The lesser writings of John Arderne / by D'Arcy Power.

  • D'Arcy Power
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The lesser writings of John Arderne / by D'Arcy Power. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/28 page 111
    of the mouth dure vi monthes it schall never be curyd . . . and if it come strongly it sleeth withinne iili dayes & yf they gone therwith over iiii dayes they mowe askape’. In this connexion he quotes the case of ‘The noble Duke Harry of Lancastre (who) hadde a knight with hyme at Agezire in Spayne the weche sodeynly was taken with the forseyd infirmite of the mouth so that his mouth was drawen bakward almoste behynde the ere in-so-moche that he myghte not speke . To the weche knyght the kyngys leche of Spayne made this cure... . and so ofte he rehersyd uneto hyme this medicine (toasted bread dipped in vinegar, applied as hot as could be borne) that withinne a day naturall he was thereof delivered in certeyne (i.e. pro certo) and that lyghtly.’ The interest of this case lies in the fact that ‘the kyngys leche of Spain’ seems to have been Arderne himself, for another manuscript (Sloane MS. 3548) gives the passage, “Quidam miles nobilis Ducis Lancastriae apud Agezir in Hispania passus est subito torturam oris ita quod os ejus distractum fuit fere retro aurem nec loqui poterat. Ego, predictus Joh. Ardern, talem feci sibi curam &c.’ Henry Plantagenet, cousin of Edward III, was created Duke of Lancaster in 1351. He was one of the original Knights of the Garter and a very mirror. of chivalry. In 1343, when he was as yet Earl of Derby, he was sent to Spain and, with his fellow ambassador the Earl of Salisbury, saw service against the Moors at the siege of Algeciras, where cannon were said to have been used for the first time. Arderne was aged 36 in 1343, and Alfonzo XI was King of Castile. Use of charms. Having thus shown the effects of his newer learning Arderne almost immediately reverts to the Saxon part of his training. He gives with all gravity a ‘charme for a woman that traveylethe with chylde’. ‘Bynde this charme betwene here knees whanne sche travayleth with a pater noster & ave maria.’ He afterwards considers the virtues of Agrimony against the bites of serpents, hounds and wode (mad) men; of eupatorium, mullein, cinquefoil, daffodill, and sage. Treatment of cases. Speaking of sage, he says : _ “There was a wommane that sodeynly loste the feelynge & movynge of bothe armys in the nyghte. The weche I curyd with sauge wounden in paast & boyled in the ovene & afterward it was broken and putte in a galoune potte of erthe also hote as it was drawen out of the ovene. The weche potte I fylde with good staal ale & bonde the mouth above with a fayrer lynnyne cloth & so I lete it stande al a day and reste. And by the morowe I took & ... yaff it to the pacient & non other drynke but that. Thanne I anoynted the arme with mustard al abowte and wonde it in clothys and leyd his arme in his lappe, and thanne I took stonys hette in the feere and wonde them in lynnyne clothys & leyd hem to the handys that lakked here feelynge & mevynge & withinne i days thorough continuynge & use of the hote stonys & the medycines puttynge too as it is afore seyd the handys & the armys began to rekovere & withinne a schort tyme after they were made hole. But nota that I hette a floour of ane house made with feere above therone & whanne it was wele hote I lete leye theruppone horsdunge in the mannere of a bedde & leyd clothes
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3