d to have more
sympathy with feminine ills. The formula employed as the preamble of
this license ran as follows: "Since, then, the law permits women to
exercise the profession of physicians, and since, besides, due regard
being had to purity of morals, women are better suited for the treatment
of women's diseases, after having received the oath of fidelity, we
permit, etc."

Salerno continued to enjoy a reputation for training women physicians
thoroughly, until well on in the fifteenth century, for we have the
record of Constance Calenda, the daughter of Salvator Calenda, who had
been dean of the faculty of medicine at Salerno about 1415, and
afterwards dean of the faculty at Naples. His daughter, under the
diligent instruction of her father, seems to have obtained special
honors for her medical examination. Not long after this, Salerno itself
lost all the prestige that it had. The Kings of Naples endeavored to
create a great university in their city in the thirteenth century. They
did not succeed to the extent that they hoped, but the neighboring rival
institution hurt Salerno very much, and its downfall may be traced from
this time. Gradually its reputation waned, and we have practically no
medical writer of distinction there at the end of the fourteenth
century, though the old custom of opportunities for women students of
medicine was maintained.

This custom seems also to have been transferred to Naples, and licenses
to practise were issued to woman graduates of Naples. This never
achieved anything like the reputation in this department that had been
attained at Salerno. Salerno influenced Bologna and the north Italian
universities profoundly in all branches of medicine and medical
education, particularly in surgery, as can be seen in the chapter on
"Great Surgeons of the Medieval Universities," and the practice of
allowing such women as wished to study medicine to enter the university
medical schools is exemplified in the case of Mondino's assistant in
anatomy, Alessandra Giliani, though there are also others whose names
have come down to us.

The University of Salerno had developed round a medical school. It was
the first of the universities, and, in connection with its medical
school, feminine education obtained a strong foothold. It is not
surprising, then, that with the further development of universities in
Italy, feminine education came to be the rule. This rule has maintained
itself all down the centurie