[1] The concept of the hospital appeared in Byzantine Empire as an institution to offer medical care and possibility of a cure for the patients because of the ideals of Christian charity.
This tradition of compilation continued from around the tenth century into the twentieth through the genre of medical writings known as iatrosophia.
Constantinople stood out as a center of medicine during the Middle Ages, which was aided by its crossroads location, wealth, and accumulated knowledge.
Arguably, the first Byzantine physician was the author of the Vienna Dioscurides manuscript, created circa 515 AD for Anicia Juliana, the daughter of Emperor Olybrius.
Several of his works, along with those of other Byzantine physicians, were translated into Latin, and eventually, during the Enlightenment and Age of Reason, into English and French.
Another Byzantine treatise, that of the thirteenth century doctor Nicholas Myrepsos, remained the principal pharmaceutical code of the Parisian medical faculty until 1651, while the Byzantine tract of Demetrios Pepagomenos (thirteenth century) on gout was translated and published in Latin by the post-Byzantine humanist Marcus Musurus, in Venice in 1517.
Therefore, it could be argued that previous misrepresentations about Byzantium being simply a 'carrier' of Ancient Medical knowledge to the Renaissance are wrong.
It is known, for example, that the late twelfth-century Italian physician (Roger of Salerno) was influenced by the treatises of the Byzantine doctors Aëtius and Alexander of Tralles as well as Paul of Aegina.
Nevertheless, Byzantine medicine is extremely important both in terms of new discoveries made in that period (at a time when Western Europe was in turmoil), the collection of ancient Greek and Roman knowledge, and its dissemination to both Renaissance Italy and the Islamic world.
The hospitals in Byzantium were originally started by the church to act as a place for the poor and homeless to have access to basic amenities.
Philanthropy provided the initial impulse to create hospices (xenons) and to expand these institutions into specialized medical centers (iatreons or nosokomeions).
His main objective was to improve urban aesthetics, illustrating hospitals as a major part of Byzantine cities.
Basil of Caesarea developed a place, later called Basileias, which provided refuge for the sick and homeless.
In Syria, the hospital described in The Life of Rabbula of Edessa documents the availability of clean clothes and sheets for its inhabitants.
In his book, he describes emperors Basil I, Romanos I Lekapenos, and Constantine IX building new hospitals, all of which were located in Constantinople.
Evidence of the use of ancient Greek medicinal ideas is seen through Byzantine physician's reliance on humors to diagnose illness.
[7] He describes the operation to fix a hernia writing, "After making the incision to the extent of three fingers' breadth transversely across the tumor to the groin, and removing the membranes and fat, and the peritoneum being exposed in the middle where it is raised up to a point, let the knob of the probe be applied by which the intestines will be pressed deep down.
"[8] Other types of surgery occurred during this time and were described in Paul of Aegina's work, Epitome of Medicine.
[7] Alexander of Tralles was one of the most important physicians of Byzantium and exemplified how medicine had a large impact on Byzantine life.
John Zacharias Aktouarios recommends the use of Holy Water mixed with a pellitory plant to act as a way to cure epilepsy.