Dramatization (and flute): Megan Cole
Narrator: John H. Lienhard jhl [at] uh.edu (jhl[at]uh[dot]edu)
An ancient text on women's medicine is largely attributed to the Woman Doctor and educator, Trotula (or Trocta). It appears to have been assembled in Salerno,Italy, about 800 years ago. The 2001 translation hy historian Monica Green has provided the opportunity to recreate this remarkable woman, partly by guesses and partly based directly upon her own words.
Here, noted stage and TV actor Megan Cole speaks in the imagined voice of Trocta, while University of Houston Prof. John Lienhard provides narration. Ms. Cole also provides the flute background music. Introductory narration is by longtime Houston Public Media reporter, announcer, and manager Capella Tucker.
The trotula readings are taken from The Trotula: A Medieval Compendium of Women's Medicine. (Monica H. Green, ed.) Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2001. See also:
Majno, G., The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1975.
Alic, M., Hypatia's Heritage. Boston: Beacon Press, 1986, Chapter 3.
Jones, S., The Medical Genius. Philadelphia: John C. Winston & Co., 1887/1892.