Medieval Medical Recipes
The man that will of leechcraft lere
Read over this book and he may hear
Many a medicine both good and true
To heal sores both old and new" Anonymous introduction to a compilation of medical recipes in rhyming couplets, 15th century
To what medical uses did medieval practitioners put dove faeces, fox lungs, salted owl or eel grease? How might one aid a man with a weak bladder or swollen testicles, or a woman with 'grinding the womb' or who 'travaileth of child'? What remedies were available to the medieval sufferer of daily complaints such as headache, toothache and aching limbs, or more grisly ailments such as 'rankled wounds' or 'canker that breeds in a man's mouth'? How might the image-conscious rid themselves of freckles, whiten their faces or solve bad breath?
Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries is a Wellcome-funded project to conserve, catalogue and digitise 186 medieval manuscripts that contain in excess of 8,000 unedited medical recipes. In addition, it will harness cutting-edge Handwritten Text Recognition technology by using Transkribus to produce full-text transcriptions of these recipes. This will open their contents to health researchers in the humanities and social sciences, enabling keyword and faceted searching and detailed comparative analysis on a scale not possible hitherto. This will not only help researchers to pinpoint recipes relevant to their work, but will also enable them to understand how this kind of medical knowledge evolved, how recipes were tried and tested over time, and what connections might exist between such practical recipe books and scholarly medical treatises.
Building on the successful collaborations of the recently completed Polonsky Foundation Greek Manuscripts project, the Curious Cures manuscripts are drawn from collections across the University: from the University Library, which is leading the project, from twelve colleges (Clare, Corpus Christi, Emmanuel, Gonville & Caius, Jesus, King's, Magdalene, Pembroke, Peterhouse, St John's, Sidney Sussex and Trinity), and the Fitzwilliam Museum. High-resolution digital images, detailed catalogue descriptions and full-text transcriptions of each manuscript will be brought together and made freely accessible on the Cambridge Digital Library.
The project encompasses manuscript compilations of dozens or even hundreds of medical recipes, known as receptaria, but also medical and non-medical texts that contain recipes on their peripheries as added texts or marginal annotations. The manuscripts were made between the 11th to the 16th centuries, with most dating to the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries. Many of the recipes are written in Latin, and some in French, but a substantial proportion are written in Middle English, and illustrate the beginnings of the circulation of medical knowledge in the vernacular language of this country.
A wide range of ingredients - animal, mineral and vegetable - are mentioned in these recipes. There are herbs that are known today - such as sage, rosemary, thyme, bay and mint - as well as common perennial plants: walwort, henbane, betony and comfrey. Ingredients were often mixed with common products such as ale, white wine, vinegar, milk or honey, but medieval physicians also exploited international trade networks, using cumin, pepper, ginger and other spices in their formulations. There are also many strange and curious ingredients recorded in the recipes, in particular those derived from animals: the use of roasted puppy fat as a salve to treat gout, or the gall bladder of a hare as a component in a treatment for 'web in the eye'.
Digitisation of these manuscripts will place medical recipes in their material contexts, revealing how they are arranged and presented on the page - while detailed descriptions of the manuscripts' textual contents will situate the recipes in their intellectual contexts, showing the different routes by which medical knowledge was recorded and disseminated. Evidence of production and provenance contained in these books may also help researchers to understand where and by whom these recipes were used. Conservation of the manuscripts will also enable the manuscripts to be digitised safely and ensure both their long-term preservation and accessibility to future generations of researchers.
For more details about the project, including blogposts about the manuscripts and the project's activities, see the Curious Cures project webpage.

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Legal manuscript (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 2994)
This is one of many examples of a non-medical manuscript – and of that group, one of several legal manuscripts – onto whose … more -
Collection of alchemical works (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 4087)
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Composite manuscript of theological and medical texts (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 6865)
This composite manuscript, written for the most part in the first half of the 13th century, has passed through several centuries … more -
The Jenney Commonplace Book (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 7912)
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Rāzī, Liber Almansoris (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 9213)
This manuscript contains a very early copy of a Latin translation of the Liber Almansoris (Kitāb al-Manṣūrī) (The Book of … more -
Middle English Leechbook (MS Add.9308)
This record is deliberately minimal as it is used as teaching material for the Medieval Books and Texts in the Digital Age … more -
Medical receipts (Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 9309)
A collection of about 225 medical recipes in Middle English, including a few charms in Latin and Middle English on ff. 28r-29r. … more -
Medical Treatises (Cambridge, Clare College, MS 12)
This composite manuscript is comprised of four parts, each originally belonging to separate medieval books, but which were … more -
Medical treatises (Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.3.52)
This manuscript principally contains a Middle English translation of the treatise on surgery (Chirurgia Magna) by the French … more -
Medical recipes and charms for horses (Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.4.44)
This manuscript contains a large collection of medical recipes and charms for curing horses. Dr Clarck Drieshen Project … more -
Alchemical works (Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.4.45)
This manuscript of alchemical texts comprises four distinct parts that appear to have been produced separately in fifteenth-century … more -
Medical and astrological treatises (Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.5.53)
This manuscript contains a single collection of medical and astrological treatises. Dr Clarck Drieshen Project Cataloguer … more -
Medical treatises and recipes (Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.5.76)
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Collection of medical, cosmetic, culinary and household recipes (Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.6.9)
This manuscript contains a large collection of medical recipes, including ones for poultices, powders, decoctions, oils, … more -
Medical miscellany (Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.6.29)
This medical handbook was written in the late 14th- to early 15th-century, possibly somewhere in East Anglia, and contains … more -
Bible in Latin (Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.8.12)
This manuscript is a composite volume and comprises a complete copy of the Bible in Latin made in England in the first half … more -
John Gower, Confessio amantis (Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.8.19)
This manuscript contains a copy of the late 14th-century Middle English poem Confessio Amantis (The Lover's Confession), … more -
Medical treatises and recipes (Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.10.44)
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Medical treatises (Cambridge, University Library, MS Dd.11.45)
This composite manuscript of three parts contains medical treatises and recipes in Latin and Middle English, including excerpts … more -
Common Pleas entries (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.1.3)
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Medical manuscript (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.1.13)
This composite manuscript predominantly contains a Middle English translation of the Circa Instans, a Latin work on the medicinal … more -
Collection of medical tracts and recipes (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.1.15)
This manuscript is a compilation of remedies, healing instructions and diagrams with the common goal of healing a medieval … more -
Theological and historical works (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.2.29)
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Walter Atwell's Book of Readings (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.5.18)
This composite manuscript consists of five parts that were probably produced separately from each other. While the first … more -
Johannes de Sancto Paulo, Practica; and a Herbal (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.6.41)
The medical school of Salerno, near Naples in Italy, features prominently in this small but bulky 15th century manuscript. … more -
Legal texts (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ff.5.5)
This manuscript contains a 15th-century collection of legal texts but also features a few added Middle English poems and … more -
Collection of theological works (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ff.6.51)
This composite manuscript consists of two separate parts that were written towards the end of the 14th-century in England … more -
Florilegium (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ff.6.53)
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Macrobius and Mattheus Platearius (Cambridge, University Library, MS Gg.1.10)
This manuscript comprises three parts, all probably copied in the 12th century, perhaps in France. The first part, which … more -
Compilation of classical, late antique and medieval poetic works (including the 'Cambridge Songs') (MS Gg.5.35)
Introduction: the history of the manuscriptCopied by perhaps four scribes during the mid-11th century, this manuscript contains … more -
Medical texts (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 59/153)
This manuscript, like many others included in the Curious Cures in Cambridge Libraries project was once owned or used by … more -
Medical treatises and recipes (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 84/166)
This medical manuscript consists of six independent parts: Part 1 (pp. [i]-[vi] and pp. [vii]-[x])Part 2 (pp. 1-172)Part … more -
Medical texts (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 97/49)
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Medical treatises (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 98/50)
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Medical works (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 105/57)
This composite manuscript consists of two 14th-century volumes of medical works. The presence of a list of the contents of … more -
Medical treatises (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 147/197)
This manuscript of medical treatises was owned by Walter Elveden (d. in or before 1360), a scholar at Cambridge, probably … more -
Medical Texts (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 159/209)
This manuscript is a composite volume, comprised of several smaller Parts, and one larger Part, a late-13th or early-14th … more -
Medical treatises (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 176/97)
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Medical treatises and recipes (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 178/211)
This manuscript contains a collection of Latin medical treatises and recipes but also three previously unrecorded recipes … more -
Medical texts (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 190/223)
John Arderne, Liber receptorum medicinalium, and miscellaneous medical texts (15th century) preceded by a libellus containing … more -
Collection of theological, alchemical and medical texts (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 200/106)
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Pseudo-Aristotle, Secreta Secretorum (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius, MS 213/228)
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Compilation of texts from St Albans (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 230/116)
This vast compilation of theological, devotional, historical, scientific, and medical texts in Latin and Middle English prose … more -
Bartholomew of San Concordio, Summa de Casibus Conscientiae (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 328/715)
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Medical treatises (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 336/725)
This composite manuscript consists of two separate parts (ff. 1r-107v and ff. 108r-172v) with medical works, including astronomical … more -
Medical textbook and fragment of a Psalter (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 345/620)
This manuscript is a composite volume comprised of five Parts, a larger first Part, and four, smaller, mostly single-quire … more -
Antidotarium magnum (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 366/588)
The main text of the manuscript is a 12th-century copy of the Antidotarium magnum, a text produced at the Abbey of Montecassino … more -
Medical texts (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 373/593)
This manuscript is a compendium of medical treatises with a particular focus on the work of Bernard de Gordon (fl. c. 1270-1330), … more -
Johannes de Sancto Paulo, Liber virtutem medicinarum simplicium and other medical texts (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 379/599)
This manuscript is a composite medical volume comprised of several roughly coeval parts copied by different scribes. The … more -
Alexander of Tralles, Practica, and other medical texts (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 400/729)
Most of this 13th-century manuscript comprises a copy of the Latin translation of the Greek medical text, Theraupetica, which … more -
Medical treatises (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 401/623)
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A treatise on preaching and several medical texts (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 407/413)
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Medical tracts and recipes (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 451/392)
This composite manuscript contains a large number of medical treatises and recipes. It also includes a unique Middle English … more -
Medical works (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 451a/750)
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Medical tracts and recipes (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 457/395)
This manuscript contains a large collection of Middle English and Latin medical, alchemical, and household recipes alongside … more -
Medical treatises (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, MS 609/340)
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Calendar or World Chronicle (Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College, 803/807, no. 57)
A fragment of a calendar or world-chronicle, probably English and made c. 1300. A single leaf of parchment, stiff due to … more -
Compilation of theological texts (Cambridge, University Library, MS Hh.6.11)
According to the list of contents at the beginning of this manuscript, it once belonged to Ramsey Abbey, and had been donated … more -
Theological works (Hh.6.13)
This manuscript mainly comprises two large theological works. The first text is a copy of William of Auvergne's De sacramentis … more -
Alchemical and Astrological Texts (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.3.17)
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Roberts Hours (MS Ii.6.2)
An early example of a Book of Hours produced in Bruges for the English market. Though the miniatures share stylistic similarities … more -
Constantinus Africanus, al-Khwarizmi, Hermannus Contractus, and other texts (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.5)
The manuscript is a composite item and consists of several parts: one two-leaf fragment, and three parts consisting of one … more -
Medical treatises and recipes (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.17)
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Two medical tracts on the diseases of women (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.33)
The two main texts in this manuscript have a shared theme and may have had a common readership in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century … more -
Collection of medical, astrological, and theological works (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.39)
This two-volume manuscript is a composite of seven parts, whose production ranges in date from the late twelfth to the fifteenth … more -
Devotions (Cambridge, University Library, MS Ii.6.43)
This devotional manuscript is a composite volume that consists of two parts. Although both parts were produced separately … more -
Collection of devotional works (Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.1.6)
This mid 15th-century manuscript contains an important collection of Middle English religious prose and verse. It features … more -
Abridgement of Statutes (Cambridge, University Library, Kk.6.6)
This manuscript contains an abridgement of statutes from the reign of King Edward III (reg. 1327–1377), written in Latin … more -
Medical recipes (Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk.6.33)
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Medical treatises (Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys MS 878)
This manuscript contains a large number of medical treatises, and medical recipes alongside instructions of a magical, cosmetic, … more -
A 'Sortes' manuscript including the Experimentarius attributed to Bernardus Silvestris (Cambridge, Magdalene College, MS Pepys 911)
Cambridge, Magdalene College, MS Pepys 911 (hereafter Pepys 911) is a beautifully illustrated example of a type of medieval … more -
Medical and culinary recipes (Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys MS 1047)
This manuscript contains a large collection of medical and culinary recipes in Middle English. It also contains a compilation … more -
Medical texts (Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys MS 1307)
This compact manuscript once owned by Samuel Pepys, is, for the most part, a redaction of the popular medical text known … more -
Medical treatises and recipes (Cambridge, Magdalene College, Pepys MS 1661)
This manuscript of medical treatises, recipes, and charms consists of five parts that were separately produced in the first … more -
Collection of theological works (Cambridge, University Library, MS Mm.6.17)
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Medical treatises (Peterhouse 106)
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Medical treatises and recipes (Cambridge, St John's College, MS B.15)
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Medical Treatises (Cambridge, St John's College, MS D.3)
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Medical Texts (Cambridge, St John's College, MS D.4)
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Medical Texts (St John's College, MS D.24)
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Thomas Betson's Notebook (Cambridge, St John's College, MS E.6)
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Medical treatises (Ars medicine) (St John's College MS E.29)
This manuscript contains a number of the standard components that made up the Ars medicine, a group of texts that was used … more -
Medical recipes and treatises (Cambridge, St John's College, MS K.49)
This manuscript contains a large collection of medical, practical, cosmetic, and culinary recipes in Middle English and Latin. … more