Constantine’s Pantegni has been called “the first fully comprehensive medical text in Latin.”[1] There was, of course, a substantial body of Latin medical writing circulating in western Europe in the early Middle Ages,[2] but the Pantegni was the first text to bring together, in one place, a broad array of learning on anatomy, physiology, and therapeutics.

[5] In 2010, a manuscript at the Hague known to scholars since the early 20th century,[6] but little studied, was recognized as being the earliest copy of the Pantegni, made at Monte Cassino under Constantine's supervision.

[9] Research by Monica H. Green and Iolanda Ventura has demonstrated, however, that more of the Pantegni, Practica seems to have been translated by Constantine, perhaps toward the end of his life, than scholars had hitherto known.

Green established that at least three twelfth-century manuscripts contain translations of Books VI and VII (on diseases of the thorax and gastro-intestinal system, respectively).

[14] In addition, the Pantegni would be turned to by a variety of compilers and medical writers as a source for specific information on anatomy and physiology.