Kapronczay Károly szerk.: Orvostörténeti Közlemények 190-193. (Budapest, 2005)

KÖZLEMÉNYEK - COMMUNICATIONS - Paskalev, Dobrin - Kircheva, Anna B.: Bulgarian contributions to the development of medicine - Bolgár hozzájárulások az orvostudomány fejlődéséhez

BULGARIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICINE

1 DOBRIN PASKALEV - ANNA B. KIRCHEVA 7. Cum grano salis The exciting history of salt is an integral part of the history of human civilization. Recently, Ritz determined in an excellent study the symbolic value of salt from the biblical aspect, and as an important factor in history, political life and everyday life (1). Bisaccia et al. analyzed in an intriguing article the profound symbolism of salt as used in the works painted by the great renaissance masters (2). With the following lines we would like to add a few Bulgarian "grains of salt" to the long history of the "white wonder". The first war waged for economical reasons in Europe was about salt? At the end of 9 century, the Bulgarian Kingdom bordered on the Great Byzantine Empire. The biggest and most important Bulgarian market for salt, as well as other goods, was situated traditionally in the Byzantine capital named Constantinople (now Istanbul). Unexpectedly, the Byzantine Emperor Lion VI moved the market from Constantinople to the town of Thessalonica (Thessalonike). This change was to the disadvantage of the Bulgarian Kingdom. The negotiations between both capitals were unsuccessful. Following this, the Bulgarian tzar Simeon (893-927) was forced to declare war against Byzantium (894), estimated by some historians as "the first war waged for economical reasons in Europe of the Middle Ages"(3, 4). The importance of salt for the funeral of Tzar Kaloyan (1197- 1207) In 1207, during hostilities against the Byzantine castle Thessalonica, the Bulgarian Tzar Kaloyan was killed. Monk Theodosius, author of the chronicle of Saint Sava'

s life narrated about the confusion among the Bulgarian army: "But their leaders, the Voevods, because they did not wish to leave the body of their tzar to be profaned by the inhabitants of Thessalonica, or to serve as food for beasts and birds, took their dead tzar with them. Being apprehensive of the long journey ahead, they cut the womb of the tzar, removed the intestines, then salted the body and took it to their land" (5) Other sources give similar 'This work is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Dr. Konstantin Chilov (1899-1955), a remarkable Bulgarian scientist in the field of internal medicine.