The Rebel Physician: Nicholas Culpeper's Fight For Medical Freedom

The Rebel Physician: Nicholas Culpeper's Fight For Medical Freedom

  • Overview
  • Cast
  • Crew

Status

Released

Release Date

Apr 21, 2007

Runtime

0h 58m

Genres

Documentary, History

Original Title

The Rebel Physician: Nicholas Culpeper's Fight For Medical Freedom

Production Companies

BBC Four

Director

Helen Nixon

Description

Benjamin Woolley presents the gripping story of Nicholas Culpeper, the 17th century radical pharmacist who took on the establishment in order to bring medicine to the masses. Culpeper lived during one of the most tumultuous periods in British history. When the country was ravaged by famine and civil war, he took part in the revolution that culminated in the execution of King Charles I. But it is Culpeper's achievements in health care that made him famous. By practicing (often illegally) as a herbalist and publishing the first English-language texts explaining how to treat common ailments, he helped to break the monopoly of a medical establishment that had abandoned the poor and needy. His book The English Physician became the most successful non-religious English book of all time, remaining in print continuously for more than 350 years.