10 Portrait of a Surgeon in Fifteenth-Century England

Abstract

The late medieval period witnessed a passionate struggle by physicians and surgeons for the professionalization of medicine. Endeavouring to distinguish themselves from medieval Europe's broader set of healers and thereby establish themselves as the highest rung of a hierarchy of practitioners, physicians and surgeons went to great lengths to elevate their status in the public eye. Adoption and reinforcement of the ideology of Christus Medicus just one way in which elite medical practitioners attempted to enhance their reputations. Surgery a marginalized field, in large part, because it was carried out the hands and instruments, and not ideas, words, and books. Fifteenth-century London witnessed attempts to create a joint college of physicians and surgeons, with absolute control over the licensing and practice of all forms of medicine in the capital. Keywords: Christus Medicus ; late medieval period; London; physicians; surgeons