Brooke Schneider
Natural Products Chemistry
9/13/02
Nicholas Culpeper was born in Surrey in 1616. His life started with tragedy when his father passed away shortly before his birth. He was raised in his mother’s family home in Isfield Sussex, by hi mother and grandparents. His family raised him in a very intellectual environment, but they pushed him into studying religion, not science as he wanted. He went on to Cambridge University to become a reverend as his father was. However, his religious classes did not interest him; instead he only wanted to study science, especially anatomy. He soon fell in love with childhood friend and they decided to run off together, unfortunately when they were on their way to meet she was struck and killed by lightning. He soon dropped out of school and decided that the only way to pursue his love of medicine was through studying to become an apothecary. He became an apprentice for to Francis Drake who taught him all about plants and how he could use them to treat people. He found this to be extremely rewarding and he greatly loved it. He once again found love at 24 when he met Alice Field. She supported his desire to help others and to provide health care for the poor. Due to poor health in his later life he was unable to publish all of his writings before his death in 1654 at the early age of 38. His wife carried on his great herbal lessons by publishing “The Treaties of the Aurum Potabile”, in 1656.
Nicholas Culpeper greatly influenced the field of herbal medicine. He also greatly emphasized the idea of affordable health care. He wanted to make healthcare both readily available as well as affordable for all people including the poor. He made the knowledge of plants as use to treat ailments common knowledge through his teachings and writings.
Culpeper’s philosophy was that everyone deserved health care and that the information of how to treat oneself should be available. This is why he tried to spread knowledge about herbals and how people could use them to treat aliments. He felt everyone deserved medical treatment even if they could not afford it.
Herbs were the basis of Culpeper’s treatments. He only used herbs to treat hi patients. He would mostly use plants common to the area in which he lived so that he could teach his patient’s to use the herbs as well.
A famous incident that involved Culpeper would most likely be that of his book, The English Physician. This book would prove to be very popular, and he was even regarded as the figurehead of alternative medicine. He wrote this book in order to make herbal medicine readily available for all. This book was even brought to America as a means of finding plants to provide medical care.
Culpeper faced much conflict and difficulty in life including the death of his father rand his love, Judith Rivers. He also had to fight for his greatest love, science. He fought to make his dream of learning medicine a reality. He fought to make medicine available to the poor. He soon gained a reputation as a great herbalist. This success caused him to receive criticism from the College of Physicians. They disagreed with his beliefs and his work. He managed to overcome this bad image portrayed by the physicians and still be thought of as a great herbalist.
Nicholas Culpeper found astrology to be very interesting and important. He loved astrology form a young age. He often used astrology in his studying of medicine. Culpeper felt that the planets associated with each herb is used symbolically to derive its medical use. He often used the locations of the planets to help determine what disease a person could be suffering from. Culpeper although a brilliant herbalist, is often looked down upon because of his fascination with and use of astrology in his medical works.
Nicholas Culpeper was very right in his belief that herbs could be used to treat ailments. In fact, many of his findings are still used today to help treat diseases. Culpeper was in a way the founding father of herbalism.
I think that Nicholas Culpeper was a very great mind of his time. I think that the compassion that he had for his patients was remarkable. I think that he was well ahead of his time in respect to his idea that all people deserved and need affordable health care. He felt that his calling was to help people and I think that this makes him a great herbalist as well as a phenomenal person.
http://www.skyhook.co.uk/merlin/astrol/sons/culpeper.htm
http://www.info.med.yale.edu/library/historical/culpeper.htm
http//gen.culpeper.com/interesting/medicine/nicholas.htm