Today is publication day for The Pirate’s Physician by my good friend and fellow historical fiction author, Amy Maroney. Amy has kindly written a guest post in which she tells us about the inspiration behind her main characters.
I usually focus on women artists of the medieval and Renaissance era in my fiction, but when I discovered the trailblazing woman physician Trotula of Salerno, I made an exception.
In my research, I had come across many female midwives and healers, but not one physician. And yet Trotula de Ruggiero (also known as Trota of Salerno and Dame Trot), a graduate of the Schola Medica Salernitana in Salerno, Italy, was a renowned physician in her day. Not only did she practice medicine, she also published treatises about women’s health that circulated widely in Europe long after her death.
I decided to honor Trotula’s memory with a character in my Sea and Stone Chronicles series, which is set in the medieval Mediterranean. Like Trotula, my character Guiliana Rinaldi studied at Salerno’s famed medical school. In my novels, Guiliana makes several small but critical appearances, doling out medical care and advice to the women of Rhodes, Greece.
But I could hear Guiliana whispering in my ear after the series of three novels was completed. “Minor character, eh?” she’d say. “You don’t think I deserve a tale of my own?” At the same time, a certain Basque pirate whose ship appeared in those books developed the habit of perching on my other shoulder. “You didn’t even give me a name in those novels,” he’d chide me. “You’re not done with me, not by a long shot.”
After a few months of this, I capitulated. The temptation to write a love story starring Guiliana and an enigmatic Basque pirate was just too strong to ignore. The result is The Pirate’s Physician, a seafaring tale that’s a heady combination of romance, swashbuckling, and intrigue. The story gives Guiliana and her pirate—whose name turns out to be Eneko—their moment in the spotlight. And it was tremendous fun to write.
To give you a better idea of the real history behind the story, I’ll circle back to Trotula first. Then I’ll share the jaw-dropping historical tidbit that gave me permission to write about Basque pirates. And I’ll conclude with a glimpse of life on medieval merchant galleys.
Down the history rabbit hole we go!
Trotula of Salerno
Born into a wealthy 11th or 12th century family of Salerno, Trotula received a high level of education. She is said to have married a fellow physician and their sons may have practiced medicine, too. She was respected by her peers in Salerno and frequently sought after for advice.
A 13th century document called De mulierum passionibus describes an ill woman calling upon Trotula “as if she were a master of this craft.” It goes on to recount Trotula taking the woman into her home for an examination and refuting the previous diagnosis of hernia. She then cures the woman of her actual illness with baths and other treatments.
Digging around for Trotula lore, I found wonderful snippets of her writings. From her Book on the Conditions of Women: “Women, from the condition of their fragility, out of shame and embarrassment do not dare reveal their anguish over their diseases (which happen in such a private place) to a physician. Therefore, their misfortune, which ought to be pitied, and especially the influence of a certain woman stirring my heart, have impelled me to give a clear explanation regarding their diseases in caring for their health.”
Much of the information I discovered about Trotula came from the invaluable website Academia.edu, and I am particularly indebted to scholar Monica H. Green, who has conducted extensive work on the subject.
A Basque pirate straight out of history
I’ve long been fascinated by Basque culture. My first historical mystery series was set in and around Basque country in the Pyrenees mountains. I write magazine articles about the area, and I recently completed a walking tour in Spain’s Basque hills with my husband.
All this to say, I’ve known for years that the Basques have a long, illustrious history as sailors and shipbuilders. They started whaling and codfishing throughout the Atlantic Ocean in the early medieval era, and they developed a reputation as the best boat builders of Europe.
But when I researched my Sea and Stone Chronicles series in 2020, I discovered a startling line in a research paper about piracy in the Eastern Mediterranean.
According to legal records from the city of Famagusta in Cyprus during the fifteenth century, Catalan pirates used the city as a base for their operations. In protest, citizens of Famagusta made legal complaints against the city for allowing pirates to circulate freely there. One man complained that sometimes more than a hundred pirates from the Bay of Biscay (off the coast of Spain’s Basque country) would appear in the city streets. The ships they used were Atlantic whaling vessels called balenas.
This stunned me because I’d assumed the Basques just kept to themselves in the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, they were also seeking their fortunes in the Eastern Mediterranean.
I’m grateful to Nicholas Coureas and Andreas G. Orphanides for sharing this and many other details of life in the medieval Mediterranean.
So now you know the history inspiring my heroine, Guiliana, and my hero, Eneko. But what about all the seafaring and swashbuckling scenes in The Pirate’s Physician? Did I just make that up?
Life aboard a medieval galley
It turns out another one of my history obsessions is the maritime world. I’m fascinated by port cities of Europe’s Mediterranean, and I’ve done lots of research into this topic. One of my favorite sources is a research article by Benjamin Arbel about life aboard wooden galleys during pilgrims’ voyages from Venice to the Holy Land (Jerusalem).
These voyages were not for the faint of heart. Passengers struggled to sleep crammed into berths that crawled with fleas, lice, gnats, and worms. Live animals were penned on board, both as food for passengers and as working animals being transported to new homes. People often brought their own snacks to supplement what they were served aboard, including fresh fruit, lentils, and cheese. Nothing happened on these ships without the blare of trumpets and fifes (pipes) to accompany it. Passengers brought lots of musical instruments to pass the time, and special occasions such as feast days were marked with fireworks, dancing, singing, and lots of wine.
Putting it all together
When I combined these details of daily life with my findings on Trotula of Salerno and the Basque pirates of the Eastern Mediterranean, I had more than enough fabulous fodder for my novella. The Pirate’s Physician is steeped in real history, but it took a lot of imagination to bring this romantic seafaring adventure to life.
Where to buy the book: https://mybook.to/PiratesPhysician
Publication Date: September 5, 2024
Publisher: Artelan Press
Blurb:
When her world shatters, she dares to trust a pirate. Will she survive what comes next?
The Pirate’s Physician is the story of Guiliana Rinaldi, a student at Salerno’s famed medieval medical school, whose lifelong dream of becoming a physician crumbles when her uncle and mentor dies suddenly.
Faced with an unwanted marriage to a ruthless merchant, Guiliana enlists the help of a Basque pirate and flees home for the dangers of the open sea.
Will she make it to Genoa, where her only remaining relative awaits? Or will this impulsive decision seal her own doom?
A delightful seafaring adventure packed with romance and intrigue, The Pirate’s Physician is a companion novella to the award-winning Sea and Stone Chronicles series of historical novels by Amy Maroney: Island of Gold, Sea of Shadows, and The Queen’s Scribe.
Author Bio:
Amy Maroney lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family, and spent many years as a writer and editor of nonfiction before turning her hand to historical fiction. Amy is the author of the Miramonde Series, a trilogy about a Renaissance-era female artist and the modern-day scholar on her trail. Amy’s new series, Sea and Stone Chronicles, features strong, talented women seeking their fortunes in the medieval Mediterranean. To receive a free prequel novella to the Miramonde Series, join Amy Maroney’s readers’ group at http://www.amymaroney.com.
Author Links:
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