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Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654), was an English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer. His lasting legacy is the seminal book 'The Complete Herbal' (1653), which provided an extensive catalogue of English flora and their uses in herbal medicine. Culpeper's work deviated from the cryptic methods of his time; he insisted on using English rather than Latin, which made his treatments and the knowledge of herbs accessible to the common people. Born in Ockley, Surrey, Culpeper was educated at Cambridge but left to apprentice with an apothecary. Later, moving to London, he began practicing medicine without the license from The College of Physicians, which made him a radical figure in the 17th century. His own medical practice and the publication of 'The English Physician' (another name for 'The Complete Herbal') offered the common folk an alternative to the expensive and often inaccessible services of trained physicians. The book includes a comprehensive account of each herb's description, place of growth, time of collection, and medical virtues. Culpeper's close ties to the natural world and astrological influences on medicine and healing earned him substantial popularity, but also the ire of professional peers. Regardless, his work remains an influential piece of literature in herbalism and an early example of the democratization of healthcare knowledge. |
