Later we read of Sichelguada, wife of Robert Guiscard and a graduate of Salernum, who endeavored to poison her step-son, Bohemond, in order to secure the succession of her own child. This infamous plot was furthered by some of the Salernian physicians, and thwarted only by the prompt action of Guiscard, who swore he would slay his wife with his own sword should the malady of Bohemond prove fatal.
Certain other female physicians of this period are mentioned, notably Abella, who, in spite of the modesty that is supposed to hedge about her sex, produced in Latin hexameter a work entitled _De Natura Seminis Hominis_. Mercuriolus, in the fifteenth century, produced treatises on the cure of wounds, pestilent fevers, and on the nails. The most celebrated of all, however, appears to have been Calenda, who lived during the reign of that notorious profligate, John II, of Naples (1414-1435), and who was particularly distinguished for her personal attractions. She graduated with great honor from the school at Salernum, and soon after, in 1423, married a nobleman of the court, which perhaps accounts for the fact that she never exercised the privilege of authorship. A little later, Marguerite, of Sicily or Naples, also a Salernian graduate, acquired an extended professional reputation, and was licensed to-practice by Ladislaus, King of Poland.
Daremberg{ 081} informs us that there were numerous female physicians at Salernum, much sought after because of their talents, and, moreover, highly esteemed by the professors of the school, who freely quoted the writings of their fair pupils and contemporaries; further, that they employed ointments in paralyses; fumigations, vapors, and antimony for coughs; and lotions of aloe and rose-water for swellings of the face; they combined scientific knowledge with facetious playfulness in a manner peculiar to the sex, in that they tendered unsuspecting beaux bouquets of roses doctored with powdered euphorbium, and hugely enjoyed the forced sternutations of their victims.
It will thus be seen what a wide-spread and long-continued influence the school of Salernum exerted. At first physics and philosophy were the principal branches taught, but later the other sciences were cultivated. The Emperor Frederick II united the different schools of the city into a university,--a term, however, that, as then applied, appears to have corresponded to what in the nineteenth century is understood by _corporation_. The emperor likewise published several decrees which revised the duties and privileges of practitioners of medicine and surgery in his kingdom, and, in 1224, ordered that no person should practice within the two Sicilies until examined by the faculty of the university and licensed at the royal hands; further, practitioners were compelled to devote at least one year to the study of anatomy. The faculty at this time consisted of ten professors, whose salary probably depended upon the number of pupils. A candidate for graduation was required to present proof of majority, of legitimacy of birth, and of proper duration of preliminary study, and then was examined publicly in the _Synopsis_ of Galen, the _Aphorisms_ of Hippocrates, or the Canon of Avicenna. On passing he swore to conform to all the regulations hitherto observed in medicine, to give gratuitous treatment to the poor, and to expose all apothecaries detected{ 082} in adulterating drugs. A book was then placed in his hands, a ring upon his finger, and a laurel crown upon his head, when he was "dismissed with a kiss." The degree conferred was that of "_Magister_"--the modern title of Doctor being at that period employed almost exclusively to designate a public teacher or professor.