A version of John Mirfield’s Gouernayl of Helþe found in Wellcome Collection MS 674 demonstrates the continuing relevance and adaptability of medieval regimens to post-medieval contexts. First composed in the late fourteenth century, Mirfield’s work was among the earliest medical texts printed in late fifteenth-century England. It then reappeared, considerably revised, in a late sixteenth-century manuscript. This chapter traces the substantive changes made to Mirfield’s medieval regimen over time to understand which aspects of health culture were identified as needing revision, notably in terms of the non-naturals, and what was regarded as harmful or beneficial to health.

Arderne’s writings retained their popularity in both Latin and English after 1500, showing the artificiality of the supposed division between medieval and early modern. This chapter investigates surviving manuscripts made in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, commissioned or owned by practising surgeons and medics, rather than by university teachers or scholars. These manuscripts were heavily illustrated within or alongside the text-block, reinforcing the textual bias towards visualisation and personal witness. As case studies, the chapter will also consider the single printing (1588) of Arderne’s writings on fistula in ano, edited by the barber surgeon John Read, and a manuscript owned c.1645–8 by the ship’s surgeon Walter Hamond, who reflected on the continued usefulness of Arderne’s surgical techniques and recipes, suggested some improvements, and also commented on the financial charges Arderne made for his services and their contemporary equivalents.