DOCTORS AND DISEASE IN TUDOR TIMES

Abstract

Copeman's book is based upon the FitzPatrick Lectures which he delivered at the Royal College of Physicians of London in 1958 and I959.In these he traces the evolution and status of Medicine as a profession in Tudor Times, and sketches the influence of the Royal College of Physicians, established by Thomas Linacre in I5I8, the Barber Surgeons Company which received its charter in 1540, and the Society of Apothecaries which, though it had its earlier beginnings, was granted its charter of incorporation in i6I 7.He deals most informatively with the position in Tudor Times of medical education; of the 'scientific basis' of medicine, especially the status of the humoral theory; of herbals; of astrology, alchemy and other forms of occultism and magic; of the art of diagnosis, especially of the then prevalent infections; of the wide scope of treatment not by drugs alone, but also by diet, blood letting, enemas, blisters, surgery, etc.; and of the methods of preventive medicine.There is evidence of very wide reading, and an admirable bibliography: indeed, like Dr. Johnson's man, he has 'turned over half a library to make one book'.But I was surprised to find omitted from his list Herbert Butterfield's The Origins of Modern Science (G.Bell & Sons, Ltd.), for there is no modern text which gives so striking and concise an account of the events leading to the downfall ofAristotelianism, and of the study of the heart before Harvey: and surely references to Charles Singer's texts should have been given.Dr. Copeman's erudition shines through the text, and his felicitous style will delight the reader.He introduces revealing and often endearing anecdotes about many of the great figures of the time, and it was not without interest to learn that celibacy was the rule amongst the outstanding physicians of the time, including Boorde, Linacre, Caius and Gilbert.Perhaps it was this which led Francis Bacon to write that, 'He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune'.Yet, despite the tale which Dr. Copeman unfolds with its flashes of urbane irony and wit, no reader will dispute with the author that, 'The measure of medical change which occurred during the century of Tudor rule was unimportant in terms of prac- tical achievement.'Indeed, throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, despite the great work of Vesalius, medicine was fettered by the humoral theory and Hippo- cratic dogma as transmitted by Galen.Since this book well merits a second edition, attention should be paid to several misprints, errors and incongruities.For example, Paul of Aegina is Paulus Aegineta on pp.42 and 7 I but Paulus Aeginetus on p. 68; the 'eleventh century Jew Isaac' on p. 64 has his dates given as 'A.D. 845-940' on p. 69.The proscription of priests from the private practise of medicine is attributed to Pope Innocent III on p. 44, and Pope Clement V on p. 49.On p. 87 there is attributed to Galen the statement that 'everything in the world is formed from the four basic elements-fire, air, earth and water'.Yet every historian knows that it was Empedocles of Agrigentum (504-443 B.C.) who initiated this hypothesis.There are also some irritating repetitions which might be deleted.Both on pp.75 and 85, Calcar is referred to as 'Titian's favourite pupil' and Paracelsus, who is rightly referred to on several occasions, is on p. 95 called

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