Often we don’t realize how our lives can
be changed so much by just a few revelations.
One revelation I had as a young girl was just how much the present
depends on history. If certain people
didn’t do certain things in the past, we would not be who we are today. This is just as true in our individual lives as
it is in to the world in general. One
man who shaped the course of history in medicine is Nicholas Culpeper.
Nicholas Culpeper’s life started with
tragedy. He was born just 13 days after
his father died, and being that his father left no official heirs when he died,
all of this titles and lands were given over to other men. As such, Culpeper was raised by his mother
and her family in Isfield, Sussex. His
grandfather was one of his biggest influences in his early days. As a child, Culpeper was fascinated by the
stars and by his grandfather’s clock collection. His grandfather taught him Greek and Latin,
as well as introduced him to the works of Ptolemy. Which all helped feed his growing interest in
Astronomy. But it was his grandmother
who introduced him to the medicinal use of plants.
At the age of 16, Culpeper was sent to
Cambridge University. Since his father
and grandfather were both ministers, his family had decided to send him to
study theology and become a minister himself.
Culpeper, however, had other ideas.
He never really took his theological studies seriously, instead studying
anatomy and the medicinal uses of herbs.
He also spent quite a bit of his time in taverns and playing games. He even picked up the newest trend of
smoking. However, he never did finish
his Cambridge education.
He had secretly planned to elope with the
heiress Judith Rivers. He had known her
from childhood and they knew that their families would not consent to the
marriage. Sadly, her coach was struck by
lightning on the way to their rendezvous.
Culpeper was overcome with grief and sorrow by the news. This caused him to leave University, and the
news of both the affair and his leaving University caused his grandfather to
disinherit him. He had also burnt his
bridges at Cambridge, so any hopes of completing his education to be a minister
were dashed, as well as any hope to go back to University to study
medicine. His grandfather suggested that
he become an apothecary.
Culpeper was taken on as an apprentice to
the apothecary Francis Drake, in London.
In return, Culpeper taught Drake Latin.
During his training, he studied the same book that his grandmother had
introduced him to in his youth, Gerard’s Herbal. He even got to learn from Thomas Jefferson
who was an assistant of the Apothecary Society and was editing the recently
expanded Herbal. Culpeper became extremely proficient with the
herbs found in the Herbal, as well as
quite a few other herbs. So proficient
that he took over the apothecary business when Drake died.
Culpeper’s move to London was beneficial,
not only to his herbal and medical knowledge, but also to his astrological
knowledge. Culpeper studied with William
Lilly, an astronomer in London, who urged him to pay attention to the planetary
influences on his patients in order to regulate their prescriptions. Culpeper became increasingly influenced by
astrology and studied as much as he could.
His classical training in Greek and Latin was of a large help in this as
most of the astrological texts were written in these languages.
During his studies, he developed what was
to become his life-long mission. He
wanted to put natural medicine and medical knowledge back into the hands of the
people. All of the people, not just the
nobility and scholars. To this end he
translated a few of the great medical texts into English, wrote a few books,
and was labeled a quack and charlatan by many of the physicians of his
day. Despite all of the negative press,
Culpeper was a well-known and very successful herbalist. He has written a great number of books, and
translated even more. A Complete Herbal has even been
continually in print since he originally wrote it.
One of the ideas he is most well-known for
in the herbal community is the correlation of astronomy to the plants and to
the human body. He believed that the
plants are able to channel and use the influence and energy of the
planets. The plants could then be used
as food and medicine and give us those energies in our consumption of
them. Culpeper required his students (and
asked his readers) to study the symbolism associated with each herb’s planet
and use that to correctly administer the herb itself. An
herb associated with the sun, being warming and strengthening to the vital
force (life force), would be used to strengthen a weakness. The sign/constellation Taurus is associated
with the throat, so an herb under that sign would be used for issues concerning
the throat. He also taught many other
uses for astronomy in medicine, such as the appropriate times to plant and
harvest the plants based on their heavenly associations.
Culpeper’s health failed him in later
years. But he left 79 manuscripts with
his wife Alice. Alice published quite a
few of these while the English allowed free publishing, until Charles II was restored
to the throne. Thanks to these works, we
are given a unique
glimpse into the world of medicine in the 17th
century. We can also draw several
parallels to some of our philosophies today.
Thank you Nicholas Culpeper for pioneering the way for natural medicine to
come back into the hands of the people.
And thank you all for reading this brief footnote in the life of an
amazing historical figure.
Resources:
Greek Medicine: Nicholas
Culpeper: http://www.greekmedicine.net/whos_who/Nicholas_Culpeper.html
Skyscript: Nicholas
Culpeper Herbalist of the People: http://www.skyscript.co.uk/culpeper.html
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