Thomas Phaire
Encyclopedia
Thomas Phaer (c. 1510 – 12 August 1560) was an English
lawyer
, pediatrician, and author
. He is best known as the author of The Boke of Chyldren, published in 1545, which was the first book on pediatrics
written in the English language
.
. His father, also Thomas, was of Flemish
descent. Phaer was educated at Oxford University. He studied law at Lincoln's Inn
, and became Solicitor
in the Court of the Welsh Marches. He was Member of Parliament
for Carmarthen Boroughs
in 1547 and for Cardigan
for (1555–1559).
He applied to Oxford University for the degree of Bachelor of Medicine in February 1558, stating that he practised for twenty years. He was granted his Bachelor's, and then a Doctorate of Medicine
, later that year.
Phaer died in Cilgerran
, leaving his wife, Ann, and three daughters, Eleanor, Mary, and Elizabeth. He was buried in the local parish
church. He is commemorated as one of the supporters in the coat of arms
of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
. The other supporter is June Lloyd
.
version of the Latin
text Regimen Sanitatis Salerni, and The Boke of Chyldren was published the following year as an addedum to The Regiment of Life.
The Boke of Chyldren anticipated many later trends in medicine. In recognising children as a special class of patients, his book was one of the first treatises to make a distinction between childhood
and adulthood. He recognised various mental diseases, listing of the "manye grevous and perilous diseases" to which children were susceptible, including "apostume of the brayne" (meningitis
), colic
, "terrible dreames and feare in the slepe" (nightmare
s) and "pissing in the bedde" (bedwetting
). He counselled against unnecessary treatments for childhood diseases such as smallpox
or measles
("The best and most sure helpe in this case is not to meddle with anye kynde of medicines, but to let nature work her operacion"). He also condemned the tendency of medical practitioners to obscure their meaning by using Latin, and the consequent confusion for the patient: "How long would they haue the people ignorant? Why grutche they phsyicke to come forth in Engliyshe? Woulde they haue no man to know but onely they?"
He contributed to Sackville
's Mirrour for Magistrates, "Howe Owen Glendower, being seduced by false prophecies, toke upon him to be Prince of Wales." In his later years, he gained a degree of fame for his translation of Virgil
's Aeneid
. The Seven First Bookes of the Eneidos of Virgil converted into English Meter was published in 1558. He had completed two more books in April 1560 and had begun the tenth, but died in the autumn of that year, leaving his task incomplete. The translation was finished by Thomas Twyne
in 1584. Phaer's translation, which was in rhymed fourteen-syllabled lines, was greatly admired by his contemporaries, and he deserves credit as the first to attempt a complete version, the earlier renderings of Surrey
and Gawain Douglas
being fragmentary although of greater poetic value. His translation remained popular until John Dryden
's translation was published in The Works of Virgil in 1697.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, pediatrician, and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. He is best known as the author of The Boke of Chyldren, published in 1545, which was the first book on pediatrics
Pediatrics
Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
written in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Life
It is thought that Phaer was born in NorwichNorwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
. His father, also Thomas, was of Flemish
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
descent. Phaer was educated at Oxford University. He studied law at Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
, and became Solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
in the Court of the Welsh Marches. He was Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Carmarthen Boroughs
Carmarthen (UK Parliament constituency)
Carmarthen was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1542 and 1997...
in 1547 and for Cardigan
Cardigan (UK Parliament constituency)
The Cardigan District of Boroughs was a parliamentary constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors, from 1542 until it was abolished for the 1885 general election...
for (1555–1559).
He applied to Oxford University for the degree of Bachelor of Medicine in February 1558, stating that he practised for twenty years. He was granted his Bachelor's, and then a Doctorate of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
, later that year.
Phaer died in Cilgerran
Cilgerran
Cilgerran is a town in the Hundred of Cilgerran, Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Teifi. It is the site of Cilgerran Castle, built in 1100, from which Owain of Powys is said to have abducted Nest in 1109. It is first mentioned by name in 1164...
, leaving his wife, Ann, and three daughters, Eleanor, Mary, and Elizabeth. He was buried in the local parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
church. He is commemorated as one of the supporters in the coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in London is responsible for the training of postgraduate doctors in paediatrics and conducting the MRCPCH membership exams. They also conduct the Diploma in Child Health exam, which is taken by many doctors who plan a career in General Practice...
. The other supporter is June Lloyd
June Lloyd, Baroness Lloyd of Highbury
June Kathleen Lloyd, Baroness Lloyd of Highbury DBE was a British paediatrician and, in retirement, a cross bench member of the House of Lords...
.
Works
He published Natura brevium in 1535, and Newe Boke of Presidentes in 1543. He began to practise medicine in the 1530s, in his mid to late twenties. He published The Regiment of Life in 1544, a translation of a FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
version of the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
text Regimen Sanitatis Salerni, and The Boke of Chyldren was published the following year as an addedum to The Regiment of Life.
The Boke of Chyldren anticipated many later trends in medicine. In recognising children as a special class of patients, his book was one of the first treatises to make a distinction between childhood
Childhood
Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...
and adulthood. He recognised various mental diseases, listing of the "manye grevous and perilous diseases" to which children were susceptible, including "apostume of the brayne" (meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
), colic
Colic
Colic is a form of pain which starts and stops abruptly. Types include:*Baby colic, a condition, usually in infants, characterized by incessant crying*Renal colic, a pain in the flank, characteristic of kidney stones...
, "terrible dreames and feare in the slepe" (nightmare
Nightmare
A nightmare is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the mind, typically fear or horror, but also despair, anxiety and great sadness. The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror...
s) and "pissing in the bedde" (bedwetting
Bedwetting
Nocturnal enuresis, commonly called bedwetting, is involuntary urination while asleep after the age at which bladder control usually occurs. Nocturnal enuresis is considered primary when a child has not yet had a prolonged period of being dry...
). He counselled against unnecessary treatments for childhood diseases such as smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
or measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
("The best and most sure helpe in this case is not to meddle with anye kynde of medicines, but to let nature work her operacion"). He also condemned the tendency of medical practitioners to obscure their meaning by using Latin, and the consequent confusion for the patient: "How long would they haue the people ignorant? Why grutche they phsyicke to come forth in Engliyshe? Woulde they haue no man to know but onely they?"
He contributed to Sackville
Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset
Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset was an English statesman, poet, dramatist and Freemason. He was the son of Richard Sackville, a cousin to Anne Boleyn. He was a Member of Parliament and Lord High Treasurer.-Biography:...
's Mirrour for Magistrates, "Howe Owen Glendower, being seduced by false prophecies, toke upon him to be Prince of Wales." In his later years, he gained a degree of fame for his translation of Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
's Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
. The Seven First Bookes of the Eneidos of Virgil converted into English Meter was published in 1558. He had completed two more books in April 1560 and had begun the tenth, but died in the autumn of that year, leaving his task incomplete. The translation was finished by Thomas Twyne
Thomas Twyne
Thomas Twyne was an Elizabethan translator and a physician of Lewes in Sussex, best known for completing Thomas Phaer's translation of Virgil's Aeneid into English verse after Phaer's death in 1560, and for his 1579 English translation of De remediis utriusque fortunae, a collection of 253 Latin...
in 1584. Phaer's translation, which was in rhymed fourteen-syllabled lines, was greatly admired by his contemporaries, and he deserves credit as the first to attempt a complete version, the earlier renderings of Surrey
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Henry Howard, KG, , known as The Earl of Surrey although he never was a peer, was an English aristocrat, and one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry.-Life:...
and Gawain Douglas
Gavin Douglas
Gavin Douglas was a Scottish bishop, makar and translator. Although he had an important political career, it is for his poetry that he is now chiefly remembered. His principal pioneering achievement was the Eneados, a full and faithful vernacular translation of the Aeneid of Virgil and the first...
being fragmentary although of greater poetic value. His translation remained popular until John Dryden
John Dryden
John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
's translation was published in The Works of Virgil in 1697.
Works
- Natura brevium (1535)
- A Boke of Presidentes (1543) (a legal work)
- The Regiment of Life (1544) (translation from a French text of Regimen sanitatis SalernitanumRegimen sanitatis SalernitanumRegimen sanitatis Salernitanum, Latin: The Salernitan Rule of Health is a medieval didactic poem in hexameter verse...
) - The Boke of Chyldren (1545) (56 pages, including 4-page preface)
- VirgilVirgilPublius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
's AeneidAeneidThe Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
(1555) (translation from Latin)
Further reading
- The History of Pædiatrics by Sir Frederic Still
- Pediatrics of the Past by John Ruhräh
- The Dictionary of National Biography