Contribution to the history of plastic and reconstructive surgery from Dubrovnik and split during the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries.

Medieval contracts for medical treatment are, without doubt, evidence of proper and adequate insight into the quality of operations performed centuries ago. Historical archives in Dalmatian cities have preserved a certain number of such contracts. Their contents assist in better understanding our historical heritage. This paper submits contracts, kept in Dubrovnik and Split, for the operation of inguinal hernia. A case depicting a defective palate treated by Amatus Lusitanus, who lived in Dubrovnik from 1555 to 1558, is also presented.

Master Samuel Ebrej ophthalmic surgeon of Dubrovnik and contracts relating to medical services dating from 1414.

Throughout the Middle Ages, Dubrovnik maintained active and regular commercial and maritime contacts with various cities and states of the Mediterranean. These activities led to the organisation of a health care system and the development of medicine. With respect to the economic, commercial and maritime aspects of the culture of this city state, Dubrovnik became open to the civilising progress of the region and period. The brief visit of the Mediaeval ophthalmologist, Master Samuel Ebrej supports this fact.