The qualities and conduct of an English surgeon in 1446: As described in a manuscript attributed to Thomas Morstede

Abstract

The year 1996 marks the 550th Anniversary of an anonymous manuscript which represents one of the earliest surgical works written in English. Generally attributed to Thomas Morstede, Serjeant-Surgeon to King Henry V, the book was for many centuries considered to have been lost and has escaped detailed examination by the surgeons of today. We present a modern translation of its first chapter in which the author outlines the range of equipment a fifteenth-century surgeon would use, the personal qualities all surgeons should possess, and the manner in which surgical practice should be conducted.