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John of Gaddesden and the Rosa Medicinae HP Cholmeley, MA, DM

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John of Gaddesden and the Rosa Medicinae HP Cholmeley, MA, DM ENRY FROW E M A H D , . PU BL IS H E R TO T H E U NI VE R S I TY OF OX FORD N N E DI NBU RGH NEW YOR K LO DO , , TORONTO MELBOU RNE P R E F A C E T H I S study is an attempt to give some account of o ne so th e t who was , far as is known , firs English man who was Court physician to an English monarch , ' R osa A a lzea and of his chief work , the g , as it is t generally called , hough the name which he himself ' ' R sa dz zaae gave it was the o M e e . 1 The materials fo r an essay dealing with medical m o r th e atters in England , indeed in Europe during t t four eenth century , are but scan y as compared with th e t t accoun s of medicine , medical s udies , and medical men which we possess belonging to the twelfth and t t tz p hir eenth centuries , and the admirable F i atrick Dr Lectures of . J . F . Payne and Dr . Norman Moore have already made English readers acquainted with t t the English medical men of ha period . I n th e section dealing with the general estimation in which medical men were held during mediaeval times I have had to consult works written s o far th e t but back as twelfth cen ury, with the exception o f h is Guy de Chauliac , who was ahead of times th e art bu t in surgery , medical progressed little “ I I 0 t o f between 5 and the da e Vesalius . , - I ndeed if e th e o f we can believe Moli re , physicians his time were of much the same kidney as those so amusingly z I satiri ed by J ohn of Salisbury in about the year I 80 . I was t e e th e - a ne n t n t at th e s ill poss ss d by old f shio d o io , h “ ” ’ w e a m ant an attem t an n — T ord ss y e p d othing mo re . AU GU S US ’ ' Esso p e ace iwates é a R eclu e J , pr f to S y s . A 2 4 P RE FA CE Li ttle is known of J ohn o f Gaddesden apart from . a his book H e was member of Merton College , he o r was in holy orders , but whether a priest not is ’ uncertain . H e was a prebendary of St . Paul s and t a Master of Ar s , as well as a Bachelor in Theology F o r his O and a Doctor in Medicine . course at xford I have had to depend upon th e statutes quoted in ’ ' ’ A nste y s M a zzimema A eaaemiea and upon H astings ’ niversities o Me Middle A es F o r Rashdall s U f g . the ‘ ’ kind o f learning which a well- educated Clerk possessed in the fourteenth century I have taken Chaucer ’ s life and learning as exemplified in his n writi gs . That the R osa was held in high estimation by ’ some at least of J ohn s contemporaries and im~ mediate successors is shown by the fact that Chaucer mentions it as forming part of the library of his a typical physici n , and by the way in which it is praised by the editor of the first printed edition . o w n I n his preface Gaddesden remarks , quoting from : tam e n Galen Quia nullus liber est sine vituperio , e rit R tam e n ideo nec iste l iber sine vituperio . ogo u t istu m lib ru m videntes non dente canino mo rde ant quia quicquid hic dice tu r e rit vel au th e nticu m ’ x i n ia ro u vel longa e pe r e t app bat m . I would ask the o f same indulgence , because hardly any the book is original , save the translations , but original works I have been consulted , and have been careful , in ’ Dr. R accordance with outh s dictum , to verify my references as far as possible . P R EFA CE 5 Mr . A . L . Smith gave me some valuable references dealing with information about Grossetete and his n O medical learni g , acquired apparently at xford . f Mr . Falconer Madan has been unsparing o himself in answering the many questions with which I fear that I have troubled him ; and for advice as to occasional difficulties in translation I have to D R . l r . Ch o lme . e thank Mr . F y, P H Mackellar, and Mr. C . C . J . Webb , who was kind enough to help me in portions of the passage from J ohn of Salisbury . To the officials in the British Museum Reading R an d oom , especially to Sir G . Warner his assis R I o w e tant in the Manuscripts oom , much ; and n I am indebted to Miss J . Lewis for having bee w f good enough to dra up the list o MSS . con n n tai ing medical pictures , and for inquiri g of various to o f R osa librarians as manuscripts the , inquiries to o t . which they, , were most cour eous in answering I wish also to express the gratitude which I o w e to o f fo r the experts the Clarendon Press , all the care and trouble which they have taken , in making many most helpful sugges tions and for aiding me to fill gaps in my deficient Latinity . As these pages were being finally revised for h e t . t . Of press , dea h of Dr J F Payne occurred the blank which his passing makes in th e ranks of those who write on the history of medicine there is no need o ne to speak . But as who had the honour of his is o f friendship , who , as he was , a member Magdalen to loa o in fer College , and who strives follow him , g 6 P RE FACE val/o o n t , in an essay a bygone period of Bri ish m I t t e edicine , mus here record tha without his ver I t ready aid , and his desire that should a tempt the task , this study would probably have never been f written . I n the identification o th e various writers t whom Gaddesden quo es , and in the account of their ’ o f v works , Dr. Payne s wide knowledge mediae al t wri ers on medicine was invaluable , and he spared n o r w o f neither time trouble , even when the shado u in death was lengthening pon him , in giving me ’ o f formation . No words mine can express Payne s character better than these o f Ennius in describing the friend of S e rvilius Geminus : Cui res au dacte r magnas parvasqu e j o cu mque Elo u e re tu r e m ala u e e t t q , cun ta simul q bona dic u E vo m e re t s i tu to u e . , qui vellet, q locaret Q uo cu m multa v o lu p ac gaudia clamqu e palamqu e ; I ngenium cui nulla malum sententia s uade t ’ ’ U t face re t fac inu s do c tu fide lis , levis aut malu , , , ’ ’ S uav is fac u ndu su o c o nte n tu homo , , , beatus , ’ ’ S citu se c u nda lo u e n s te m o re co mmo du v e rbu m , q in p , , Pau c u m a , multa tenens antiqua sepulta , vetust s Quem fecit mores v e te re squ e n o v o squ e te n e nte m Multo ru m ve te ru m leges divu mqu e h o min u mqu e ; P u d n te r lo u ive tac re v s i r e qui dicta q e e po s t . I f this study be found to be a foundation upon which inv e sti ato r be tte r some future g , equipped than myself, may build a revised and possibly corrected accou n t o f o ur t first English Cour physician , I shall feel h as that , however inadequately , it been written in D r a the spirit in which . P yne would himself have i written t . C O N T E N T S C HA PTE R I J OHN OF GADDESDEN : H I S EDUCATION C H A PTE R I I T H E ROSA ANGLICA C H A PTE R I I I T H E MEDIAEVAL PHYSICIAN C H A PT E R I V OP PORTUNITIES F OR THE STUDY OF MEDICINE IN OXFORD IN THE FOURTEENT H CENTURY AND PREVIOUSLY A PP E N D I X ’ T H E T N T OF T T A . LA I TEX HE EDI OR S ‘ ’ DEDICATION OF THE ROSA R AT N T K G OF B . EGUL IO S I N HE IN DOM SICILY A S To U NQUALIFIED P RACTICE AND REGULAR PRACTICE 1 3 1 T OF D OF V C .
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