3. The emergence of the Christian Monks as healers and medical specialists
As Christianity took hold across formerly pagan Europe, monasteries established by the various Christian sects became the centers of scholarly study and medicine. The monks, who grew the plants, distilled the liquors, and copied and translated the ancient texts, became the leaders in medicine and the maintenance of health. Often isolated monasteries became the refuge of the residents of nearby farms and villages when illness struck, which was often. The combination of Christian belief and the emergence of philosophy led to the treatment of disease being a combination of secular and spiritual activities. Illnesses were treated with both medicinal nostrums derived from plants, and Christian prayer.
By the middle of the sixth century, ancient Greek texts which referenced the advances of the Hippocratic Corpus were translated into Latin – then the so-called universal language – and the monks also recorded advances in herbal medicines made on their own. As texts were exchanged between monasteries and abbeys herbal medicines available in isolated areas of Europe became known in others, where the necessary plants had been up to then unknown. In the European monasteries, the science of botany was born of the efforts of the monks and nuns. In the texts prepared, accurate drawings of many plants were included, as plants similar in appearance with less valued curative properties were identified and warned against.