Cambridge, Emmanuel College, MS 69
Medical recipes
Contents
- ‘Sir leonell þe kinges sone of Ingelonde weddyd þe dowghter of þe Duke of Melleyne in lumbardye. þere were Englysschmen þat were vexed gretly with þe crampe þorough to moche replecion and drynkynge of stronge wyn and for hete of þe Cuntrie and amonge hem þer was a kynght þat was Sire Reynold sone Grey of Schirlonde by Chesterfelde þe weche was at Melleyne with þe seyd Sir leonell and hadde with hym þis charme folowynge’ (f. 12r)
- ‘Also in þe cite of lincolne þer was a man þe weche many yeres was vexed of þe Crampe in his legges’ (12v)
- ‘Also at þe Town of Huntyngdoun þer was a man þat hadde þe Crampe’ (13r)
- ‘And note þat I þe seyd Mayster John Ardern Cirurgyan som tyme dwellynge in Newerk by lyncolle and afterward at london saw and here þese forseyde wondrys of þis Charme’ (13v)
- ‘The noble duke Harry of Lancaster hadde a knyght with hym at Dgezire in Spayn’ (f. 15v)
- ‘At Brygeford vppon trent in þe Schyre of Notyngham’ (f. 22r)
- ‘þis medecyne Ilouyd moche and þer with I curyd a ffysschmonger at london þe weche was hurt with a scharp poynt of yren standygne vppon lez gemeaws at þe ffrere Carmys’ (f. 31r)
- ‘Anoþer man þer was at Notyngham smetyn in þe arm with a knyff’ (f. 31v)
- ‘Practica magistri Johannis Arderne de Newerk sirurgici: I þe forseyd John . from þe furste pestilence þe weche was . in þe yere of oure lord. ml. CCC. xlix vn to þe yerris of oure lord ml lxx I dwellyd at Nywerk in þe Schyre of Notyngham and þere I curyd þus manye of þe ffystule in þe ffundement. Off þe weche þe ffurste was Sir Adam Eueryngham of Laxton in þe Clay fast by Twekysforde þe weche syr Adam was in Gasgoyne with Sir Harry namyd þo Erl of Derby and after he was made worþy Duke of Lancaster [...] After þis curyd iiij. ffreres of þe order of prechours þat is to sey ffrere John wrtyell, John Hakett, ffrere Petir Brone, ffrere Thomas Apperlay and a yong man callyd Thomas Woke’ (ff. 74v-75v)
- ‘Neuerþeles I curyd a preest at Lincoln in þe house of Mayster Gefrey Scroop’ (f. 87v)
- ‘Att Northamton I sawgh a man’ (f. 100v)
- ‘Also I sawgh a man of Northamptoun schyre’ (f. 106r)
- ‘Ther was a man þat cam from Burdewes in to Acquitaine and so to Nywerk’ (f. 107v)
- ‘with þis medicine was curyd Kynge Harry of Ingelond of goynge out of þe tywell’ (ff. 148v-149r)
- ‘To a prest of Colston faste by Byngham þere felle a sore in þe ryghte pappe withinne þe skyn’ (ff. 168r-168v)
- ‘Sir Thomas Newmache hadde a sone þat hadde a wenne ryght vppon þe opon of þe heed before as it is in þe oþer syde of þe leeff portreyed’ (ff. 188r-188v)
Language(s): Middle English, Latin, French (Anglo-Norman), with a few words in Flemish (Middle Dutch)
A circular diagram dividing the winds in four groups.
This collection includes a treatise on phlebotomy from the Liber receptorum medicinalium (ff. 2r-3r) together with the Practica of the Fistula in Ano of John Arderne (beginning on f. 74v); for a more detailed discussion see Lucas (2016), pp. 136-137.
Towards the end, the glossary also gives names of herbs that are used in Flanders (‘alsen’ for Absintium and ‘pople’ for Common Mallow) and Ireland (‘Dylle’ for ‘Papewort’).
Table for establishing the sun's position in the signs of the Zodiac with, in the column on the left, the 'Ages of the Moon' (‘Etas lune’), and, in the row at the top the months of the year (April-February) and in the table itself, the names of the signs of the zodiac. The table accompanies and is referred to in the preceding item.
They address the following:
- f. 201r: for a black ointment for cleansing wounds, curing aches, nourishing and healing, repairing lost flesh and knitting it together; for a green ointment for canker and fistula, cleansing old wounds, healing them and removing excess flesh and engendering more to grow (continuing on f. 201v)
- f. 201v: for a white ointment for reducing heat, for apostemes, cankers and fistulas, knitting together wounded flesh, healing burns or scalding (continuing on f. 202r)
- f. 202r: for an ointment for dry scabs and itching; for strangury in a horse ('þe strangulones') (continuing on f. 202v)
- f. 202v: a recipe and a charm for stranguary in a horse; for farcy in a horse; three for scab in a horse
- f. 203r: for scab in a horse; for cataract ('webbe of þe eye') in a horse or man; for canker in a horse's legs or other place; for a horse that is 'galled' (?sore from chafing/rubbing); three for dry and perilous cough
- f. 203v: for blood in the urine, for ?nosebleeds, two for the tongue, for swollen or aching legs, for sores on a horse's neck, knee or other parts ('For malaundris')
- f. 204r: another for sores on a horse's neck, knee or other parts; three for scabs; two for ?fissures ('For craches'); for pain
- f. 204v: for intestinal worms ('For trenchelons'); for the 'Corbe' (a sore or swelling on the cheekbones); for glanders in a horse; for blood in the urine; for sore feet
They address the following:
- f. 207r: for making turpentine for making ointments/plasters ('entretes'); for making turpentine for fleas; for broken bones
- f. 207v: for whooping cough ('For þe kowghe þat is called kynkehost'); three for migraine
- f. 208r: four for migraine
The text begins imperfectly due to cropping of the page, which has probably removed the first item in the glossary (the word ‘Mogge wede’ is still legible). The text is probably only the first portion of a work that covered the entire alphabet. On f. 208r is a heading that may refer to the glossary as a whole: ‘Here begynneþ nomina siminium [sic: ? similium] of herbes and of water[s] made of þam . and þe licores. by letter .A.’.
Physical Description
20th-century foliation:
[i]-[ii], 1-210, [210a]
Numbering in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos. Folio 28 mistakenly numbered '27', however the sequence continues as if it were '28'. In order to produce a functional electronic catalogue record for this item for the Curious Cures project, the the two unfoliated early modern flyleaves at the beginning of this manuscripts were assigned the designations [i]-[ii] and the partial leaf with writing on its reverse was assigned the designation [210a] in September 2023 (three subsequent blank stubs - supported with conservation paper - have not been assigned folio numbers); these designations are enclosed in square brackets in this catalogue record.Collation
- Quire 116-2 (ff. 1-14: 15th and 16th leaves cancelled)
- Quires 2-1612 (ff. 15-194)
- Quire 176 (ff. 195-200)
- Quire 184 (ff. 201-204)
- Quire 192 (ff. 205-206)
- Quire 208-4 (ff. 207-210: 5th-8th leaves excised/missing)
116-2 (15th and 16th leaves cancelled) 2-1612 176 184 192 208-4 (5th-8th leaves excised/missing)
Leaf signatures consisting of combinations of letters ('a'-'q') and Roman numerals (quire 1: 'i'-'v' with 'vi' and 'vii' cropped off; and quires 2-17: 'i'-'vi') written in the right-hand lower margins of the rectos of the first halves of quires 1-17.
Catchwords written inside decorative banderols of red ink in the right-hand lower margin of the last versos of quires.Layout
155-160 × 90 mm. Ruled in ink, frame only. Mainly single columns (except ff. 5v which has two columns). 25-31 lines to the page, written below top line.
Hand(s)
ff. 1v-198v were copied by a single scribe working in a cursive script with strong anglicana features.
ff. 210r-206v were copied by a single working in a cursive script with both anglicana and secretary (singe compartment 'a') features.
ff. 207r-208v were copied by a single scribe working in a cursive script with strong anglicana features.
ff. 208v-210v were copied by a single scribe working in a cursive script with both anglicana and secretary features.
Decoration
A full-page drawing of a diagram of the winds on f. 1v, consisting of a green circle with inside it two yellow spokes aligned with the cardinal directions of which the names are written inside frames of black and red ink at their relevant positions. Poems on the names of the winds are written inside the resulting four sections inside the circle.
A full-page drawing of medical instruments in black, yellow and red ink on f. 83r.
A full-page drawing of the application of medical instruments in black and yellow ink on patients suffering from anal fistula, drawn in colours as viewed from below on f. 83v.
About 140 coloured drawings of medical patients, body parts, instruments, treatments, plants, animals in the outer margins throughout ff. 2r-191v.
Fourteen coloured drawings of medical patients inside yellow frames inserted in the text on ff. 168r-189r.
Line-fillers in red ink, typically short horizontal and diagonal lines, but also featuring a human (f. 23r), a dragon (ff. 118r), and a dog (f. 188r).
Large (2-line) plain initials in red ink throughout the manuscript.
Regular capitals highlighted in red ink.
Paraphs in red ink throughout the manuscript.
Underlining in red ink.
Crosses in charms drawn in red ink.
Running numbers in the upper margins highlighted in yellow.
Additions
A title inscription in a 17th-century hand on f. [ii] verso: ‘John of Ardern’.
Quire signatures ('1-20', beginning with '3') in the bottom right-hand corner of the recto side of the first leaf of each quire, written in pencil by a hand of the 19th/20th century.
Binding
Brown leather over wooden boards; 16th-century paneled binding with a central frame formed of two rows of double fillets with blind-stamped heads in medallions alternating with foliate motifs [similar but not identical to those listed in Oldham (1952), pp. 51-54, plates XLVII-L ('HM')]; remains of two clasps on the outer edges of the upper and lower covers, with two brass nails remaining on the front board, each of which would have fastened a leather strap to the front board (remains of which are now only visible); on the rear cover, at locations that correspond with the strap fastenings on the front cover, are two brass catches, each attached with two brass nails. Four raised bands on the spine with with blind-tooled horizontal fillets above and below them.
Binding height: 220mm; width: 145mm; depth: 50mm.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Humfrey Mosely (fl. 1649) of Suffolk, Fellow-Commoner of Emmanuel College (1645) (see Voigts and McVaugh (1984)): his name in a title inscription (crossed out) at the top of f. : 'Physicke by Mr Moseley' .
Probably donated to Emmanuel College by Humfrey Mosely (fl. 1649) on his departure in 1649, as suggested by an inscription on f. [i] recto: ‘Collegio Emanuelis sacrum posuit Humfredus Moseley armiger et Sociorum Commensalis 1649’. Certainly at Emmanuel by 1697, when it was recorded as no. 12 in Bernard's Catalogi Manuscriptorum Angliae et Hiberniae (1697).
Additional Information
Record Sources
Availability
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Custodial History
Bibliography
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The Western manuscripts in the library of Emmanuel College: a descriptive catalogue, James, M.R. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1904)
Treatises of fistula in ano, haemorrhoids, and clysters Early English Text Society,
Original series, Arderne, John (London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, 1910)
The Lesser Writings of John Arderne XVIIth International Congress of Medicine, London,
1913, Power, D'Arcy (General Volume, Section 23, 107-33, 1914)
English blind-stamped bindings Sandars lectures, Oldham, James Basil (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1952)
Medical illustrations in medieval manuscripts Publications of the Wellcome Historical
Medical Library. New series, MacKinney, Loren (London, Wellcome Historical Medical Library, 1965)
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A Latin Phlebotomy and Its Middle English Translation, Voigts, Linda E.McVaugh, Michael R. (Philadelphia, American Philosophical Society,
1984)
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Staying with the programme: illustrated mansucripts of John of Arderne, c.1380-c.1550
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from Salerno to the Black Death, Jones, Peter Murray (Cambridge, 289-321, Cambridge University Press, 1994)
Entrances and exits in English medical vocabulary, 1400–1550 Medical and Scientific
Writing in Late Medieval
English, Norri, Juhani (Cambridge, 100-143, Cambridge University Press, 2004)
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and Reviews, Jones, Peter Murray (18, 1, 4-8, 2005, https://doi.org/10.3200/ANQQ.18.1.4-8)
Diffusion du savoir médical au Moyen Age: l'exemple du chirurgien John Arderne; edition
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manuscrit Cambridge, Emmanuel College 69, avec introduction, notes et glossaires, Deshouillères Ledez, Stéphanie (Poitiers, 2007)
Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary in English, 1375–1550: Body Parts, Sicknesses, Instruments,
and
Medical Preparations, Norri, Juhani (Abingdon, Routledge, 2016)
Manuscripts in Christ's, Emmanuel, Jesus, Selwyn and Sidney Colleges, Trinity Hall,
Cambridge Index of Middle English prose, Lucas, Angela M. (Cambridge, Handlist XXII, D.S. Brewer, 2016)
Translation from Latin and French as a Source of New Medical Terms in Late Medieval
England Romance Philology Romania Mediterranea IV: Medieval Medical Treatises: Transmission
of Language and
Practice, Norri, Juhani (71, 2, 563-622, 2017)
The Visual Culture of English Medicine, 1348-1500, Boxer, Carly B. (Ilinois, 2021, https://www.proquest.com/openview/debcf44fd887b1636408eb4c3c09136c/1?cbl=18750&diss=y&parentSessionId=HCJnTQblcs3%2FFN1JKiJF%2FHw6BXwOAogmFPFeEh7xHQ8%3D&pq-origsite=gscholar&parentSessionId=uef%2FIoCHUmbz%2BLvDjYI1XjiW6RsUhY95Xx0I8yro16A%3D)
John Arderne’s Afterlife in Manuscript and Print Genre in English Medical Writing,
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Funding of Cataloguing
Wellcome
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