Nicholas Culpeper facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nicholas Culpeper
Engraving by Richard Gaywood
Born	18 October 1616 Ockley, Surrey, England
Died	10 January 1654 (aged 37) Spitalfields, London, England
Alma mater	Cambridge University
Known for	The English Physician (Complete Herbal), 1652–1653
Scientific career
Fields	Botany Herbalism Medicine Astrology

Nicholas Culpeper (born 18 October 1616 – died 10 January 1654) was an English expert in botany (the study of plants), herbalism (using plants for medicine), a physician (doctor), and an astrologer (someone who studies how stars and planets might affect people).

He wrote an important book called The English Physician (published in 1652, later known as Complete Herbal). This book shared a lot of information about medicines and herbs from his time. Another detailed work he wrote was Astrological Judgement of Diseases from the Decumbiture of the Sick (1655), which was about how medical astrology was used in early modern Europe.

Culpeper listed hundreds of medicinal herbs that grew outdoors. He often criticized other doctors of his time for their methods. He believed in learning from "Dr. Reason" and "Dr. Experience" and listening to "Mother Nature" to find the best ways to help people.

Nicholas Culpeper came from a family with some famous people. For example, Thomas Culpeper, a courtier (someone who attended the royal court), was a distant relative.

Biography: Nicholas Culpeper's Life Story

Nicholas Culpeper's father, also named Nicholas Culpeper, was a church leader. Sadly, his father died shortly after Nicholas was born. His mother then took him to Isfield, where his maternal grandfather, Reverend William Attersoll, lived. His grandfather helped raise him and taught him Latin and Greek.

As a young boy, Nicholas became very interested in space and stars (astronomy and astrology). He also loved studying time, his grandfather's clock collection, and medical books in his grandfather's library. His grandmother taught him about medicinal plants and herbs. Throughout his life, he spent a lot of time in the countryside, finding and listing different plants.

When he was 16, Nicholas went to Cambridge University. We don't know which college he attended, but his father went to Queens' College, and his grandfather was at Jesus College. After university, he became an apprentice to an apothecary (a bit like a pharmacist who also prepared medicines). After seven years, his master ran away with the money paid for Nicholas's training. Soon after, his mother died from breast cancer.

In 1640, Culpeper married Alice Field, who was 15 years old. She was the daughter of a rich grain merchant. This allowed Nicholas to open his own pharmacy in Spitalfields, London. This area was outside the main City of London, which was important because London's medical services were very busy at the time.

Culpeper believed that "no man deserved to starve to pay an insulting, insolent physician." He got his herbs from the nearby countryside and often gave his services for free. He used his experience and knowledge of astrology to treat his patients with herbs.

During the early part of the English Civil War, some people accused Culpeper of witchcraft. The Society of Apothecaries also tried to stop him from practicing medicine. Feeling upset and determined, he joined the London Trained bands (a type of local army) in August 1643. He fought at the First Battle of Newbury, where he performed surgery on injured soldiers. He was seriously hurt in the chest by a bullet and never fully recovered.

After the war, he worked with a Republican astrologer named William Lilly. They wrote a book called A Prophesy of the White King, which predicted the King's death. Nicholas Culpeper died from tuberculosis in London on 10 January 1654, when he was 37 years old. He was buried in New Churchyard, Bethlem. Only one of his seven children, Mary, lived to be an adult. His wife, Alice, later married another astrologer, John Heydon, in 1656.

Nicholas Culpeper's Political Beliefs

During his training, Nicholas Culpeper was influenced by a radical preacher named John Goodwin. Goodwin taught that no authority should be questioned. Because of this, Culpeper became a strong republican. This meant he was against the idea that only a few people should control medicine. He disagreed with the "closed shop" of medicine, which was controlled by the College of Physicians.

When he was young, Culpeper translated medical and herbal books from Latin for his master. During the English civil war, the College of Physicians couldn't stop medical books from being published. Culpeper purposely published his translations in everyday English. He wanted to create self-help medical guides for poor people who couldn't afford to see doctors. He also wrote a guide on childbirth and his main work, The English Physician, which he sold very cheaply. This book became popular in America too and has been printed continuously since the 1600s.

Culpeper believed that medicine should be available to everyone, not a secret that only doctors knew. He thought the prices doctors charged were too high, especially when nature offered cheap and widely available medicines. He felt that using Latin and charging high fees by doctors, lawyers, and priests kept ordinary people from having power and freedom.

He was quite radical for his time. He made other doctors angry by saying they were greedy. He also criticized them for sticking only to old ideas from Galen (an ancient Greek physician) and using harmful practices like toxic remedies and bloodletting (removing blood from a patient). The Society of Apothecaries was also upset because he suggested cheap herbal remedies instead of their expensive mixtures.

How Nicholas Culpeper Thought About Herbalism

Nicholas Culpeper wanted to make medical treatments easier for everyone to understand and use. He wanted to teach people how to stay healthy themselves. His main goal was to change the medical system by questioning old methods and looking for new ways to treat illnesses.

His organized way of using herbs was a big step in how modern medicines developed. Many modern medicines actually started from plants.

Culpeper believed in using reason and new ideas, not just old traditions. This is clear in the introduction to his Complete Herbal. He was one of the most famous astrological botanists of his time. He would connect plants and diseases with the influence of planets. Then, he would use remedies that had an opposing planetary influence to treat illnesses. By mixing remedies with ideas from Galen and astrology, he created a unique system of medicine. His strong comments in his book "Singles" made him a widely read source for medical treatment in his time.

Nicholas Culpeper's Legacy

Nicholas Culpeper's translations and his way of using herbs had a huge impact on medicine in the early American colonies and even on modern medicines. He was one of the first to translate Latin documents that talked about medicinal plants found in the Americas. His Herbal was so respected that some plants he described were brought from England to the New World (the Americas).

Culpeper wrote about the medical use of the foxglove plant. This plant is the natural source of digitalis, a medicine used today to treat heart conditions. His influence is still seen today. There are "Culpeper" herb and spice shops in Canada, North America, and other places. His remedies are also still popular among people who practice New Age and alternative holistic medicine.

Nicholas Culpeper is also a character in Rudyard Kipling's story "Doctor of Medicine," which is part of his book Puck of Pook's Hill.

Images for kids

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  The title page of The English Physitian

See also

• Alternative medicine
• Herbalism
• Medical astrology
• History of science
• Medication
• Pharmacognosy
• Astrological botany
• Astrology
• List of plants in The English Physitian (1652 book)