Consilia (plural of consilium, 'advice') is a genre of book, originating in medieval era plagues, where practical advice is given on a medical or other philosophical subject.
The format was originated by the Florentine doctor of medicine Taddeo Alderotti, under the pressures for down-to-earth advice, based on experiential observations, in treating the Black Death that decimated Italy in 1348 and recurred at generational intervals for the following centuries.
Medieval medical writings had tended towards theory rather than praxis, which was denigrated as ars mechanica, mere technician's work unsuited to the higher intellect.
Characteristically they took the form of glosses and commentaries on the received texts of Antiquity, of Galen and Dioscurides, with nods towards Aristotle and the shadow of Hippocrates.
[2] Alderotti, who practiced and taught in Tuscany and the north of Italy, and served as doctor to Pope Boniface VIII, was a formative figure in the development of the faculty of arts and medicine at the University of Bologna.