Edict of Salerno
Edict of Salerno (also Edict of Melfi ) is an erroneous and misleading term, unknown in the history of science, for the first legally fixed separation of the professions of doctor and pharmacist by the Staufer Emperor Friedrich II , although there is a local connection of the legislation neither to Salerno nor to Melfi can be demonstrated. This legal regulation became a model for later medical legislation up to the present day.
In 1231, on the occasion of the court day in the city of Melfi, located in the continental part of the Kingdom of Sicily , Frederick II had the collection of laws " Liber Augustalis " (also: constitutiones Regni Siciliae ) compiled and published, which affected many areas of public life.
The collection was supplemented by numerous supplements between 1231 and 1243 and the supplements were promulgated on the respective farm days, which took place at different locations. One of these addenda also concerned the relationship between doctors and pharmacists: From then on, doctors were not allowed to own a pharmacy or be involved in it. Drug prices were set by law to prevent price gouging. At which of the regularly held court days, in which year and in which city this supplement was decided is not yet known. An admission test for doctors had already been prescribed by Roger II in the Assisen von Ariano . This belongs to the original inventory of the Melfi constitutions.
literature
- Keyword “Liber Augustalis” in: Lexikon des Mittelalters , Volume 5, Munich 1991, pp. 1939ff.
- Rudolf Schmitz: History of Pharmacy 1 . Govi-Verlag Pharmazeutischer Verlag GmbH. Eschborn 1998. ISBN 3-77-410706-8 . Excerpt contains section on Melfi's constitutions ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Christoph Friedrich , Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke : History of Pharmacy 2 . Govi-Verlag Pharmazeutischer Verlag GmbH. Eschborn 2005. ISBN 3-77-411027-1 .
- Axel Helmstädter, Jutta Hermann, Evemarie Wolf: Guide to Pharmaceutical History . Govi-Verlag Pharmazeutischer Verlag GmbH. Eschborn 2001. ISBN 3-77-410878-1 .