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Augustine of Canterbury

Augustine of Canterbury (early 6th century – most likely 26 May 604) was a Christian monk who became the first archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English”.

Augustine was the prior of a monastery in Rome when Pope Gregory the Great chose him in 595 to lead a mission, usually known as the Gregorian mission, to Britain to Christianize King Æthelberht and his Kingdom of Kent from Anglo-Saxon paganism. Kent was likely chosen because Æthelberht commanded major influence over neighbouring Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in addition to his marriage to Bertha, a Frankish princess, who was expected to exert some influence over her husband. Before reaching Kent, the missionaries had considered turning back, but Gregory urged them on, and in 597, Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet and proceeded to Æthelberht's main town of Canterbury.

King Æthelberht converted to Christianity and allowed the missionaries to preach freely, giving them land to found a monastery outside the city walls. Augustine was consecrated as a bishop and converted many of the king's subjects, including thousands during a mass baptism on Christmas Day in 597. Pope Gregory sent more missionaries in 601, along with encouraging letters and gifts for the churches, although attempts to persuade the native British bishops to submit to Augustine's authority failed. Roman bishops were established at London, and Rochester in 604, and a school was founded to train Anglo-Saxon priests and missionaries. Augustine also arranged the consecration of his successor, Laurence of Canterbury. The archbishop probably died in 604 and was soon revered as a saint.

Background to the mission
After the withdrawal of the Roman legions from their province of Britannia in 410, the inhabitants were left to defend themselves against the attacks of the Saxons. Before the Roman withdrawal, Britannia had been converted to Christianity and produced the ascetic Pelagius. Britain sent three bishops to the Council of Arles in 314, and a Gaulish bishop went to the island in 396 to help settle disciplinary matters. Material remains testify to a growing presence of Christians, at least until around 360. After the Roman legions departed, pagan tribes settled the southern parts of the island while western Britain, beyond the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, remained Christian. This native British Church developed in isolation from Rome under the influence of missionaries from Ireland and was centred on monasteries instead of bishoprics. Other distinguishing characteristics were its calculation of the date of Easter and the style of the tonsure haircut that clerics wore. Evidence for the survival of Christianity in the eastern part of Britain during this time includes the survival of the cult of Saint Alban and the occurrence in place names of eccles, derived from the Latin ecclesia, meaning "church". There is no evidence that these native Christians tried to convert the Anglo-Saxons. The invasions destroyed most remnants of Roman civilisation in the areas held by the Saxons and related tribes, including the economic and religious structures.

It was against this background that Pope Gregory I decided to send a mission, often called the Gregorian mission, to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity in 595. The Kingdom of Kent was ruled by Æthelberht, who had married a Christian princess named Bertha before 588, and perhaps earlier than 560. Bertha was the daughter of Charibert I, one of the Merovingian kings of the Franks. As one of the conditions of her marriage, she brought a bishop named Liudhard with her to Kent. Together in Canterbury, they restored a church that dated to Roman times – possibly the current St Martin's Church. Æthelberht was a pagan at this point but allowed his wife freedom of worship. One biographer of Bertha states that under his wife's influence, Æthelberht asked Pope Gregory to send missionaries. The historian Ian N. Wood feels that the initiative came from the Kentish court as well as the queen. Other historians, however, believe that Gregory initiated the mission, although the exact reasons remain unclear. Bede, an 8th-century monk who wrote a history of the English church, recorded a famous story in which Gregory saw fair-haired Saxon slaves from Britain in the Roman slave market and was inspired to try to convert their people. More practical matters, such as the acquisition of new provinces acknowledging the primacy of the papacy, and a desire to influence the emerging power of the Kentish kingdom under Æthelberht, were probably involved. The mission may have been an outgrowth of the missionary efforts against the Lombards who, as pagans and Arian Christians, were not on good relations with the Catholic church in Rome.

Aside from Æthelberht's granting of freedom of worship to his wife, the choice of Kent was probably dictated by a number of other factors. Kent was the dominant power in southeastern Britain. Since the eclipse of King Ceawlin of Wessex in 592, Æthelberht was the bretwalda, or leading Anglo-Saxon ruler; Bede refers to Æthelberht as having imperium (overlordship) south of the River Humber. Trade between the Franks and Æthelberht's kingdom was well established, and the language barrier between the two regions was apparently only a minor obstacle, as the interpreters for the mission came from the Franks. Lastly, Kent's proximity to the Franks allowed support from a Christian area. There is some evidence, including Gregory's letters to Frankish kings in support of the mission, that some of the Franks felt that they had a claim to overlordship over some of the southern British kingdoms at this time. The presence of a Frankish bishop could also have lent credence to claims of overlordship, if Bertha's Bishop Liudhard was felt to be acting as a representative of the Frankish church and not merely as a spiritual advisor to the queen. Frankish influence was not merely political; archaeological remains attest to a cultural influence as well.

In 595, Gregory chose Augustine, who was the prior of the Abbey of St Andrew in Rome, to head the mission to Kent. The pope selected monks to accompany Augustine and sought support from the Frankish royalty and clergy in a series of letters, of which some copies survive in Rome. He wrote to King Theuderic II of Burgundy and to King Theudebert II of Austrasia, as well as their grandmother Brunhild, seeking aid for the mission. Gregory thanked King Chlothar II of Neustria for aiding Augustine. Besides hospitality, the Frankish bishops and kings provided interpreters and Frankish priests to accompany the mission. By soliciting help from the Frankish kings and bishops, Gregory helped to assure a friendly reception for Augustine in Kent, as Æthelbert was unlikely to mistreat a mission which visibly had the support of his wife's relatives and people. Moreover, the Franks appreciated the chance to participate in mission that would extend their influence in Kent. Chlothar, in particular, needed a friendly realm across the Channel to help guard his kingdom's flanks against his fellow Frankish kings.

Sources make no mention of why Pope Gregory chose a monk to head the mission. Pope Gregory once wrote to Æthelberht complimenting Augustine's knowledge of the Bible, so Augustine was evidently well educated. Other qualifications included administrative ability, for Gregory was the abbot of St Andrews as well as being pope, which left the day-to-day running of the abbey to Augustine, the prior.

Arrival and first efforts

Augustine was accompanied by Laurence of Canterbury, his eventual successor to the archbishopric, and a group of about 40 companions, some of whom were monks. Soon after leaving Rome, the missionaries halted, daunted by the nature of the task before them. They sent Augustine back to Rome to request papal permission to return. Gregory refused and sent Augustine back with letters encouraging the missionaries to persevere. In 597, Augustine and his companions landed in Kent. They achieved some initial success soon after their arrival: Æthelberht permitted the missionaries to settle and preach in his capital of Canterbury where they used the church of St Martin's for services. Neither Bede nor Gregory mentions the date of Æthelberht's conversion, but it probably took place in 597. In the early medieval period, large-scale conversions required the ruler's conversion first, and Augustine is recorded as making large numbers of converts within a year of his arrival in Kent. Also, by 601, Gregory was writing to both Æthelberht and Bertha, calling the king his son and referring to his baptism. A late medieval tradition, recorded by the 15th-century chronicler Thomas Elmham, gives the date of the king's conversion as Whit Sunday, or 2 June 597; there is no reason to doubt this date, although there is no other evidence for it. Against a date in 597 is a letter of Gregory's to Patriarch Eulogius of Alexandria in June 598, which mentions the number of converts made by Augustine, but does not mention any baptism of the king. However, it is clear that by 601 the king had been converted. His baptism likely took place at Canterbury.

Augustine established his episcopal see at Canterbury. It is not clear when and where Augustine was consecrated as a bishop. Bede, writing about a century later, states that Augustine was consecrated by the Frankish Archbishop Ætherius of Arles, Gaul (France) after the conversion of Æthelberht. Contemporary letters from Pope Gregory, however, refer to Augustine as a bishop before he arrived in England. A letter of Gregory's from September 597 calls Augustine a bishop, and one dated ten months later says Augustine had been consecrated on Gregory's command by bishops of the German lands. The historian R. A. Markus discusses the various theories of when and where Augustine was consecrated, and suggests he was consecrated before arriving in England, but argues the evidence does not permit deciding exactly where this took place.

Soon after his arrival, Augustine founded the monastery of Saints Peter and Paul, which later became St Augustine's Abbey, on land donated by the king. In a letter Gregory wrote to the patriarch of Alexandria in 598, he claimed that more than 10,000 Christians had been baptised; the number may be exaggerated but there is no reason to doubt that a mass conversion took place. However, there were probably some Christians already in Kent before Augustine arrived, remnants of the Christians who lived in Britain in the later Roman Empire. Little literary traces remain of them, however. One other effect of the king's conversion by Augustine's mission was that the Frankish influence on the southern kingdoms of Britain was decreased.

After these conversions, Augustine sent Laurence back to Rome with a report of his success, along with questions about the mission. Bede records the letter and Gregory's replies in chapter 27 of his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum; this section of the History is usually known as the Libellus responsionum. Augustine asked for Gregory's advice on a number of issues, including how to organise the church, the punishment for church robbers, guidance on who was allowed to marry whom, and the consecration of bishops. Other topics were relations between the churches of Britain and Gaul, childbirth and baptism, and when it was lawful for people to receive communion and for a priest to celebrate mass.

Further missionaries were sent from Rome in 601. They brought a pallium for Augustine and a present of sacred vessels, vestments, relics, and books. The pallium was the symbol of metropolitan status, and signified that Augustine was now an archbishop unambiguously associated with the Holy See. Along with the pallium, a letter from Gregory directed the new archbishop to consecrate 12 suffragan bishops as soon as possible and to send a bishop to York. Gregory's plan was that there would be two metropolitans, one at York and one at London, with 12 suffragan bishops under each archbishop. As part of this plan, Augustine was expected to transfer his archiepiscopal see to London from Canterbury. This move never happened; no contemporary sources give the reason, but it was probably because London was not part of Æthelberht's domains. Instead, London was part of the kingdom of Essex, ruled by Æthelberht's nephew Saebert of Essex, who converted to Christianity in 604. The historian S. Brechter has suggested that the metropolitan see was indeed moved to London, and that it was only with the abandonment of London as a see after the death of Æthelberht that Canterbury became the archiepiscopal see. This theory contradicts Bede's version of events, however.

Additional work

In 604, Augustine founded two more bishoprics in Britain. Two men who had come to Britain with him in 601 were consecrated, Mellitus as Bishop of London and Justus as Bishop of Rochester. Bede relates that Augustine, with the help of the king, "recovered" a church built by Roman Christians in Canterbury. It is not clear if Bede meant that Augustine rebuilt the church or that Augustine merely reconsecrated a building that had been used for pagan worship. Archaeological evidence seems to support the latter interpretation; in 1973 the remains of an aisled building dating from the Romano-British period were uncovered just south of the present Canterbury Cathedral. The historian Ian Wood argues that the existence of the Libellus points to more contact between Augustine and the native Christians because the topics covered in the work are not restricted to conversion from paganism, but also dealt with relations between differing styles of Christianity.

Augustine failed to extend his authority to the Christians in Wales and Dumnonia to the west. Gregory had decreed that these Christians should submit to Augustine and that their bishops should obey him, apparently believing that more of the Roman governmental and ecclesiastical organisation survived in Britain than was actually the case. According to the narrative of Bede, the Britons in these regions viewed Augustine with uncertainty, and their suspicion was compounded by a diplomatic misjudgement on Augustine's part. In 603, Augustine and Æthelberht summoned the British bishops to a meeting south of the Severn. These guests retired early to confer with their people, who, according to Bede, advised them to judge Augustine based upon the respect he displayed at their next meeting. When Augustine failed to rise from his seat on the entrance of the British bishops, they refused to recognise him as their archbishop. There were, however, deep differences between Augustine and the British church that perhaps played a more significant role in preventing an agreement. At issue were the tonsure, the observance of Easter, and practical and deep-rooted differences in approach to asceticism, missionary endeavours, and how the church itself was organised. Some historians believe that Augustine had no real understanding of the history and traditions of the British church, damaging his relations with their bishops. Also, there were political dimensions involved, as Augustine's efforts were sponsored by the Kentish king, and at this period the Wessex and Mercian kingdoms were expanding to the west, into areas held by the Britons.

Further success
Gregory also instructed Augustine on other matters. Temples were to be consecrated for Christian use, and feasts, if possible, moved to days celebrating Christian martyrs. One religious site was revealed to be a shrine of a local St Sixtus, whose worshippers were unaware of details of the martyr's life or death. They may have been native Christians, but Augustine did not treat them as such. When Gregory was informed, he told Augustine to stop the cult and use the shrine for the Roman St Sixtus.

Gregory legislated on the behaviour of the laity and the clergy. He placed the new mission directly under papal authority and made it clear that English bishops would have no authority over Frankish counterparts nor vice versa. Other directives dealt with the training of native clergy and the missionaries' conduct.

The King's School, Canterbury claims Augustine as its founder, which would make it the world's oldest existing school, but the first documentary records of the school date from the 16th century. Augustine did establish a school, and soon after his death Canterbury was able to send teachers out to support the East Anglian mission. Augustine received liturgical books from the pope, but their exact contents are unknown. They may have been some of the new mass books that were being written at this time. The exact liturgy that Augustine introduced to England remains unknown, but it would have been a form of the Latin language liturgy in use at Rome.

Death and legacy
Before his death, Augustine consecrated Laurence of Canterbury as his successor to the archbishopric, probably to ensure an orderly transfer of office. Although at the time of Augustine's death, 26 May 604, the mission barely extended beyond Kent, his undertaking introduced a more active missionary style into the British Isles. Despite the earlier presence of Christians in Ireland and Wales, no efforts had been made to try to convert the Saxon invaders. Augustine was sent to convert the descendants of those invaders, and eventually became the decisive influence in Christianity in most of the British Isles. Much of his success came about because of Augustine's close relationship with Æthelberht, which gave the archbishop time to establish himself. Augustine's example also influenced the great missionary efforts of the Anglo-Saxon Church.

Augustine's body was originally buried in the portico of what is now St Augustine's, Canterbury, but it was later exhumed and placed in a tomb within the abbey church, which became a place of pilgrimage and veneration. After the Norman Conquest the cult of St Augustine was actively promoted. After the Conquest, his shrine in St Augustine's Abbey held a central position in one of the axial chapels, flanked by the shrines of his successors Laurence and Mellitus. King Henry I of England granted St. Augustine's Abbey a six-day fair around the date on which Augustine's relics were translated to his new shrine, from 8 September through 13 September.

A life of Augustine was written by Goscelin around 1090, but this life portrays Augustine in a different light, compared to Bede's account. Goscelin's account has little new historical content, mainly being filled with miracles and imagined speeches. Building on this account, later medieval writers continued to add new miracles and stories to Augustine's life, often quite fanciful. These authors included William of Malmesbury, who claimed that Augustine founded Cerne Abbey, the author (generally believed to be John Brompton) of a late medieval chronicle containing invented letters from Augustine, and a number of medieval writers who included Augustine in their romances. Another problem with investigating Augustine's saintly cult is the confusion resulting because most medieval liturgical documents mentioning Augustine do not distinguish between Augustine of Canterbury and Augustine of Hippo, a fourth-century saint. Medieval Scandinavian liturgies feature Augustine of Canterbury quite often, however. During the English Reformation, Augustine's shrine was destroyed and his relics were lost.

Augustine's shrine was re-established in March 2012 at the church of St. Augustine in Ramsgate, Kent, very close to the mission's landing site. St Augustine's Cross, a Celtic cross erected in 1884, marks the spot in Ebbsfleet, Thanet, East Kent, where the newly arrived Augustine is said to have first met and preached to the awaiting King Ethelbert.

title: Augustine of Canterbury


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Alexander of Hales

Alexander of Hales (also Halensis, Alensis, Halesius, Alesius ; c. 1185 – 21 August 1245), also called Doctor Irrefragibilis (by Pope Alexander IV in the Bull De Fontibus Paradisi) and Theologorum Monarcha, was a Franciscan friar, theologian and philosopher important in the development of scholasticism.

Life
Alexander was born at Hales, Shropshire (today Halesowen, West Midlands), England, between 1180 and 1186. He came from a rather wealthy country family. He studied at the University of Paris and became a master of arts sometime before 1210. He began to read theology in 1212 or 1213, and became a regent master in 1220 or 1221. He introduced the Sentences of Peter Lombard as the basic textbook for the study of theology. During the University strike of 1229, Alexander participated in an embassy to Rome to discuss the place of Aristotle in the curriculum. Having held a prebend at Holborn (prior to 1229) and a canonry of St. Paul's in London (1226-1229), he visited England in 1230 and received a canonry and an archdeaconry in Coventry and Lichfield, his native diocese. He taught at Paris in the academic year 1232–33, but was appointed to a delegation by Henry III of England in 1235, along with Simon Langton and Fulk Basset, to negotiate the renewal of the peace between England and France.

In 1236 or 1237, aged about 50, Alexander entered the Franciscan Order, having previously considered both the Cistercians and the Dominicans. He thus became the first Franciscan friar to hold a university chair. His doctrinal positions became the starting point of the Franciscan school of theology. He continued to teach and to represent the university, and participated in the First Council of Lyon in the winter of 1245.

After returning to Paris, Alexander fell ill, probably due to an epidemic then sweeping the city. Shortly before his death, he passed his chair on to John of La Rochelle, setting the precedent for that chair to be held by a Franciscan. Alexander died at Paris on 21 August 1245.

As the first Franciscan to hold a chair at the University of Paris, Alexander had many significant disciples. He was called Doctor Irrefragibilis (Irrefutable Teacher) and Doctor Doctorum (Teacher of Teachers). The latter title is especially suggestive of his role in forming several Franciscans who later became influential thinkers in the faculty, among them Bonaventure, John of La Rochelle, Odo Rigaldus, William of Middleton and Richard Rufus of Cornwall. Bonaventure, who may not have sat under Alexander directly, nevertheless referred to Alexander as his "father and master" and wished to "follow in his footsteps."

Works

Alexander is known for reflecting the works of several other Middle Age thinkers, especially those of Anselm of Canterbury and Augustine of Hippo. He was also known to quote thinkers such as Bernard of Clairvaux and Richard of Saint-Victor. He differs from those in his genre as he is known to reflect his own interests and those of his generation. When using the works of his authorities, Alexander does not only review their reasoning but also gives conclusions, expands on them, and offers his agreements and disagreement with them. He was also different in that he appeals to pre-Lombardian figures, and in his use of Anselm of Canterbury and Bernard of Clairvaux, whose works were not cited as frequently by other 12th-century scholastics. Aristotle is also quite frequently quoted in Alexander's works. Alexander was fascinated by the Pseudo-Dionysian hierarchy of angels and in how their nature can be understood, given Aristotelian metaphysics.

Among the doctrines which were specially developed and, so to speak, fixed by Alexander of Hales, are the thesaurus supererogationis perfectorum (treasury of supererogatory merits) and the character indelibilis (sacramental character) of baptism, confirmation, and ordination. That doctrine had been written about much earlier by Augustine and was eventually defined a dogma by the Council of Trent. He also posed an important question about the cause of the Incarnation: would Christ have been incarnated if humanity had never sinned? The question eventually became the focal point for a philosophical issue (the theory of possible worlds) and a theological topic on the distinction between God's absolute power (potentia absoluta) and His ordained power (potentia ordinata).

Summa Universae Theologiae
He had written the summary/commentary of Peter Lombard's four books of the Sentences. It had exposed the trinitarian theology of the Greeks. This had been the most important writing that Alexander had claimed, and it had been the earliest in the genre. While it is common for scholars to state that Alexander was the first to write a commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, it is not quite accurate. Authorship is more contentious for this work; although he started this work, he died before it could be finished, and it most likely was more a product of people other than Alexander. There were a number of "commentaries" on the Sentences, but Alexander's appears to have been the first magisterial commentary. Although it was Alexander's most significant writing, it had not been completed, therefore leaving historians with many questions on the reliability and quality of the writing. This was taken into consideration when the Summa had been examined by Victorin Doucet for different editions of them. The sources has seem to be the resulting problem of the Summa, "counted there were 4814 explicit quotations and 1372 implicit quotations from Augustine, more than one quarter of texts were cited in the body of the Summa.

Of Alexander's Summa, which was on one occasion proclaimed by an assembly of seventy doctors to be infallible, Roger Bacon declared that, though it was as heavy as the weight of a horse, it was full of errors and displayed ignorance of physics, of metaphysics, and even of logic.

Other historical works
Alexander also influenced and sometimes is confused with Alexander Carpenter, Latinized as Fabricius (fl. 1429), who was the author of the Destructorium viciorum, a religious work popular in the 15th and 16th centuries. Carpenter also authored other works, such as "Homiliae eruditae" ("Learned Sermons").

Historiographical contribution
Alexander was said to have been among the earliest scholastics to engage with Aristotle's newly translated writings. Between 1220 and 1227, he wrote Glossa in quatuor libros Sententiarum Petri Lombardi (A Gloss on the Four Books of the Sentences of Peter Lombard) (composed in the mid-12th century), which was particularly important because it was the first time that a book other than the Bible was used as a basic text for theological study. This steered the development of scholasticism in a more systematic direction, inaugurating an important tradition of writing commentaries on the Sentences as a fundamental step in the training of master theologians.

A medieval scholastic
In doing so, he elevated Lombard's work from a mere theological resource to the basic framework of questions and problems from which masters could teach. The commentary (or more correctly titled a Gloss) survived in student reports from Alexander's teaching in the classroom and so it provides a major insight into the way theologians taught their discipline in the 1220s. As is the case with Glossa and Quaestiones Disputatae, much of his work is probably written in the form of notes on his oral teachings by students, though the content is definitely his.

For his contemporaries, however, Alexander's fame was his inexhaustible interest in disputation. His disputations prior to his becoming a Franciscan cover over 1,600 pages in their modern edition. His disputed questions after 1236 remain unpublished. Alexander was also one of the first scholastics to participate in the Quodlibeta, a university event in which a master had to respond to any question posed by any student or master over a period of three days. Alexander's Quodlibetal Questions also remain unedited.

Theologian
At the beginning of 1236, he entered the Franciscan order (he was at least 50) and was the first Franciscan to hold a chair at the University of Paris. He held this post until shortly before his death in Paris in 1245. When he became a Franciscan and thus created a formal Franciscan school of theology at Paris, it was soon clear that his students lacked some of the basic tools for the discipline. Alexander responded by beginning a Summa theologiae that is now known as the Summa fratris Alexandri. Alexander drew mainly from his own disputations, but also selected ideas, arguments and sources from his contemporaries. It treats in its first part the doctrines of God and his attributes; in its second, those of creation and sin; in its third, those of redemption and atonement; and, in its fourth and last, those of the sacraments. This massive text, which Roger Bacon would later sarcastically describe as weighing as much as a horse, was unfinished at his death; his students, William of Middleton and John of Rupella, were charged with its completion. It was certainly read by the Franciscans at Paris, including Bonaventure.

Alexander was an innovative theologian. He was part of the generation that first grappled with the writings of Aristotle. While there was a ban on using Aristotle's works as teaching texts, theologians like Alexander continued to exploit his ideas in their theology. Two other uncommon sources were promoted by Alexander: Anselm of Canterbury, whose writings had been ignored for almost a century, gained an important advocate in Alexander and he used Anselm's works extensively in his teaching on Christology and soteriology; and, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, whom Alexander used in his examination of the theology of Orders and ecclesiastical structures.

Though he also continued the tradition of Aristotle- and Augustine-focused thought in the Franciscan school, he did so through an Anselm-directed lens. In fact, Alexander was one of the major influences for the advancement of Anselmian thought in the 13th century. One such example is the idea of original sin as a lack of justice. Alexander believed that original sin is both a punishment as well as a cause for punishment. That is to say, the body is corrupt, but the soul is clean. Alexander advances the idea that it would not be God's fault to create a being that would bind the ‘corrupt’ with the ‘clean’. He advanced a highly original response that the soul naturally desires the body. Consequently, God is both merciful in giving the soul what it wants, as well as just in punishing the soul for binding with the corrupt flesh. Either the soul knew that the body was corrupt, or it did not (in which case it would be “laboring under ignorance”); both of these considerations are cause for divine punishment.

Alexander is also known for rejecting the idea that there are many things in God's mind, instead claiming that it is more perfect to know just one thing. He did not start off with this view, though. In the Glossa, he openly suggests the idea of the multiplicity of divine ideas. In his later work, Quaestio disputata antequam erat Frater 46, he finally rejects the plurality of divine ideas, and this theme continues through the rest of his works. Specifically, in one of his last works, De scientia divina, he concludes that the idea of plurality itself is strictly temporal, a human notion.

One of his more famous works, the Summa, is important because of its system for determining if a war is just. There are six requirements for determining this: authority and attitude (in reference to who declares the war), intention and condition (in reference to the soldiers), merit (of the enemy) and just cause. Just cause becomes the overarching moral principle for declaring war in three ways: the relief of good people, coercion of the wicked, and peace for all. It is important to note that Alexander put ‘peace for all’ at the end of the list to amplify its importance.

Writings

 * Alexander of Hales. Glossa in quatuor libros sententiarum Petri Lombardi. Edited by the Quaracchi Fathers. Bibliotheca Franciscana scholastica medii aevi, t. 12–15. Rome: Collegii S. Bonaventurae, 1951–1957.
 * Alexander of Hales. Quaestiones disputatae antequam esset frater. Edited by the Quaracchi Fathers. Bibliotheca Franciscana scholastica medii aevi, t. 19–21. Quaracchi: Collegii S. Bonaventurae,1960.
 * Alexander of Hales (attributed). Summa universis theologiae, (Summa fratris Alexandri), edited by Bernardini Klumper and the Quaracchi Fathers, 4 vols. Rome: Collegii S. Bonaventurae, 1924–1948.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Alexander of Hales


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Active Server Pages

Active Server Pages (ASP) is Microsoft's first server-side scripting language and engine for dynamic web pages.

It was first released in December 1996, before being superseded in January 2002 by ASP.NET.

History
Initially released as an add-on to Internet Information Services (IIS) via the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack (1996), it is included as a component of Windows Server (since the initial release of Windows 2000 Server). There have been three versions of ASP, each introduced with different versions of IIS:

 * ASP 1.0 was released in December 1996 as part of IIS 3.0
 * ASP 2.0 was released in September 1997 as part of IIS 4.0
 * ASP 3.0 was released in November 2000 as part of IIS 5.0

ASP 2.0 provides six built-in objects: Application, ASPError, Request, Response, Server, and Session. A  object, for example, represents a session that maintains the state of variables from page to page. The Active Scripting engine's support of the Component Object Model enables ASP websites to access functionality in compiled libraries such as dynamic-link libraries.

ASP 3.0 does not differ greatly from ASP 2.0 but it does offer some additional enhancements such as Server.Transfer method, Server.Execute method, and an enhanced ASPError object. ASP 3.0 also enables buffering by default and optimized the engine for better performance.

ASP was supported until 14 January 2020 on Windows 7. The use of ASP pages will be supported on Windows 8 for a minimum of 10 years from the Windows 8 release date. ASP is currently supported in all available versions of IIS.

Architecture
ASP uses scripting on the server to generate content that is sent to the client's web browser via HTTP response. The ASP interpreter reads and executes all script code between <% and %> tags, the result of which is content generation. These scripts were written using VBScript, JScript, or PerlScript. The  directive, the  syntax or server configuration can be used to select the language. In the example below, Response.Write Now is in an HTML page; it would be dynamically replaced by the current time of the server.

Web pages with the .asp filename extension use ASP, although some web sites disguise their choice of scripting language for security purposes by using the more common .htm or .html extensions. Pages with the .aspx extension use compiled ASP.NET; however, ASP.NET pages may still include some ASP scripting. The introduction of ASP.NET led to use of the term Classic ASP for the original technology.

Sun Java System ASP (formerly ChiliSoft ASP) was a popular and reportedly complete emulator, but it has been discontinued.

The Server object
The server object allows connections to databases (ADO), filesystem, and use of components installed on the server.

The Application object
This object stores global variables, which are variables accessible to all users.

The Session object
Stores variables accessible only to a single visitor, which are local variables.

The session object is file based and multiple concurrent read and/or write requests will be blocked and processed in turn.

The Err object
Allows the management and fixing of non-fatal errors.

title: Active Server Pages


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Amoxicillin

Amoxicillin is an antibiotic medication belonging to the aminopenicillin class of the penicillin family. The drug is used to treat bacterial infections such as middle ear infection, strep throat, pneumonia, skin infections, odontogenic infections, and urinary tract infections. It is taken by mouth, or less commonly by injection.

Common adverse effects include nausea and rash. It may also increase the risk of yeast infections and, when used in combination with clavulanic acid, diarrhea. It should not be used in those who are allergic to penicillin. While usable in those with kidney problems, the dose may need to be decreased. Its use in pregnancy and breastfeeding does not appear to be harmful. Amoxicillin is in the β-lactam family of antibiotics.

Amoxicillin was discovered in 1958 and came into medical use in 1972. Amoxil was approved for medical use in the United States in 1974, and in the United Kingdom in 1977. It is on the (WHO) World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is one of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics in children. Amoxicillin is available as a generic medication. In 2021, it was the 38th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 16million prescriptions.

Medical uses
Amoxicillin is used in the treatment of a number of infections, including acute otitis media, streptococcal pharyngitis, pneumonia, skin infections, urinary tract infections, Salmonella infections, Lyme disease, and chlamydia infections.

Acute otitis media
Children with acute otitis media who are younger than six months of age are generally treated with amoxicillin or other antibiotics. Although most children with acute otitis media who are older than two years old do not benefit from treatment with amoxicillin or other antibiotics, such treatment may be helpful in children younger than two years old with acute otitis media that is bilateral or accompanied by ear drainage. In the past, amoxicillin was dosed three times daily when used to treat acute otitis media, which resulted in missed doses in routine ambulatory practice. There is now evidence that two times daily dosing or once daily dosing has similar effectiveness.

Respiratory infections
Most sinusitis infections are caused by viruses, for which amoxicillin and amoxicillin-clavulanate are ineffective, and the small benefit gained by amoxicillin may be overridden by the adverse effects. Amoxicillin is considered the first-line empirical treatment for most cases of uncomplicated bacterial sinusitis in children and adults when culture data is unavailable. Amoxicillin is recommended as the preferred first-line treatment for community-acquired pneumonia in adults by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, either alone (mild to moderate severity disease) or in combination with a macrolide. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends amoxicillin as first-line treatment for pneumonia that is not "severe". Amoxicillin is used in post-exposure inhalation of anthrax to prevent disease progression and for prophylaxis.

H. pylori
It is effective as one part of a multi-drug regimen for treatment of stomach infections of Helicobacter pylori. It is typically combined with a proton-pump inhibitor (such as omeprazole) and a macrolide antibiotic (such as clarithromycin); other drug combinations are also effective.

Lyme borreliosis
Amoxicillin is effective for treatment of early cutaneous Lyme borreliosis; the effectiveness and safety of oral amoxicillin is neither better nor worse than common alternatively-used antibiotics.

Odontogenic infections
Amoxicillin is used to treat odontogenic infections, infections of the tongue, lips, and other oral tissues. It may be prescribed following a tooth extraction, particularly in those with compromised immune systems.

Skin infections
Amoxicillin is occasionally used for the treatment of skin infections, such as acne vulgaris. It is often an effective treatment for cases of acne vulgaris that have responded poorly to other antibiotics, such as doxycycline and minocycline.

Infections in infants in resource-limited settings
Amoxicillin is recommended by the World Health Organization for the treatment of infants with signs and symptoms of pneumonia in resource-limited situations when the parents are unable or unwilling to accept hospitalization of the child. Amoxicillin in combination with gentamicin is recommended for the treatment of infants with signs of other severe infections when hospitalization is not an option.

Prevention of bacterial endocarditis
It is also used to prevent bacterial endocarditis and as a pain-reliever in high-risk people having dental work done, to prevent Streptococcus pneumoniae and other encapsulated bacterial infections in those without spleens, such as people with sickle-cell disease, and for both the prevention and the treatment of anthrax. The United Kingdom recommends against its use for infectious endocarditis prophylaxis. These recommendations do not appear to have changed the rates of infection for infectious endocarditis.

Combination treatment
Amoxicillin is susceptible to degradation by β-lactamase-producing bacteria, which are resistant to most β-lactam antibiotics, such as penicillin. For this reason, it may be combined with clavulanic acid, a β-lactamase inhibitor. This drug combination is commonly called co-amoxiclav.

Spectrum of activity
It is a moderate-spectrum, bacteriolytic, β-lactam antibiotic in the aminopenicillin family used to treat susceptible Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. It is usually the drug of choice within the class because it is better-absorbed, following oral administration, than other β-lactam antibiotics. In general, Streptococcus, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus, Haemophilus, Helicobacter, and Moraxella are susceptible to amoxicillin, whereas Citrobacter, Klebsiella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are resistant to it. Some E. coli and most clinical strains of Staphylococcus aureus have developed resistance to amoxicillin to varying degrees.

Adverse effects
Adverse effects are similar to those for other β-lactam antibiotics, including nausea, vomiting, rashes, and antibiotic-associated colitis. Loose bowel movements (diarrhea) may also occur. Rarer adverse effects include mental changes, lightheadedness, insomnia, confusion, anxiety, sensitivity to lights and sounds, and unclear thinking. Immediate medical care is required upon the first signs of these adverse effects.

The onset of an allergic reaction to amoxicillin can be very sudden and intense; emergency medical attention must be sought as quickly as possible. The initial phase of such a reaction often starts with a change in mental state, skin rash with intense itching (often beginning in fingertips and around groin area and rapidly spreading), and sensations of fever, nausea, and vomiting. Any other symptoms that seem even remotely suspicious must be taken very seriously. However, more mild allergy symptoms, such as a rash, can occur at any time during treatment, even up to a week after treatment has ceased. For some people allergic to amoxicillin, the adverse effects can be fatal due to anaphylaxis.

Use of the amoxicillin/clavulanic acid combination for more than one week has caused a drug-induced immunoallergic-type hepatitis in some patients. Young children having ingested acute overdoses of amoxicillin manifested lethargy, vomiting, and renal dysfunction.

There is poor reporting of adverse effects of amoxicillin from clinical trials. For this reason, the severity and frequency of adverse effects from amoxicillin is probably higher than reported from clinical trials.

Nonallergic rash
Between 3 and 10% of children taking amoxicillin (or ampicillin) show a late-developing (>72 hours after beginning medication and having never taken penicillin-like medication previously) rash, which is sometimes referred to as the "amoxicillin rash". The rash can also occur in adults and may rarely be a component of the DRESS syndrome.

The rash is described as maculopapular or morbilliform (measles-like; therefore, in medical literature, it is called "amoxicillin-induced morbilliform rash". ). It starts on the trunk and can spread from there. This rash is unlikely to be a true allergic reaction and is not a contraindication for future amoxicillin usage, nor should the current regimen necessarily be stopped. However, this common amoxicillin rash and a dangerous allergic reaction cannot easily be distinguished by inexperienced persons, so a healthcare professional is often required to distinguish between the two.

A nonallergic amoxicillin rash may also be an indicator of infectious mononucleosis. Some studies indicate about 80–90% of patients with acute Epstein–Barr virus infection treated with amoxicillin or ampicillin develop such a rash.

Interactions
Amoxicillin may interact with these drugs:
 * Anticoagulants (dabigatran, warfarin).
 * Methotrexate (chemotherapy and immunosuppressant).
 * Typhoid, Cholera and BCG vaccines.
 * Probenecid reduces renal excretion and increases blood levels of amoxicillin.
 * Oral contraceptives potentially become less effective.
 * Allopurinol (gout treatment).
 * Mycophenolate (immunosuppressant)

Pharmacology
Amoxicillin (α-amino-p-hydroxybenzyl penicillin) is a semisynthetic derivative of penicillin with a structure similar to ampicillin but with better absorption when taken by mouth, thus yielding higher concentrations in blood and in urine. Amoxicillin diffuses easily into tissues and body fluids. It will cross the placenta and is excreted into breastmilk in small quantities. It is metabolized by the liver and excreted into the urine. It has an onset of 30 minutes and a half-life of 3.7 hours in newborns and 1.4 hours in adults.

Amoxicillin attaches to the cell wall of susceptible bacteria and results in their death. It is effective against streptococci, pneumococci, enterococci, Haemophilus influenzae, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Neisseria meningitidis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Shigella, Chlamydia trachomatis, Salmonella, Borrelia burgdorferi, and Helicobacter pylori. As a derivative of ampicillin, amoxicillin is a member of the penicillin family and, like penicillins, is a β-lactam antibiotic. It inhibits cross-linkage between the linear peptidoglycan polymer chains that make up a major component of the bacterial cell wall. It has two ionizable groups in the physiological range (the amino group in alpha-position to the amide carbonyl group and the carboxyl group).

History
Amoxicillin was one of several semisynthetic derivatives of 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA) developed by the Beecham Group in the 1960s. It was invented by Anthony Alfred Walter Long and John Herbert Charles Nayler, two British scientists. It became available in 1972 and was the second aminopenicillin to reach the market (after ampicillin in 1961). Co-amoxiclav became available in 1981.

Economics
Amoxicillin is relatively inexpensive. In 2022, a survey of eight generic antibiotics commonly prescribed in the United States found their average cost to be about $42.67, while amoxicillin was sold for $12.14 on average.

Modes of delivery
Pharmaceutical manufacturers make amoxicillin in trihydrate form, for oral use available as capsules, regular, chewable and dispersible tablets, syrup and pediatric suspension for oral use, and as the sodium salt for intravenous administration.

An extended-release is available. The intravenous form of amoxicillin is not sold in the United States. When an intravenous aminopenicillin is required in the United States, ampicillin is typically used. When there is an adequate response to ampicillin, the course of antibiotic therapy may often be completed with oral amoxicillin.

Research with mice indicated successful delivery using intraperitoneally injected amoxicillin-bearing microparticles.

Names
"Amoxicillin" is the International Nonproprietary Name (INN), British Approved Name (BAN), and United States Adopted Name (USAN), while "amoxycillin" is the Australian Approved Name (AAN).

Amoxicillin is one of the semisynthetic penicillins discovered by former pharmaceutical company Beecham Group. The patent for amoxicillin has expired, thus amoxicillin and co-amoxiclav preparations are marketed under various brand names across the world.

Veterinary uses
Amoxicillin is also sometimes used as an antibiotic for animals. The use of amoxicillin for animals intended for human consumption (chickens, cattle, and swine for example) has been approved.

title: Amoxicillin


text: Talk:Alkane

title: Talk:Alkane


text:
Talk:Amoxicillin

Naming
I think this is not good practice to list or create articles about brand names (proprietary names). They come and go. Besides in different countries the same drug by the same manufacturer is sold under different brand names.

There are exceptions of course we definitely should have articles about : Viagra,Valium,Prozac and possibly Rohypnol (date-rape drug ?).

Can we ask the administrators to issue the official policy on brand names of pharmaceuticals ? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 217.99.105.xxx (talk • contribs) 12:03, 12 December 2001 (UTC)

There is not yet an official policy, but personally I don't have a problem with it. If it's a subject some people want to know about, we do our readers a disservice not to cover it just because of some misplaced concern about "commercialism". Let's face it; people won't search for "Diazepam"; they'll search for "Valium", and expect an article on it. Of course, that article should simply say that "Valium" is a trademarked brand name for Diazepam, and then desribe what Diazepam is and what it does. I think all should be treated similarly: mention the brand name and the generic name, and use the generic name in most of the text. --LDC 17:52, 12 December 2001

I think we can create redirects from lesser known brand names to generic names pages but we should stick to generic (or better INN - international names) throughout the text of articles possibly giving brand names at the top or in brackets. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Conversion script (talk • contribs) 16:43, 25 February 2002 (UTC)

In the UK this stuff is sold by Almus Pharmaceuticals not GSK. And I searched for the chemical not the brand. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.3.254.86 (talk • contribs) 11:48, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Intermediate sensitivity
I removed the unsourced edit that doubling the dose also helps with intermediately sensitive organisms. Although it makes sense, such an assertion needs support from the literature before our readers start taking their tables at twice the rate :-) JFW | T@lk  08:35, 9 October 2005 (UTC)
 * That brings up an interesting question... I worked as a pharmacy tech, and regularly sorted amoxil to patients. I was just wondering.... if a doctor prescribed a week-long dose of amoxil (should be 10 days, but I hear 7 days is long enough), and the patient, upon reading something like that, took a double-dose, that would mean they would run out of the drug within 3 days, correct?
 * In that case, if the bacteria isn't susceptible, would that not cause drug resistance?
 * Nevermind, I seem to have answered my own question... heh. Kareeser 02:01, 14 December 2005 (UTC)
 * If the bacteria isn't susceptible it already is drug resistant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.109.227.114 (talk) 13:29, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Potassium Clavulanate not Clavulanic Acid
I used to make this stuff and I know that Clavulanic Acid is never used in Amox mixes but is changed into Potassium Clavulanate (see the product pages for Augmentin at SmithKilne Beecham). The actual conversion process is :- Streptomyces clavuligerus - Clavulanic acid - Tertiary butylamine salt of Clavulanic acid (tBA) - Potassium Clavulanate. I have been correcting the pages to show the actual chemical used. Tmd63 10:59, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

 * I have just checked in the British National Formulary and technicaly you are correct, however the common usage of the terms is as it appears in medical formularies and even more commonly on a doctor's prescriptions and the labels patients read on their medicine bottles. With many drugs the official names miss out on the details on the particular salt used, eg 'Erythromycin' is usally prescribed as the single word, the particular salt is not relevant to its spectrum of antibiotic activity and only rarely is it necessary to distinguish the 'stearate' from the 'ethyl succinate' forms. The correct (at least in the UK) pharmacy & medical term to use is Clavulanic acid, similary the amoxicillin used in Co-amoxiclav is prescribed just as 'Amoxicillin', yet in oral form the trihydrate is used and that for injection uses the sodium salt. To quote from the BNF, which sets out the use of terms:
 * "Co-amoxiclav A mixture of amoxicillin (as the trihydrate or as the sodium salt) and clavulanic acid (as potassium clavulanate)..."

 * I'll therefore revert back, but add the details of the forms used to Amoxicillin, Co-amoxiclav, Clavulanic acid and Potassium Clavulanate (which incidentally is wrong in its specification of only being mixed with the trihydrate form of Amoxicillin)David Ruben Talk 00:13, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

Side Effects
Some side affects may include nose bleeds.
 * —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.255.143.130 (talk • contribs). 23:07, 18 October 2006

Yeast infections are common in women who take any kind of antibiotic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Citysmile (talk • contribs) 20:07, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Does anyone know if any work has been done around whether the Side-Effects of Amoxi' are from the Amoxicillin itself, or the colourants used in the Capsule shell? The UK 'generic' uses 5 colourants with E-Numbers, & 4 of these colours are amongst those "which the Hyperactive Children's Support Group recommends should be eliminated from the diet of the children it represents"*. The same four colourants are also banned from use in other countries including the US, Scandanavia & some European countries. *Quote is from 'E for Additives'.

I'm asking particularly regarding "Side effects include ... irritability, mood swings, aggressiveness and easy fatigue."

Thanks Ozoneflyer (talk) 08:54, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

>Immediate medical care is required upon the first signs of these side-effects. Of which side effects a medical care is required? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.226.26.236 (talk) 12:16, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

== '''On two occasions within 6 months, within 48 hours of taking Amoxycillin, my hands and feet became swollen and reddened, plus a persistent itching of my palms and soles of feet, further exacerbated by pain in the soles (inhibiting walking). Within 7 days the swelling and itching subsided; however the ensuing scaling and peeling of 2 or more layers of skin was quite uncomfortable, looked horrible and left my hands, palms and fingertips over sensitive for the next 10 days, as if in a 2d degree burn. I have now switched to Roxithromycin, after a hospital visit and blood panel. Keep hands and feet lubricated!!...Good Luck...Jeffers''' ==--61.7.166.83 (talk) 01:47, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Allergies
I for one, am allergic to Amoxicillin, so if anyone knows anything about it could write about the side effects of Amoxicillin! Also, if you are allergic to Amoxicillin, does it mean that you are allergic to Penicillin, as they are related? User:219.89.32.163 08:06, 21 November 2006

 * Allergic reaction to Amoxicillin is no different in its symptoms or mechanism from any other drug allergy, so does not need to be repeated in each drug article. See allergy and Anaphylaxis.
 * Generally allergies are shared amongst related chemical structures, so yes allergy to Amoxicillin should be taken to imply allergy to all penicillins. Of course this supposes that someone reporting an allergy really has had an allergic reaction to the drug - the rash could have been from the disease itself (i.e. is a rash that develops with a sore throat promptly treated with a penicillin from the drug, or was the rash about to appear anyway as part of the disease i.e. scarlet fever). Also the reaction might have been to one of the other constituent of the medication (e.g. the colouring rather than the active Amoxicillin itself). The problem with such supposition is that it may lead one to suppose that a further "trial" exposure would help settle the scientific reproducibility test for "proof" - however whilst one exposure to the penicillin may have merely resulted in an allergic rash, subsequent exposure might rarely result in life threatening anaphylactic shock - so re-exposure testing is not worth it.
 * Many people report allergic reactions when what they mean is that they experienced an intolerance or a side effect, these are not the same as an immune-mediated reaction. Hence tummy upset, diarrhoea or nausea with a drug is not an allergic reaction (but reasonable reasons to try to choose an alternative drug in the future).
 * I have always been told that in the UK, only about 10% of people who report having an apparent allergic reaction in childhood to a penicillin are likely to really have had one. This may have to do with previous fairly indiscriminate use of antibiotics for what would now be felt to be viral illness (many of which cause a mild rash to appear) that do not warrant any treatment and the rash was not caused by the antibiotic given, or some fairly sloppy labelling (by doctors as well as patients) of any side effect/intolerance as an allergy.
 * If the evidence to support a possible penicillin allergy in childhood is not good (especially of course if no old past notes available) then cephalosporin group are reasonable choice. There is only a 10% cross-over sensitivity between those who have a penicillin allergy to this group, and given that only perhaps 10% of people who have a claim of penicillin allergy (without firm evidence or personal recall of events) really have such an allergy, likelihood or reaction to cephalosporin around 1% in such cases. Cephalosporins have nearly the same bacterial coverage as penicillins (especially for streptococcus, but less so for staphylococcus), otherwise use of macrolide antibiotics, but these have generally higher incidence of gastrointestinal side effects. David Ruben Talk 14:53, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
 * A further complication to add to David's excellent response is that there is a distinction between an immune-system response and a "true allergic" reaction, which is IgE-mediated. I think I'm going to add to this article specifically about "ampicillin rash" (late-developing, non-allergic), because it appears to be quite common and I have a couple good references to cite.  See, e.g.: --Skoch3 (talk) 04:53, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Anaphylaxis

 * I nearly died recently from anaphylactic shock triggered by Amoxil. In my case the reaction was full-blown -- protruding tongue rendering it impossible to speak); extensive rash on arms and body; maddeningly itchy hands and feet; swollen lips, feet and hands;  dangerously low blood pressure; and shallow breathing -- in only 20 minutes after exposure.
 * For obvious reasons, I think it a bad policy to relegate allergies to medications to a general article. This is such a dangerous and potentially fatal reaction that it should be given more prominence and urgency.  Hedley 09:15, 11 October 2011 (UTC)  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hfinger (talk • contribs)

Bad taste/smell
"Amoxicillin is often known for its unappealing taste and odor." Can anyone back this up? I have not noticed it. if its old yes i had some sitting around and now it smells of sulfer —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 213.17.66.42 (talk) 22:05, 17 December 2006 (UTC).
 * Depends if you're taking coated tablets or not :P... in my experience? They don't smell strongly at all. Kareeser|Talk! 19:22, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Chemically, it looks as cresol —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 194.214.119.52 (talk) 17:57, 8 February 2007 (UTC).
 * Yes, me and my girlfriend have just taken it for 5 days and we both disgusted every single dose. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.238.133.137 (talk) 18:03, 26 April 2007 (UTC).
 * I think it smells exactly like Ethanethiol, personally. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.3.254.86 (talk) 13:05, 4 May 2007 (UTC).

I find powdered Amoxicillin to taste quite nice compared to other drugs, there's a slightly sweet taste to it, however it still can have a distaste to it. 90.205.124.252 (talk) 15:56, 15 November 2008 (UTC)

I was put on this medicine for an upper respiratory infection, which is getting better; i have not noticed any real side effect except one,every time I smell, no mater what it smells like dog poo. The day after i got the medicine and i went to my class and i thought this girl that i never seen in my class sat in front of me and i thought she smelled horrible, i kept my mouth shut, but after that I went to my physical class and anytime i stayed still and breath through my nose I had the horrible smell but i did not have any dog poo on my shoes, after that i got home took of shows and socks and lied on my bed to play doom II on my laptop and this horrible smell came over again, i cleaned my room,washed my sheets, and took a shower, but nothing; that's when i figured it was this medicine

LFT & RFT,VLOOD UREA, SERUM CREATININE ,SGOT, GBP,TLC DLC —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.168.51.21 (talk) 16:14, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

I have been on it for the past 3 days and still have 7 more days left, I have a bad taste like a soapy mouth or metallic. It is a bad taste but I was told to get yogurt or certain pills that change the side effect. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.23.198.101 (talk) 06:55, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

I am familiar with the bad taste or odour of macropen 500(a grey semi-transparent capsule). But the odor that is being refered to is that once swallowed. After burping or exhaling through your nose, a chemical smell or taste occur's. This is especially prominent if the medication is taken on an empty stomach. A good reason to eat before taking this medication. Swallow a good helping of plain yoghurt afterwards, good for the odour and restores natural bacteria. On the contrary, and this is my personal experience, this seem's to be one of the few safer medications to use for certain folliculitis breakouts. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.240.211.234 (talk) 13:47, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

I have had many courses of Amoxicillin and my skin always ends up stinking of pennicillin. I've just been put on triple the normal dose for 5 days. I have no idea how bad I will stink. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:C7D:51D3:A00:6111:23CA:A04E:55A6 (talk) 21:21, 16 January 2019 (UTC)

I can't say is specifically has a bad flavor, (most likely due to coatings) however it smells a lot like Mercaptan (natural gas additive to add odor to help detect gas leaks). Currently 6 days into a 7 day cycle. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.172.97.60 (talk) 21:58, 6 November 2020 (UTC)

History
It'd be great to have a little bit about the history of amoxicillin. Who invented it? Presumably, someone working in the labs of one of the big pharma companies, going round sticking random substituents on penicillin to see what worked, but who, and at what company? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.96.235.0 (talk) 22:39, 29 August 2009 (UTC)
 * +1! Even knowing what year it was discovered would be great! —Sburke (talk) 00:53, 27 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Like ampicillin before it, amoxicillin was invented at Beecham (probably sometime in the 1960s) and introduced in 1972. I'll see what I can do about finding a source and adding it to the article. Fvasconcellos (t·c) 01:32, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

Info Box
I'm taking amoxicillin as a prevention for infecition. When I read the offical package instructions about the drug it said it has 2 hours half-life, but in your "box" it says 1 hour. Please someone verify either. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.85.132.67 (talk) 17:46, 19 June 2010 (UTC)

Rash photograph.
"Diagnosed by a pediatric resident at local university hospital" sounds to the uninitiated as if the diagnosis was made by a child! Could someone kindly correct it? JRPG (talk) 12:53, 24 March 2011 (UTC) pooooooooooooooop — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.235.202.177 (talk) 04:14, 10 November 2013 (UTC)

Uses Dental Prophylaxis
I am aware that antibiotic prophylaxis is no longer recommended in the UK due to the risk of hypersensitivity. Is this also the case in other areas of the world? If so, it might be worth editing the Medical uses section to reflect common practice.GadBeebe (talk) 15:51, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Prophylactic use is still suggested for patients with certain conditions in the US, typically in those with a history of endocarditis. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:1C0:4300:BB60:29A2:2CF4:682F:FCF6 (talk) 02:33, 30 May 2020 (UTC)

Syphillis
Is oral Amoxicillin effective against Syphillis? If so, at what dose and for how long? --125.4.190.48 (talk) 08:17, 13 March 2014 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 07:38, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

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Amoxicillin is not penicillin
How do I explain that amoxicillin is not penicillin? 130.105.213.205 (talk) 09:05, 25 November 2016 (UTC)
 * It is a type of penicillin (it is in the penicillin family). Doc James  (talk · contribs · email) 22:52, 25 November 2016 (UTC)

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Amoxicillin is not first line treatment for Acute Otitis Media
I am deleting the "first line treatment" sentence in the lede as it is false. "Antibiotics appear to be most useful in children under two years of age with bilateral AOM, or with both AOM and otorrhoea. For most other children with mild disease, an expectant observational approach seems justified." https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000219.pub3/full

Medical Indications
I reorganized some information into new subsections, corrected some serious errors and added some citations to high-quality articles. This article still has many errors and omissions. Sbelknap (talk) 20:12, 20 November 2018 (UTC)

Hydrogens
In the second picture of the molecule in the box on the top right, two hydrogen atoms seem to have been omitted. They appear correctly in the interactive picture. 2A00:23C7:99A5:9E01:F436:DA91:49A:2DE6 (talk) 13:09, 20 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Also, a nitrogen atom seems to have three hydrogens, when it should have two. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A00:23C7:99A5:9E01:F436:DA91:49A:2DE6 (talk) 13:12, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

Source retraction
Can someone with some topic area knowledge assess whether the claim "the small benefit gained by amoxicillin may be overridden by the adverse effects" at §Respiratory infections needs to be modified due to the retraction of the source cited? Folly Mox (talk) 09:18, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

 * https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000243.pub4/full is the most inappropriate reason I've ever seen for withdrawing a paper. If I were one of the authors, I'd be livid.  They'll spend the rest of their careers explaining why that 'withdrawn' paper doesn't mean they ever did anything wrong.  Samwalton9, I don't know if the bot can tell the difference, but the paper was 'withdrawn' for purely editorial reasons (the editors wanted one paper instead of two) rather than 'retracted'.
 * As for the immediate needs of the article, I don't think it needs to be changed on the basis of that decision, but the source is kind of old, and it might be worth seeing if recent reviews say the same thing. WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:11, 13 November 2023 (UTC)
 * The source has not been retracted. It has been withdrawn, and there will be no new versions of the review. Previous review is still available, but might be outdated: . As I understand the conclusions were the same. Also, more recent review is available (in which withdrawn review has been merged): . It draws conclusions regardless of the diagnosis method (e. g. imaging vs clinical symptoms) and is preferred for citing purposes. D6194c-1cc (talk) 20:32, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

As of June 2017, AAN recommends Amoxicillin spelling
Per and more specifically, they no longer recommend the spelling with the y. I don't know exactly how to edit this information into the page. It's clear that "Amoxycillin (AAN AU)" oughta be deleted from the info-box Other Names. It is less clear, to me, however, how to edit Amoxicillin.

Since I don't know what sort of edit to make, I figured I'd just give the heads-up of AAN's relatively new guideline on the talk-page GrapesRock (talk) 02:06, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

Need clarification
"Amoxicillin was discovered in 1958 and came into medical use in 1972." Can anybody help clarify which country had approved amoxicillin for medical use in 1972? Thanks for your kind attention. ThomasYehYeh (talk) 12:58, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Amoxicillin


text:
Amorphous solid

In condensed matter physics and materials science, an amorphous solid (or non-crystalline solid) is a solid that lacks the long-range order that is characteristic of a crystal. The terms "glass" and "glassy solid" are sometimes used synonymously with amorphous solid; however, these terms refer specifically to amorphous materials that undergo a glass transition. Examples of amorphous solids include glasses, metallic glasses, and certain types of plastics and polymers.

Etymology
The term comes from the Greek a ("without"), and morphé ("shape, form").

Structure
Amorphous materials have an internal structure of molecular-scale structural blocks that can be similar to the basic structural units in the crystalline phase of the same compound. Unlike in crystalline materials, however, no long-range regularity exists: amorphous materials cannot be described by the repetition of a finite unit cell. Statistical mesures, such as the atomic density function and radial distribution function, are more useful in describing the structure of amorphous solids. Although amorphous materials lack long range order, they exhibit localized order on small length scales. By convention, short range order extends only to the nearest neighbor shell, typically only 1-2 atomic spacings. Medium range order may extend beyond the short range order by 1-2 nm.

Glass transition at high temperatures
The freezing from liquid state to amorphous solid - glass transition - is considered one of the very important and unsolved problems of physics.

Universal low-temperature properties of amorphous solids
At very low temperatures (below 1-10 K), large family of amorphous solids have various similar low-temperature properties. Although there are various theoretical models, neither glass transition nor low-temperature properties of glassy solids are well understood on the fundamental physics level.

Amorphous solids is an important area of condensed matter physics aiming to understand these substances at high temperatures of glass transition and at low temperatures towards absolute zero. From 1970s, low-temperature properties of amorphous solids were studied experimentally in great detail. For all of these substances, specific heat has a (nearly) linear dependence as a function of temperature, and thermal conductivity has nearly quadratic temperature dependence. These properties are conventionally called anomalous being very different from properties of crystalline solids.

On the phenomenological level, many of these properties were described by a collection of tunneling two-level systems. Nevertheless, the microscopic theory of these properties is still missing after more than 50 years of the research.

Remarkably, a dimensionless quantity of internal friction is nearly universal in these materials. This quantity is a dimensionless ratio (up to a numerical constant) of the phonon wavelength to the phonon mean free path. Since the theory of tunneling two-level states (TLSs) does not address the origin of the density of TLSs, this theory cannot explain the universality of internal friction, which in turn is proportional to the density of scattering TLSs. The theoretical significance of this important and unsolved problem was highlighted by Anthony Leggett.

Nano-structured materials
Amorphous materials will have some degree of short-range order at the atomic-length scale due to the nature of intermolecular chemical bonding. Furthermore, in very small crystals, short-range order encompasses a large fraction of the atoms; nevertheless, relaxation at the surface, along with interfacial effects, distorts the atomic positions and decreases structural order. Even the most advanced structural characterization techniques, such as X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, can have difficulty distinguishing amorphous and crystalline structures at short size scales.

Characterization of amorphous solids
Due to the lack of long-range order, standard crystallographic techniques are often inadequate in determining the structure of amorphous solids. A variety of electron, X-ray, and computation-based techniques have been used to characterize amorphous materials. Multi-modal analysis is very common for amorphous materials.

X-ray and neutron diffraction
Unlike crystalline materials which exhibit strong Bragg diffraction, the diffraction patterns of amorphous materials are characterized by broad and diffuse peaks. As a result, detailed analysis and complementary techniques are required to extract real space structural information from the diffraction patterns of amorphous materials. It is useful to obtain diffraction data from both X-ray and neutron sources as they have different scattering properties and provide complementary data. Pair distribution function analysis can be performed on diffraction data to determine the probability of finding a pair of atoms separated by a certain distance. Another type of analysis that is done with diffraction data of amorphous materials is radial distribution function analysis, which measures the number of atoms found at varying radial distances away from an arbitrary reference atom. From these techniques, the local order of an amorphous material can be elucidated.

X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy
X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy is an atomic scale probe making it useful for studying materials lacking in long range order. Spectra obtained using this method provide information on the oxidation state, coordination number, and species surrounding the atom in question as well as the distances at which they are found.

Atomic electron tomography
The atomic electron tomography technique is performed in transmission electron microscopes capable of reaching sub-Angstrom resolution. A collection of 2D images taken at numerous different tilt angles is acquired from the sample in question, and then used to reconstruct a 3D image. After image acquisition, a significant amount of processing must be done to correct for issues such as drift, noise, and scan distortion. High quality analysis and processing using atomic electron tomography results in a 3D reconstruction of an amorphous material detailing the atomic positions of the different species that are present.

Fluctuation electron microscopy
Fluctuation electron microscopy is another transmission electron microscopy based technique that is sensitive to the medium range order of amorphous materials. Structural fluctuations arising from different forms of medium range order can be detected with this method. Fluctuation electron microscopy experiments can be done in conventional or scanning transmission electron microscope mode.

Computational techniques
Simulation and modeling techniques are often combined with experimental methods to characterize structures of amorphous materials. Commonly used computational techniques include density functional theory, molecular dynamics, and reverse Monte Carlo.

Amorphous thin films
Amorphous phases are important constituents of thin films. Thin films are solid layers of a few nanometres to tens of micrometres thickness that are deposited onto a substrate. So-called structure zone models were developed to describe the microstructure of thin films as a function of the homologous temperature (Th), which is the ratio of deposition temperature to melting temperature. According to these models, a necessary condition for the occurrence of amorphous phases is that (Th) has to be smaller than 0.3. The deposition temperature must be below 30% of the melting temperature.

Superconductivity
Regarding their applications, amorphous metallic layers played an important role in the discovery of superconductivity in amorphous metals made by Buckel and Hilsch. The superconductivity of amorphous metals, including amorphous metallic thin films, is now understood to be due to phonon-mediated Cooper pairing. The role of structural disorder can be rationalized based on the strong-coupling Eliashberg theory of superconductivity.

Thermal protection
Amorphous solids typically exhibit higher localization of heat carriers compared to crystalline, giving rise to low thermal conductivity. Products for thermal protection, such as thermal barrier coatings and insulation, rely on materials with ultralow thermal conductivity.

Technological uses
Today, optical coatings made from TiO2, SiO2, Ta2O5 etc. (and combinations of these) in most cases consist of amorphous phases of these compounds. Much research is carried out into thin amorphous films as a gas separating membrane layer. The technologically most important thin amorphous film is probably represented by a few nm thin SiO2 layers serving as isolator above the conducting channel of a metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). Also, hydrogenated amorphous silicon (Si:H) is of technical significance for thin-film solar cells.

Pharmaceutical use
In the pharmaceutical industry, some amorphous drugs have been shown to offer higher bioavailability than their crystalline counterparts as a result of the higher solubility of the amorphous phase. However, certain compounds can undergo precipitation in their amorphous form in vivo, and can then decrease mutual bioavailability if administered together.

In soils
Amorphous materials in soil strongly influence bulk density, aggregate stability, plasticity, and water holding capacity of soils. The low bulk density and high void ratios are mostly due to glass shards and other porous minerals not becoming compacted. Andisol soils contain the highest amounts of amorphous materials.

Phase
The occurrence of amorphous phases turned out to be a phenomenon of particular interest for the studying of thin-film growth. The growth of polycrystalline films is often used and preceded by an initial amorphous layer, the thickness of which may amount to only a few nm. The most investigated example is represented by the unoriented molecules of thin polycrystalline silicon films. Wedge-shaped polycrystals were identified by transmission electron microscopy to grow out of the amorphous phase only after the latter has exceeded a certain thickness, the precise value of which depends on deposition temperature, background pressure, and various other process parameters. The phenomenon has been interpreted in the framework of Ostwald's rule of stages that predicts the formation of phases to proceed with increasing condensation time towards increasing stability.

title: Amorphous solid