Constantine the African
![Constantine examines patients' urine.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Konstantinderafrikaner.jpg)
There is some debate about his birth and family religion, although it is well known that he ended his life as a monk at the Latin Christian Abbey of Monte Cassino, in southern Italy. This religious controversy suggested that he might born as Muslim, and after migration converted to catholic Christian, or he might born as Christian within an Arabic-speaking family. The native language of Constantine the African was Arabic. He was also fluent in Greek, Latin, and other languages, the skills he acquired during his extensive travels. His journey included Egypt, Syria, India, Ethiopia, and Persia. He was well-versed in medical knowledge before his arrival to Salerno in Italy where he joined the abbey of Monte Cassino south of Rome in 1077.
It was in Italy where Constantine compiled his vast opus, mostly composed of translations from Arabic sources. He translated into Latin, books of the great masters of Arabic medicine: Razes, Ibn Imran, Ibn Suleiman, and Ibn al-Jazzar; these translations are housed today in libraries in Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, and England. They were used as textbooks from the Middle Ages to the seventeenth century. Provided by Wikipedia
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Published: 1749