Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 261: John of Gaddesden, Rosa medicinae

purl.stanford.edu/tx178kw7402

Title:

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 261: John of Gaddesden, Rosa medicinae

Alternate Title:

Iohannes de Gaddesden Rosa medicinae

Language:

Latin

Extent:

ff. 4 + 232 + 1

Dimensions:

260 Height (mm) and 195 Width (mm)

Approximate Date:

[ca. 1400 - 1499]

Table of contents:

Rosa medicinae

Description:

CCCC MS 261 contains a fifteenth-century copy of John of Gaddesden's Rosa medicinae, a text originally written while Gaddesden was studying medicine at Merton College, Oxford, between 1307 and 1316 (probably c. 1313). He was the only English-educated writer on medical matters to gain some recognition among the schools of mainland Europe, and it is sometimes stated that Chaucer modelled his Doctor of Physik on Gaddesden. Whether that is the case or not, he was certainly regarded as a talented physician, gaining employment within the household of Edward the Black Prince, who rewarded him with a rose made of gold, perhaps in a reference to Gaddesden's most well-known work.