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Abstract:
It is the aim of the present dissertation to analyze the cultural and pharmaceutical history of the medicinal plant Ruta graveolens L. (rue) beginning in antiquity until the invention of letter-press printing (see Kap. 1). In contrast to other historical works which emphasize descriptive aspects or the transmission of the sources, an analysis of the content of the sources within their contemporaneous context was attempted here. The sources come from different scientific fields and were collected in numerous European and American (USA) libraries (See Kap. 1.4.2.1). In order to evaluate the medicinal uses of the plant as mentioned in the sources, basic knowledge in pharmaceutical botany is necessary. This qualification makes it possible to correlate the traditional indications of ruta with the current knowledge on the constituents of the plant. 1. Dioskurides' Materia medica presents a chapter on rue. The properties of ruta mentioned there can in part be explained by pharmacologically tested constituents (see Kap. 2). 2. Knowledge on rue was passed on to the middle ages by "Rezeptarien", "Antidotarien", and a latinized Dioskurides. Monasteries become important in medicine (see Kap. 3). 3. Garden history demonstrates that rue was actually cultivated and used for healing, seasoning, coloring, and magic (see Kap. 4). 4. Rue became part of the practically oriented textbooks of the Medical School of Salerno (10th-13th century). Thus, the plant is mentioned (see Kap. 5) and illustrated (see Kap. 6.1-6.3) in mnuscripts of this time period. These manuscripts are the predecessors of the modern pharmacopoeia, drug monograph and popular literature on health. 5. Rue is rarely shown in arts. The interpretation of illustrations of rue depends on some of its uses as a medicinal plant (antidote, eye medication, protection from evil; see Kap. 6.4). These results expand our image of ruta. We have shown here, that questions that lie in the fields of both humanities and natural sciences can be well addressed with an interdisciplinary approach.