[Attempts to fight paludism and malaria in the middle ages. Role of Benedictine and Cistercian monks in the rise of monastic medicine and in land reclamation during the Middle Ages].

The loss of low-lying farm-land to marshes and swamps was a striking phenomenon in Italy and other regions of Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. Throughout the Middle Ages extensive fertile agricultural lands were abandoned due to increased marshiness and the risk of the spread of malaria diffusion. In economic and social terms, this was a further source of decline. In this scenario of progressive abandonment which supported the spread of disease, Benedictine and Cistercian monks performed extensive land reclamation (relying on channels, dams and embankments), leading to a progressive control of seasonal flooding by rivers and basins. Inside the abbeys monastic medicine flourished, which in some regions often represented the main reference point for health care for all residents (whether the common people, nobles or clergy), in the "Dark Ages". Many monks paid with their own lives: malaria and malnutrition were the most frequent causes of morbidity and mortality. Benedictine and Cistercian monks, who had embraced the Benedictine rule, today deserve high consideration, as the major supporters of Europe's recovery, which took place on the continent from the 13th century onward. Their motto, "Pray and work" (Ora et labora) and "That God may be glorified in all things" (Ut in omnibus glorificatur Deus) supported their daily life and action. For centuries inside abbeys and fortified farmsteads known as grancie monks added prayers to work, in their attempt to reclaim land. Nature often treated them badly, at despite such difficulties, the monks never shrank from danger.