thesis!) thought that it should be expanded as "Trottus," a male name.
![The cover of Conrad Hiersemann, Die Abschnitte aus der Practica des Trottus in der Salernitanischen Sammelschrift De Aegritudinum Curatione. Breslau Codex Salern. 1160-1170 (inaugural dissertation, Leipzig, 1921). The title translates as "The Excerpts from the Practica of Trottus in the Salernitan Compendium, 'De Aegritudinum Curatione' [On the Treatment of Diseaes].](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:twqucin7jqhlteuk37lqltr7/bafkreibhlwe3ir3ekkhb2audy5ikv4qcl56kkqzo5lqztdzfneiqcjduly@jpeg)
November 18, 2025 at 7:32 PM
So, what's the deal w/ this abbreviation "trot'"? A German medical student, Conrad Hiersemann, who did his medical thesis on this MS in 1921 (yes, you could still get an MD then w/ a history thesis!) thought that it should be expanded as "Trottus," a male name.
And here's what's in the inner margin of the lower half of f. 81v. Yes, another abbreviation for "trot'."
November 18, 2025 at 7:25 PM
And here's what's in the inner margin of the lower half of f. 81v. Yes, another abbreviation for "trot'."
But look what you can see from the photo of the facing page, f. 81v. What's that little bit of text in the inner gutter? It's the abbreviation for "trot'."
November 18, 2025 at 7:21 PM
But look what you can see from the photo of the facing page, f. 81v. What's that little bit of text in the inner gutter? It's the abbreviation for "trot'."
Oh wow! This is what happens when you're photographing MSS & don't capture the text in the inner gutter. 1st, here's the photograph (made about 100 yrs ago) of the Codex Salernitanus, f. 82ra. Although that big tear of the page is obvious, the inner gutter hasn't been fully captured in the photo.
November 18, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Oh wow! This is what happens when you're photographing MSS & don't capture the text in the inner gutter. 1st, here's the photograph (made about 100 yrs ago) of the Codex Salernitanus, f. 82ra. Although that big tear of the page is obvious, the inner gutter hasn't been fully captured in the photo.
Just posted: the bibliography for the talk I'll be giving (virtually) at the University of Bonn in a few minutes. "Trota of Salerno and the “Flower” of Menstruation: The European Tradition on Female Physiology Takes Shape." doi.org/10.17613/ftb... #histmed #MedievalSky #WomensHistory
November 17, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Just posted: the bibliography for the talk I'll be giving (virtually) at the University of Bonn in a few minutes. "Trota of Salerno and the “Flower” of Menstruation: The European Tradition on Female Physiology Takes Shape." doi.org/10.17613/ftb... #histmed #MedievalSky #WomensHistory
Just reminded of this bit I had in my notes, where Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani's (d. 1449) Merits of the Plague says this about Ibn al-Wardi's plague treatise.
These chains of transmission are how we will show how Ibn al-Wardi's maqama came to have the influence it did. #histmed #MedievalSky
These chains of transmission are how we will show how Ibn al-Wardi's maqama came to have the influence it did. #histmed #MedievalSky
November 7, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Just reminded of this bit I had in my notes, where Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani's (d. 1449) Merits of the Plague says this about Ibn al-Wardi's plague treatise.
These chains of transmission are how we will show how Ibn al-Wardi's maqama came to have the influence it did. #histmed #MedievalSky
These chains of transmission are how we will show how Ibn al-Wardi's maqama came to have the influence it did. #histmed #MedievalSky
Well worth your time for a quick read: Maria A. Nieves-Colón, "Commentary on Special Issue: “Towards a Biocultural Synthesis of the Peopling of the Americas”, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/.... A field transformed!
November 6, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Well worth your time for a quick read: Maria A. Nieves-Colón, "Commentary on Special Issue: “Towards a Biocultural Synthesis of the Peopling of the Americas”, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/.... A field transformed!
You guessed it! From Ibn Taghribirdi's (and al-Maqrizi's) inflected 15th-century readings of Ibn al-Wardi's 14th-century maqama. Here's the summary from Omar & Fancy:
November 6, 2025 at 12:12 AM
You guessed it! From Ibn Taghribirdi's (and al-Maqrizi's) inflected 15th-century readings of Ibn al-Wardi's 14th-century maqama. Here's the summary from Omar & Fancy:
Hecker (so far as we know) didn't know Arabic. But he did know French, and had read Joseph de Guignes' 1756 history of the Turks and Mongols, which picked up from Ibn Taghribirdi the claim that the pandemic originated "in the lands of the great khan of Tartary." And where did that idea come from?
November 6, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Hecker (so far as we know) didn't know Arabic. But he did know French, and had read Joseph de Guignes' 1756 history of the Turks and Mongols, which picked up from Ibn Taghribirdi the claim that the pandemic originated "in the lands of the great khan of Tartary." And where did that idea come from?