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This article advances the argument that the fourteenth-century Welsh medical manuscript British Library Additional 14912 is based on materials which ultimately stem from Llanthony Prima Priory in Monmouthshire, although it may itself have been produced for a patron in the vicinity of Caerleon. The argument is based primarily on the saints' feasts which appear in a calendar which precedes the medical material in the manuscript. The feast which stands out is that of St. Finnian of Clonard, which is noted on December 12, and which is also used to calculate that month's Ember Days. The article traces the close relationship between Llanthony and Finnian's native Westmeath, and argues that Llanthony's status as an Augustinian priory may account for that foundation's apparent interest in Welsh medical material. This interest may also be seen in the closely-related fourteenth-century Welsh medical manuscript Cardiff 3.242, which may also be a product of Llanthony.
This article advances the argument that the fourteenth-century Welsh medical manuscript British Library Additional 14912 is based on materials which ultimately stem from Llanthony Prima Priory in Monmouthshire, although it may itself have been produced for a patron in the vicinity of Caerleon. The argument is based primarily on the saints' feasts which appear in a calendar which precedes the medical material in the manuscript. The feast which stands out is that of St. Finnian of Clonard, which is noted on December 12, and which is also used to calculate that month's Ember Days. The article traces the close relationship between Llanthony and Finnian's native Westmeath, and argues that Llanthony's status as an Augustinian priory may account for that foundation's apparent interest in Welsh medical material. This interest may also be seen in the closely-related fourteenth-century Welsh medical manuscript Cardiff 3.242, which may also be a product of Llanthony.
The corpus of late fourtenth-century medieval Welsh medical recipes often attributed to the legendary Physicians of Myddfai includes a number of recipes meant to treat urinary ailments, as well as directions on how to diagnose conditions, and provide prognosis to patients, based on the appearance of their urine. These directions are quite obviously related to similar types of instructions in contemporary Latin texts as well as those in the European vernaculars. However the recipes for urinary ailments, strange as some of them may seem, also form part of this wider European medical culture. This paper demonstrates the continuity between the Welsh remedies for urinary ailments and those of medieval England and Europe. It goes on to explore the relationship between the Welsh remedies and older texts such as the herbal attributed to Macer Floridus, Medicina de Quadrupedibus which was translated into Old English, and ultimately Classical sources. While at first glance it may seem that the medical texts attributed to the Physicians of Myddfai are a bit odd, or idiosyncratic, in reality they are firmly embedded in the western medical tradition, and echo the medical ideas that were being propagated in all European vernaculars at this time.
The corpus of late fourtenth-century medieval Welsh medical recipes often attributed to the legendary Physicians of Myddfai includes a number of recipes meant to treat urinary ailments, as well as directions on how to diagnose conditions, and provide prognosis to patients, based on the appearance of their urine. These directions are quite obviously related to similar types of instructions in contemporary Latin texts as well as those in the European vernaculars. However the recipes for urinary ailments, strange as some of them may seem, also form part of this wider European medical culture. This paper demonstrates the continuity between the Welsh remedies for urinary ailments and those of medieval England and Europe. It goes on to explore the relationship between the Welsh remedies and older texts such as the herbal attributed to Macer Floridus, Medicina de Quadrupedibus which was translated into Old English, and ultimately Classical sources. While at first glance it may seem that the medical texts attributed to the Physicians of Myddfai are a bit odd, or idiosyncratic, in reality they are firmly embedded in the western medical tradition, and echo the medical ideas that were being propagated in all European vernaculars at this time.
