Monastic Herbals and Medieval Medicine

Monastic Herbals and Medieval Medicine
The Very Revd Oswald McBride OSB

When St Benedict wrote his Rule for Monks c.540 AD, he included a short chapter on the care of the Sick Brethren, establishing an Infirmary in each community with its guardian, the Infirmarian. This evangelical concern for the sick and elderly began a relationship between monks and medicine which lasted more than 900 years in England. Each community probably had its “leechbook” and its “herbal”, giving details of procedures and potions – many of them plant-based – and many of these survived the Dissolution. This talk will aim to give some account of this important relationship between mediaeval monks and medicine, using some of the extant manuscripts as guide and illustration.

The Very Rev. Dr Oswald McBride is a Benedictine monk of Ampleforth Abbey in Yorkshire. He studied Medicine at Edinburgh, and worked as a Junior Doctor in Scotland, before joining the monastic community in 1991. After many years teaching Biology and Health Education at Ampleforth College, he is now Prior and Chaplain at St Benet’s Hall, Oxford.

This talk is part of "Intertwined: Plants and the Religious Imagination", a three-part series on Wednesday evenings in 2nd, 4th and 6th week, exploring the relationship between the sacred and the botanical.