John Crophill – The Travelling Physician

I’m delighted to be taking part in the virtual tour for Toni Mount’s latest book, How to Survive in Medieval England. To mark its recent publication, Toni has written a fascinating guest article about the work of medieval physicians. Over to you, Toni!

My new book, How to Survive in Medieval England, published by Pen & Sword, is a guide to travelling in history: what to expect, how to dress, how to stay safe and what to look for on the menu.

If you were able to go back in time to medieval England, so much would be very different and so many things missing – all technology, from engines to the Internet. All work would be manual; public transport non-existent and medical care would be primitive in comparison to the twenty-first century. So what were your chances of finding, affording and being treated by a physician, if you fell ill? Even by the fifteenth century, university-qualified physicians are rare, so their services don’t come cheap.

A medieval physician checking a patient’s urine sample

Qualifying in medicine was a long and costly achievement. Few students managed to stay the course and England could number her university-trained doctors in tens, rather than hundreds even in the late fifteenth century. In order to have enough patients to pay them and earn them a good living, physicians would set up in business in the larger towns and cities which meant country-dwellers rarely saw or had access to a ‘proper’ university-qualified doctor. But there were other possibilities, as this article will reveal.

How to Survive in Medieval England contains some imagined interviews with people of the time as a novel means of telling about true aspects or incidents in their lives. Here is an interview with John Crophill, a fifteenth-century travelling physician. Let’s talk to him about his work in Essex:

‘Good day, Master Crophill. You treat patients for miles around but you never went to university. How did you train as a physician?’

‘The priest in our village taught me to read and write and I was always interested in medicine. These days, it’s easy enough to find medical works written in English with everything a physician needs to know. I taught myself. No need for the expense and waste of years at university when it’s all there, in a book.’

‘Tell us what you learned from your studies that has been of most use.’

‘I’ve written the important bits in my notebook, details of bloodletting; the zodiac; the planets’ influences and effect throughout the year on the four humours and bodily parts; on the moon; the seven ages of man; the study of urine, diet and treatment according to the months and an excellent treatise on calculations to know what thou wilt. That treatise has been of great help. I used it to find a lost rosary for the Prioress of Wix, told Will the Shearman the best day to wed Joan and correctly predicted that Thomas Gale’s wife would have a son, at last. I’ve also noted some good remedies for gout and warts.’

‘But I’ve heard that medicine isn’t your main employment.’

‘No, it’s not. I’ve served as bailiff of Wix Priory, a small house of Benedictine nuns here in Essex, since 1455. I earn more from that than I ever could as a physician. For my duties of rent collecting and court attendances as the manor bailiff, I get about 40s a year – that’s a goodly sum. And some years I’ve been paid as the local ale-taster, checking quality and measures of ale sold by local tavern-keepers and housewives. I also have medical duties at the priory but that doesn’t take much trouble, for though the house is wealthy, there are only three nuns and the prioress.’

‘How do you fit in your duties and your medical work?’

‘As I travel around, collecting the rents due, I treat anyone in need of my services as a physician as well.’

‘Tell us about some of your patients.’

‘What! You’ve never heard that what passes betwixt patient and physician is like unto a confession made to a priest? We never tell.’

‘Oh. Well, can you tell us what you charge for your treatments?’

‘Aye, I suppose that’ll do no harm but what I ask depends on the patient’s wealth. I charged Richard Armystyd 6s 8d, because he can afford it, for a gout remedy made with ground elder – works well, that does – but I only charged William Fortlie tuppence for the same. For treating the wife of John Armystyd in Otley, I charged 13s 4d for medications when she suffered inflammation of the lungs, him being rich. But Hob the Herdsmen I treated for free when he was afflicted likewise. That’s how it works, see: I charge the wealthy so I can treat the poor for nothing. That’s the Christian way. And look! I’ve told of my patients’ secrets. You tricked me.’

‘Apologies, Master Crophill’

As readers will realise, a medieval physician’s remit was not all about medical matters. Horoscopes were especially important. A physician had to have a good knowledge of astrology because foretelling a patient’s future was vital for a number of reasons. Firstly, if the patient was going to die, he should be warned to put his affairs in order, write a will and consult a priest to prepare his soul. Secondly, in this case, the wise physician would refuse to treat the patient in case his efforts were seen as the cause of death which would be bad for his reputation and suits for malpractice weren’t unknown. Thirdly and on the other hand, if the astrology charts foretold the patient’s recovery, the physician would do well to enhance his reputation by being involved in that return to health.

But, as John Crophill tells us, the stars could reveal other things, such as the whereabouts of lost items, indicate the most suitable marriage partner and the sexes of any future children. People might also consult a physician to discover the best day to set out on a journey, sign a business contract or to begin an important new venture. To the medieval mind, the heavens governed everything that happened on earth and it was believed those who understood astrology could foretell the future.

A medieval star chart
[Leiden University library, LVF 31]

John Crophill managed to make a living as a rural doctor, not only by travelling around the county of Essex but because he earned money as the bailiff of Wix Priory, collecting rents from the priory’s tenants and dealing with problems arising for the prioress as a landlord in the manor court, and worked as the local ale-taster too. Every batch of ale brewed for sale had to pass the taster’s test and it was his duty – always a man for this task – to check that the serving measures were true and legal, so the customers weren’t denied their monies worth. We have to hope, for his patients’ sakes, that John didn’t do too much tasting of ale before treating them.

Readers can find out far more about medieval lives, meet some of the characters involved and get a ‘taste’ of the food of the time in How to Survive in Medieval England, my new book from Pen & Sword, published on 30^th June 2021 and available for pre-order now on Amazon.

About the Author

Toni Mount is a history teacher and a best-selling author of historical non-fiction and fiction. She’s a member of the Richard III Society’s Research Committee, a regular speaker to groups and societies and belongs to the Crime Writers’ Association. She writes regularly for Tudor Life magazine, has written several online courses for www.MedievalCourses.com and created the Sebastian Foxley series of medieval murder mysteries. Toni has a First class honours degree in history, a Masters Degree in Medieval History, a Diploma in English Literature with Creative Writing, a Diploma in European Humanities and a PGCE. She lives in Kent, England with her husband and has two grown-up sons.