Theriac of Jerome Horsey

The study is dedicated to the history of the so-called universal antidote: theriaс (treacle), the goal of the efforts of medical science of the Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Time. The wide usage of poisons in the European politics up to the late 18th century made it necessary to obtain an antidote effective against at least many poisons. Various recipes of theriac mention up to one hundred components, mostly stimulating excretory functions of human organism and working as anesthetic, absorbent, antidepressant, and sedative, some of the components being, nevertheless, useless from the point of view of nowadays pharmacology (such as snake skin, beaver jet, etc.). The first mention of the usage of theriac as a remedy in Russia is connected with the events of 1591 in Uglich, Moscow, and Yaroslavl, when Tsarvich Dmitry Ivanovich died and Tsaritsa Maria Fedorovna Nagaya was supposed to have been poisoned. The paper discusses the etymology of the word theriac, the evolution of the makeup of medieval European theriacs, one of which, the ‘Venice treacle’, was given to the family of the Tsarevich and the Tsaritsa by Jerome Horsey, diplomat and the head of the Moscow office of the English Trade Company.

Keywords

Russia, Middle Ages, source studies, history of medicine, pharmacology, antidotes, theriac

Keywords list (other)

Russia, Middle Ages, source studies, history of medicine, pharmacology, antidotes, theriac

Received

03.06.2023

Publication date

31.12.2023

Number of characters

54845

Cite

GOST	Stolyarova L. Theriac of Jerome Horsey // ISTORIYA – 2023. – V. 14. – Issue 12 (134). Part 2 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840026524-5-1 (circulation date: 21.05.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840026524-5
MLA	Stolyarova, Lyubovj "Theriac of Jerome Horsey." ISTORIYA 14.12-2 (134) (2023) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840026524-5
APA	Stolyarova L. (2023). Theriac of Jerome Horsey. ISTORIYA 14(12-2 (134)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840026524-5

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 26

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Abu Ali ibn Sina (Avitsenna). Kanon vrachebnoj nauki. Tashkent, 1980. Kn. V.

2. Al-Masudi. Zolotye kopi i rossypi samotsvetov / per. D. V. Mikul'skogo. M., 2002.

3. Antropologicheskaya rekonstruktsiya i problemy paleoehtnografii. M., 1973.

4. Arabsko-russkij slovar' / sost. Kh. K. Baranov. M., 1976.

5. Burdina O. B., Olekhnovich O. G. Osobennosti nominatsii lekarstvennykh form v Rossii: dinamika razvitiya termina // Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Rossijskaya i zarubezhnaya filologiya. 2021. T. 13. Vyp. 1. S. 5—14

6. Gadaskina I. D., Tolokontsev N. A. Yady — vchera i segodnya. L., 1988.

7. Gorelova L. E. Vysokaya missiya farmatsevta // Russkij meditsinskij zhurnal. 2002. T. 10. № 6. S. 317—318.

8. Gorsej D. Zapiski o Rossii. XVI — nachalo XVII v. / aer. i sost. A. A. Sevast'yanovoj. M.: MGU, 1990.

9. Manandyan Ya. A. Krugovoj put' Pompeya v Zakavkaz'e // Vestnik drevnej istorii. 1939. № 4 (9). S. 70—82.

10. Panov I. E. Otechestvennaya Sudebnaya meditsina s drevnosti do nashikh dnej. M., 2011.

11. Panova T., Pezhemskij D. Otravili!: Zhizn' i smert' Eleny Glinskoj. Istoriko-antropologicheskoe rassledovanie // Rodina. 2004. № 12. S. 26—31.

12. Persidsko-russkij slovar' / sost. V. A. Rubinchik. M., 1970

13. Stolyarova L. V., Belousov P. V. Dzherom Gorsej o sobytiyakh maya-iyunya 1591 g. v Ugliche i v Moskve // Drevnejshie gosudarstva Vostochnoj Evropy. 2011 g.: Ustnaya traditsiya v pis'mennom tekste. M., 2013. C. 461—496.

14. A Latin Dictionary / Ch. T. Lewis and Ch. Short. Oxford, 1879

15. A Physical Directory: Or a translation of the Dispensatory made by Colledge of Physitians of London / Nicholas Culperer. L., 1650.

16. Adrian von Mynsicht. Hadriani a Mynsicht Thesaurus et armamentarium medico-chymicum. Lubecae, 1638.

17. Aetii medici graeci contractae ex veteribus medicinae tetrabiblios / Janus Cornarius. Lugduni, 1549.

18. Andromachi Senioris antiquissimum de Theriaca Carmen… Norimbergae, 1754.

19. Clavdii Galeni Pergameni De anatomicis administrationibus libri nouem / J. Cornarius. 1531.

20. Codex medicamentaria, seu Pharmacopoea Parisiensis / J.-B. Boyer. Parisiis, 1758.

21. Codex medicamentarius seu Pharmacopoea Parisiensis / P. Hardvinus. Lutetiae Parisiorum, 1638.

22. Codex medicamentarius. Pharmacopée Française / G. Masson. P., 1758.

23. Codex medicamentarius. Pharmacopée Française / G. Masson. P., 1884.

24. Codex medicamentarius. Pharmacopée Française / G. Masson. P., 1884. R. 388—390.

25. De Antidotis / Jul. Martianus // Galeni Operum. Basilea, 1549. Lib. I.

26. De Antidotis // Galeni Operum. Basileae, 1549. T. V.

27. Dechambre A. Dictionnaire encyclopédique des sciences médicales. P., 1886. T. 33. P. 378.

28. Dictionnaire de la langue française / É. Littré. P., 1874. T. 2.

29. Dictionnaire encyclopédique des sciences médicales / A. Dechambre et L. Lereboullet. P., 1874. T. 8; P., 1887. T. 17.

30. Dio’s Roman History / T. E. Page, W. H. D. Rouse. L., 1914. Vol. III

31. Enchiridion Dispensarium… / Thibault Lespleigney. Lugduni, 1543.

32. Enchiridion… / Adolf Occo. Augsburg, 1564.

33. Galen De Antidotis // Galeni Operum Quintus Tomus. Basileae, 1549. L. I. P. 389—392.

34. Griffin J. P. Venetian treacle and the foundation of medicines regulation / British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 2004. Vol. 58. № 3. P. 317—325.

35. Hadriani a Mynsicht Thesaurus et armamentarium medico-chymicum. Lubecae, 1638. Pharmacopoea Rossica // Codex medicamentarius Europaeus. Leipzig, 1821. Sect. 5. T. 1.

36. Lémery N. Pharmacopée universelle. P., 1764. T. 1, 2.

37. Liddell H. G., Scott R. A Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford, 1940.

38. Maimonides. On Poisons and the Protection against Lethal Drugs / transl. G. Bos. Provo, Utah, 2009.

39. Mynsicht A., von. Thesauri et armamentarii mediochymici appendix philosophica-poyotico videlicet; Testamentum Hadrianeum: Quo suam de aureo philosophorum lapide sententiam, adeoqueultimae voluntatis sua dispositionem, sapientiae & doctinae filius revelat autor // Thesaurus et armamentarium .... Lubecae [Lübeck], 1638.

40. Pharmacopaea Amstelredamensis. Amsterdam, 1683.

41. Pharmacopee / B. Bauderon. Lyon, 1611.

42. Pharmacopée royale galénique et chymique / M. Charas. P.,1676.

43. Pharmacopée universelle, contenant toutes les compositions de pharmacie qui sont en usage dans la médecine, tant en France que par toute l'Europe... Avec un lexicon pharmaceutique... Par Nicolas Lemery. P.: de Saint & Saillant [etc.], 1763. Vol. 1.

44. Pharmacopoeia Augustana Reformata / J. Zwelfer. Gaudae, 1653.

45. Pharmacopoeia Universalis / R. James. L., 1747.

46. Rude & Barbarous Kingdom. Russia in the Accounts of Sixteenth Century English Voyagers / ed. by L. E. Berry, R. O. Crummey. Madison; Vilwaukee; L., 1968.

47. The History of al-Tabari / transl. J. L. Kraemer. N. Y., 1989. Vol. XXXIV.

48. The Works of Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-Yaʿqūbī / M. S. Gordon & others. Online edition. Vol. 3: The History.