The epidemics of the Middle Ages / From the German tr. by B. G. Babington.

  • Hecker, J. F. C. (Justus Friedrich Carl), 1795-1850.
Date:
1859
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The epidemics of the Middle Ages / From the German tr. by B. G. Babington. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    man in yeres, but in witte & learnyng for his tyme, of great expectatio. That done I beganne a chronicle of the citie of Norwiche, of the beginninge therof & thinges done ther fro time to time. The matere wherof yet rude and vn- digested lyeth by me, which at laisure I minde to polishe, and to make an end of that I haue begunne. And to be shorte, in phisicke diuerse thynges I haue made & settefurth in print bothe in Greke and Latine, not mindyng to do other wise, as I haue before said, al my life: For which cause al these thinges I haue rehersed, els superfluous in this place. Yet see, meaning now to counseill a litle agaynst the sweatyng sickenes for helpe also of others, notwithstandyng my former purpose, two thynges compell me, in writynge therof, to returne agayne to Englishe, Necessite of the matter, & good wyl to my countrie, frendes, & acquaintance, whiche here to haue required me, to whome I thinke my selfe borne. Necessite, for that this disease is almoste peculiar vnto vs Englishe men, and not common to all men, folowyng vs, as the shadowe the body, in all countries, albeit not at al times. Therfore compelled I am to vse this our Englishe tongue as best to be vnderstande, and moste nedeful to -whome it most foloweth, most behoueth to haue spedy remedie, and often tymes leaste nyghe to places of succource and comforte at lerned mennes handes : and leaste nedefull to be setfurthe in other tongues to be vnderstand generally of all persons, whome it either haunteth not at all, or els very seldome, as ones in an age. Thinkynge it also better to write this in Englishe after mine own meanyng, then to haue it translated out of my Latine by other after their misunderstandyng. Good wyll to my countrie frendes and acquaintance, seynge them wyth out defence yelde vnto it, and it ferefully to inuade the, furiousely handle them, spedily oppresse them, vnmercyfully choke them, and that in no small numbers, and such persons so notably noble in birthe, goodly conditions, graue sobrietie, singular wisedoe, and great learnynge, as Henry Duke of Suffolke, and the lorde Charles his brother, as fewe hath bene sene lyke of their age: an heuy & pitifull thyng to here or see. So that if by onely learned men in phisicke & not this waye also it should be holpen, it were nedeful almost halfe so many learned men to be redy in euery toune and citie, as their should be sweatynge sicke folkes. Yet this notwithstandynge, I wyll euery man not to refuse the counseill of the present or nighe phisicen learned, who maie, accordyng to the place, persone, cause, & other circustances, geue more particular counseil at nede, but in any wise exhorte him to seke it with all diligence. To this enter- prise also amonge so many learned men, not a litle stirreth me the gentilnes and good willes of al sortes of men, which I haue well proued heretofore by my other former bokes. Mindynge therefore with as good a will to geue my counseil in this, and trusting for no lesse gentlenes in the same, I wyll plainly and in English for their better vnderstandynge to whome I write, firste declare the beginnynge, name, nature, and signes of the sweatynge sickenes. Next, the causes of the same. And thirdly, how to preserue men fro it, and remedy them who they haue it. The beginnyng of the disease.—In the yere of our Lorde God M.CCCC.lxxxv. shortly after the vij. daye of august, at whichc tyme kynge Henry the scuenth arriued at Milford in walles, out of Fraunce, and in the firste yere of his reigne, ther chaunced a disease among the people, lastyng the reste of that monethe & all September, which for the soubdeine sharpenes and vnwont cruellies passed the pestilence. For this commonly geueth iij. or iiij. often vij. sumtyme ix. as tli,it firste at Athenes whiche Thucidides describeth in his seconde boke, sum-