Hey, this is Heather from the Renaissance English History Podcast, and this is your Tudor Minute for March 26.
Today in 1546 Thomas Elyot died. Born around 1490, he was a diplomat and scholar, but is most known for his treatise on health, The Castel of Health, which he published in 1536. It was a popular health book written for laymen. It was ridiculed by the medical professors at universities, but it went through 17 editions, and was incredibly popular.
He tried to make Greek medicine available to laymen, and includes both ideas for maintaining good health, and goes through the most common illnesses, and how to treat them. He also suggests the best foods to eat, and the best ways to cook them. For example, in a section called “On Apples” he writes, “apples eaten soon after they be gathered, are cold, hard to digest, and doe make ill and corrupted bloud, but being well kept vntill the next winter, or the yeare following, eaten after meales, they are right holesome, & doe con•rme the stomacke, & make good digestion, speci∣ally if they bee rosted or baked.”
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Links:
Full text of the Castel of Helth