Explore Apothecaries Outside of Guild Hall
Greetings! You may call me Erasmus, the apothecary (sometimes referred to as the physicians's cooke). I see you are interested in apprenticing to our guild. It takes a quick mind to make it to journeyman status within our guild, but you look like a clever sort to me. Come and I will fill you in on some of the history of the Apothecary Guild and what lays in store for you should you become one of our apprentices.
Originally Apothecaries belonged to the Grocer's Guild. Then they joined with physicians and barber/surgeons to form a larger more specific guild. Eventually the physicians split off to form the College of Physicians, leaving the apothecaries and barber/surgeons with their own separate guild. And now, as you can see, we apothecaries have split with the barber/surgeons to form our own unique guild. Neither barber/surgeons nor physicians can get along without us and the laws make sure that we cannot get along without them. I guess you would say that we are in need of one another to perform our duties.
Henry VIII has passed an act which gives authority to the College of Physicians to select four of their members "to enter into the house or houses of all and every Apothecary...to search, view, and see such Apothecary-wares, drugs and stuffs, as the said Apothecaries shall have in their house." If any defective or corrupt drugs are found during such a search, the wardens of the apothecaries' guild are to be summoned and the physicians are empowered to then destroy the suspicious drugs.
One of our prominent physicians,William Bullen, who has served since the reign of Edward VI, has written some rules of governance for the conduct of apothecaries. Some of these are that the apothecary shall neither increase or decrease the physician's prescription and keep it for himself; that he not use one ingredient for another without first asking the physician; and that he keep in mind that he is merely the physician's cooke.
Representatives of the physicians and surgeons in London have outlines a set of rules which dictate that two physicians, two surgeons, and two apothecaries will form a committee for the purpose of searching all apothecary shops for false medicines and if found, they would pour these "quack" preparations into the gutter. Quack preparations indeed! I think maybe many of their members are the "quacks"! If you really want to know more about "quack practices" I have been keeping a record of such activities in my journal. You are free to look through it if you wish.
But enough of my talk. You should really talk to many people to learn about the physician's role in these times. I know of many who would gladly speak with you. Here, I will give you a list of their names and where you may find them:
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Durant, Will (1953). The Renaissance: A History of Civilization in Italy from 1304-1576 A.D. Simon & Schuster. New York, New York.
Lyon, Sue (Ed.) (1989). Shakespeare's England. Marshall Cavendish, New York, N.Y.
Newman, Art (1988). The Illustrated Treasury of Medical Curiosa. McGraw-Hill, Inc. New York, New York.