13 January 2025
Permission to practise medicine
Our major exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, features many examples of female figures working in professions and fields otherwise dominated by men. Among them, one woman’s story is particularly striking. Around the year 1403, the widow Joan du Lee sent a petition to Henry IV, King of England, asking for permissions so that she could practise medicine around the country. Her petition is known to us through a single document now housed at the National Archives in London (SC 8/231/11510). We are thrilled to have this incredible manuscript on loan to us for the exhibition, which runs until 2 March 2025.
The petition of Joan du Lee to Henry IV, requesting permission to practise medicine; England, c. 1403: The National Archives, SC 8/231/11510
Joan’s document is so significant because it provides first-hand evidence of women practising medicine during the medieval period. Surviving medical manuscripts from the Middle Ages typically give us an impression of a field almost entirely occupied by men, specifically those who were able to receive a university education. Women were not allowed to go to university to study medicine and so could not qualify as licensed physicians. Yet despite the institutional restrictions placed upon them, women were not entirely alienated from medical professions. In fact, they performed many functions and occupied numerous roles, serving as healers and caregivers in domestic and religious households, hospital and infirmary staff, midwives who assisted women in childbirth, wetnurses who looked after young children, and other paid professionals called upon to attend patients or exist in caring capacities.
A midwife hands a newborn baby to their mother: Arundel MS 66, f. 148r
Evidence of the kind of medical treatments women might have performed can be found in a collection of medical treatises (Sloane MS 6), made in England in the 15th century. The volume is also on display alongside Joan’s petition in the exhibition. The manuscript notably features an accompanying set of drawings of female medical practitioners caring for their patients and performing different treatments and surgical procedures. These include ‘cupping’, where a heated glass cup would be applied to a patient’s skin as a means of managing their humoral balance.
A set of drawings showing women performing different medical procedures and treatments, from a collection of medical treatises: Sloane MS 6, f. 177r
However, while women did take up medical roles, they could undoubtedly face animosity and suspicion as a result. Joan’s petition to Henry IV hints at some of the adversity she faced. In her request to Henry, she specifically asks for letters under the great seal – a symbol of the King’s approval that would effectively guarantee the legitimacy of the documents for anyone doubting her – which would allow her to go safely about the country, performing the art of ‘fisik’, without hindrance or disturbance from those people who might regard her with contempt or otherwise mistrust her medical knowledge.
A female medical practitioner performs a cupping treatment to a patient: Sloane MS 6, f. 177r
Unfortunately, we do not know any further details about the kinds of resistance Joan faced as a physician or the medical treatments she performed, or even if Henry ever granted her request. Nonetheless, her petition is a fascinating example of a medieval woman using the legal channels available to her to continue to work in her chosen profession.
To see Joan's petition in person, visit our exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, on show at the British Library from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025. You can purchase your tickets online now.
This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation.
Calum Cockburn