Regimen sanitatis ad regem Aragonum by Arnaldus de Villanova, 15th century

The first text bound in MS 175 is the health regiment by fourteenth-century physician and theologist, Arnaldus of Villanova, composed for the king of Aragon, Jaume II. A very popular genre of practical medical texts in the Middle Ages, health regiments compiled advice based on humoral medicine for how to conserve and maintain health. This was achieved through management and balance of things like food, drink, exercise, sounds and emotions. Regimen sanitatis texts were usually quite personal, because everyone had a unique complement of humours and natural attributes and so what maintained humoral balance in one individual might disrupt it in another. Araldus' text was personalised to King Jaume, but because of its clear and practicable advice and style, it became very popular and was disseminated in many copies and translations throughout the period and consulted by less royal readers.