Title Wolveridge's Speculum Matricis

262 Pages·2017·5.41 MB·English

Provided by the author(s) and NUI Galway in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite the published
version when available.
Title Wolveridge's Speculum Matricis: a mirror on antiquity?
Author(s) O'Dowd, Michael
Publication
2018-03-07
Date
Item record http://hdl.handle.net/10379/7190
Downloaded 2018-11-15T09:32:18Z

Some rights reserved. For more information, please see the item record link above.
Wolveridge’s Speculum Matricis: a mirror on antiquity?
Michael O’Dowd

Supervisor Dr. Padráig Lenihan
School of Humanities,
National University of Ireland Galway
January 2018
ii
Table of Contents

Introduction ………………………………………………………………........................... 1
The new science and medicine ………………………………………………..……………. 2
Chapter outlines ………………………………………………………………………..…………. 6
Midwifery manuals like the Speculum Matricis …………………………………... 14
Notes on historiography of midwifery and medicine …………………………... 19
A history of midwifery ………………………………………………………………………... 23

Chapter 1 - Galenic Medicine ………………………………………………………………. 36
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………..………………… 36
Early Greek medicine …………………………………………………………………………… 36
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 49

Chapter 2 - Intellectual influences ………….……………………………………………. 50
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 50
Biography …………………………………..………………………………………………………. 50
Academic development ………………………………………………………………………. 52
Trinity College Dublin and Laud’s Statutes ……………………………………………. 55
The influence of John Stearne ……………………………………………………………… 65
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 68

Chapter 3 - Midwifery …………………………………………………………………………. 71
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 71
Title page and prefatory materials ………………………………………………………. 74
The text ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 83
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………… 116

Chapter 4 - Illustrations …………………………………………………………………….. 119
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………… 119
Analysis of the illustrations ……………………………………………………………….. 121
Comparison to those published …………………………………………………………. 125
Manuscript sources …………………………………………………………………………… 156
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………… 166

Chapter 5 - Materia medica ………………………………………………………………. 170
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………… 170
Wolveridge’s materia medica ………………………………………………............... 173
Early modern midwifery texts ……………………………………………………………. 187
Classical sources ………………………………………………………………………………… 199
The provenance of the materia medica ……………………………………………… 202
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………… 206

Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………... 208
Appendix .…………………………………………………………………………………………. 216
Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………………… 223

iii
I declare that this thesis has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree
at this or any other University and is entirely my own work.

I agree to deposit this thesis in the University’s open access institutional
repository or allow the library to do so on my behalf, subject to Irish
Copyright Legislation and the National University of Ireland Galway’s
conditions of use and acknowledgement.

iv
Acknowledgements
I owe a debt of gratitude to all those who made my research possible, my
brief words encompass a well of appreciation.
The School of Humanities History Department NUIG granted approval for the
project, a topic close to my heart.
My supervisor Dr Padráig Lenihan was accessible, diligent, stimulating and
provided direction, expertise, mentorship and support in abundance.
Dr. Gearoid Barry, Dr. Alison Forrestal and Anne Fallon, members of the
Graduate Research Committee, assessed my ongoing research and offered
advice and guidance.
Harriet Wheelock, Archivist RCPI, allowed unrestricted access to an original
Speculum Matricis, and archival materials.
The assistance of staff at various libraries and archives at the National
University of Ireland Galway, and the Royal College of Physicians, Royal
College of Surgeons, National Library of Ireland, The Edward Worth Library
and Marsh’s Library, Dublin; The Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists, The Royal Society of Medicine and The Wellcome Institute
Library London are likewise acknowledged. John Cunningham and Peter
Elmer offered advice on James Wolveridge.
This project would not have been possible without the love, empathy and
support of my wife Christine.

v
Summary of the Contents
The main aim of this study of Wolveridge’s Speculum Matricis of 1670 is to
ascertain the extent to which his midwifery manual fitted within the still
dominant Greek medical model, and how, if at all, it reflected influences
incompatible with, or hostile to, the Galenic tradition associated with the
‘learned’ physician.
A detailed examination of the preface, midwifery, illustrations and
materia medica reveals a text which mostly (but not completely) derives
from Soranic and Galenic traditions, albeit refracted through early modern
midwifery and medical texts in English and Latin. Yet the Speculum Matricis
is not slavishly derivative, as critics contend. Rather, it is innovative in several
important aspects. For instance, Wolveridge uses a dialogue between the
midwife ‘Eutrapelia’ and the doctor ‘Philadelphos’ to structure the
midwifery component of the catechetical text.
In other respects, too, ancient knowledge is presented in a fashion that
is accessible to a midwife or ‘grave matron’ reader, who has not the benefit
of university education: not least, the text is in English. The Speculum
Matricis demonstrates the continuing vitality and flexibility of Soranic
midwifery and Galenic medicine.

vi
List of Figures

Chapter four
Figure 4.1: A comparison of Wolveridge’s ‘child lying in the womb’ to plates by
Thomas Bartholin and Giulius Casserius ………………………………….…………... 126
Figure 4.2: Wolveridge’s scheme the 16th compared to a birth figure in Sloane
MS 2463 from the 1400s ……………………………………………………………….….….. 127
Figure 4.3: Wolveridge’s bagg device compared to Schultes’ truss ….………… 128
Figure 4.4: A comparison of Wolveridge and Rueff anatomy plates ……..…… 129
Figure 4.5: The Wolveridge anatomy plate compared to illustrations by Vesalius
and Geminus ……………………………………………………………………………………..…. 130
Figure 4.6: Cropped versions of the hirsute lower genital tract in Wolveridge,
Vesalius and Geminus via The Birth of Mankind ………………………………..….. 131
Figure 4.7: Rueff’s anatomy plate with fetus compared to the earlier version by
Walter Herman Ryff ………………………………………………………………………….….. 131
Figure 4.8: A comparison of early printed anatomy plates by Ketham and
Vesalius ………………………………………………………………………………………..……… 132
Figure 4.9: Presentations of the fetus at natural birth for Wolveridge, Rueff and
Roesslin ….……………………………………………………………………………………………. 135
Figure 4.10: Examples of natural birth from Wolveridge, Rueff and the image
from Roesslin which is reversed for comparison sake……………………….……. 135
Figure 4.11: Wolveridge and Rueff showed a fetus with buttocks and feet
forward, Roesslin with feet first .………………………………………………..………… 136
Figure 4.12: A comparison of singleton non-natural birth figure from all three
authors …………………………………………………………………………………………..……. 137
Figure 4.13: A comparison of twins from the three authors with both heads
presenting …………………………………………………………………………………….….….. 139
Figure 4.14: An illustration from Jacob Rueff compared to similar images from
the midwives Louise Bourgois in 1617 and Jane Sharp 1671 .………….…... 140
Figure 4.15: The images of Jacob Rueff, Jacques Guillemeau and Wolveridge
compared …………………………………………………………………………….…………….… 141
Figure 4.16: A proposed serial development of the multi-layered uterus and
membranes image ……………………………………………………………………….…….… 141
Figure 4.17: Images with maternal urethra opening into upper vagina …..… 142
Figure 4.18: Vesalian anatomical figures, (a) a uterus with the expected bilateral
blood vessels, (b) the urethra incorrectly entering the upper vagina and (c)
repeated in the third image ……………….……………………………………………..…. 143
Figure 4.19: Comparison of birth stools Wolveridge, Rueff, Roesslin ………..… 145
Figure 4.20: Roesslin’s birth stool compared with that of Savonarola ………… 146
Figure 4.21: Fetal development sequence, Wolveridge 1670 …………………….. 147
Figure 4.22: Fetal development sequence, Rueff 1554 ……………………………… 148
Figure 4.23: The placental bands illustrated by Vesalius and Rueff copied by
Wolveridge …………………………………………………………………………………..…..…. 148
Figure 4.24: Comparison of Wolveridge’s 14-18-day fetus to that of Severinus
Pineau …………………………………………………………………………………………….….… 149
Figure 4.25: Fetus and placenta by Wolveridge, Rueff and Vesalius ……….….. 150
vii
Figure 4.26: An image of placenta, membranes, and cord in Wolveridge
compared to Casserius …………………………………………………………………..….…. 151
Figure 4.27: The delivery room, mother, midwife and baby ………………….…… 153
Figure 4.28: A second image on the frontispiece represented Wolveridge,
midwife and expectant mother ………………………………………………………...…. 153
Figure 4.29: The English Midwife Enlarged 1682 ……………………………………….. 154
Figure 4.30: Wolveridge birth figure compared to Stockholm MS X 118 …….. 158
Figure 4.31: The MS X 118 uterine image compared to a desiccated poppy seed
head ………………………………………………………………………………………………..…... 159
Figure 4.32: A set of twins Wolveridge compared to Sloane 2463 ………..…..… 160
Figure 4.33: Wolveridge birth figure compared to Ashmole MS 399 …..……... 161
Figure 4.34: Matrix (uterus) image in MS 3701-15, 9-11th century ……..….… 161
Figure 4.35: Wolveridge’s head presentation compared to MS 3701-15 …….. 162
Figure 4.36: The three Brussels MS images shown here styled A, B and C for this
description …………………………………………………..………………………………………. 162

Chapter five
Figure 5.1: The weights and measures in Quincy ………………………..…………….. 186
Figure 5.2: A prescription from Guillemeau’s 1635 edition of The Happy Delivery
of Women ………………………………………………………………………………………..…… 193
Figure 5.3: Wolveridge, a clyster for lochia suppressed, pp. 116, 117 ……….. 193

List of tables

Chapter one
Table 1.1: Greek, Alexandrian and Graeco-Roman physicians and their
associations ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 46
Table 1.2: The authors from Rome, and the Byzantine, Muslim and Jewish
Periods ……………………………………………………………………………………………..……. 47

Chapter two
Table 2.1: Articellae for Doctor of Medicine at Oxford and Cambridge ……….. 53
Table 2.2: Irish graduates in medicine 1640-69 …………………………………….……… 56
Table 2.3: Graduates of Trinity College Dublin 1591-1614 ……………………….…… 60
Table 2.4: Authors on the curriculum for B. A. and M. A. degrees …………..….. 63
Table 2.5: Titles of degrees taken by physicians ……………………………………...….. 65
Table 2.6: Wolveridge and Stearne at Trinity College Dublin …………………..….. 66

Chapter three
Table 3.1: Chapters I-VI with sources, credited and non-credited ………..……... 94
Table 3.2: Chapters on birth with sources, credited, non-credited .……..…….…99
Table 3.3: Chapters XXV-XXIX with sources, credited or not ……………………… 109
Table 3.4: Chapters XXX-XXXV with sources, credited or not ………………….…. 115

viii
Chapter four
Table 4.1: The Wolveridge Classification. The illustrations in the Speculum
Matricis by category, the totals, their page numbers and images ‘signed’ by
the engraver Thomas Cross …………………………………………………...…….………. 124
Table 4.2: The Wolveridge birth figures, by presentation, ‘scheme’ (title), the
page on which they appeared, and modern descriptive terms …………..... 125
Table 4.3: Preternatural singleton birth figures in the three authors texts .… 138
Table 4.4: Preternatural twin birth figures ……………………………………………..…. 139
Table 4.5. Wolveridge’s images by source ……………………………………………..… 155
Table 4.6: The four medical manuscripts availed of for the study and an analysis
by manuscript title, location, approximate date and number of birth figures
present ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 157
Table 4.7: Wolveridge’s singleton natural and preternatural birth figures
compared to four manuscript sources ………………………………………….……… 163
Table 4.8: Wolveridge’s twin presentations compared to four manuscript
sources …………………………………………………………………………………..………..….. 164
Table 4.9: Wolveridge birth figures 1670 compared to the midwifery text of
Soranus from the second century A.D. …………………………………………………. 165

Chapter five
Table 5.1: Sample of materia medica from the Speculum Matricis. Wolveridge’s
spellings in bold ………………………………………………………………………………….… 174
Table 5.2: Advice regarding diet in the Speculum Matricis with page numbers in
the text ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 176
Table 5.3: The ingredients and preparation of an astringent powder to apply to
the cut cord, from Wolveridge’s Section V, ‘A Dialogue between Eutrapelia
the Midwife, and Philadel-phos the Doctor’ (p. 30) ………………………….….. 178
Table 5.4: ‘A General Cordial Water’ and its preparation included by Wolveridge
in ‘A Miscellany of Medicines’ Section XXXII (pp. 128-129) ……………….……… 179
Table 5.5: The ingredients availed of in recipes for ‘Retention of the Lochia (in
Child-bed) and of their immoderate Flux’ in the Speculum Matricis, Section XXX
(pp. 115-20) …..…………………………………………………………………….…………….…… 180
Table 5.6: ‘Of the coming forth of the womb’ ingredients of the materia medica
from Speculum Matricis, Section XXXV (pp. 162-66) …………………………….….. 180
Table 5.7: ‘Of the Fever of Milk and The Cure of Fevers in Child-Bed’ the materia
medica from Speculum Matricis Section XXXI (pp. 121-25) …………………..…… 181
Table 5.8: Methods of administration of materia medica with explanations, part
one ………………………………………………………………………………….….……………….. 183
Table 5.9: Methods of administration of materia medica with explanations, part
two …………………………………………………………………………………………………….… 184
Table 5.10: Wolveridge’s weights and measures system and the frequency of
administration of the particular medication …………………………………………….. 185
Table 5.11: Materia medica in the Speculum Matricis shared with selected
midwifery and medical sources from the fifteenth through the seventeenth
centuries ……………………………………….………………………………………………….…. 189
Table 5.12: Ingredients of Dioscorides’ and Soranus’ materia medica in common
with Wolveridge, and when used for similar indication ……………….………. 200
ix