Eucharius Rösslin
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Eucharius Rösslin (Roslin, Rößlin), sometimes known as Eucharius Rhodion, (c. 1470 – 1526) was a German
physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
who in 1513 authored a book about
childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section and becomes a newborn to ...
called ''Der Rosengarten'' (The Rose Garden), which became a standard medical text for
midwives A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their ...
.


Midwifery

Rösslin was an
apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...
at
Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
before being elected physician to the city of Frankfurt on Main in 1506. He served as physician to the city of
Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...
in the service of
Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...
, wife of Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. While examining and supervising the city's midwives, he found their practice of
midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...
to be careless and substandard, leading to high rates of
infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of an infant before the infant's first birthday. The occurrence of infant mortality in a population can be described by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age ...
. As a result, he wrote his book in German, to make it accessible, and published it in the then-German city of
Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
. He included in it
engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...
s by Martin Caldenbach, a pupil of
Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...
. Thereby ''Der Rosengarten'' gave for the first time printed illustrations of the birthing chair, the lying-in chamber, and the positions of the
fetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Pren ...
in utero The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', : uteri or uteruses) or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans, that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more fertilized eggs until bir ...
. Alongside his direct observation of midwifery at Worms, Rösslin incorporated information gleaned from writers of antiquity such as
Muscio Muscio (also Mustio) is the supposed author of the ''Genecia'' (''Gynaecia''), a treatise of gynecology dating to ca. AD 500, preserved in a manuscript of ca. AD 900. The treatise borrows heavily from Soranus. Nothing is known about the life of M ...
and Soranus of
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. In the introductory prologue to the text, written in verse, Rosslin emphasizes the importance of the role of men in
reproduction Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. There are two forms of reproduction: Asexual reproduction, asexual and Sexual ...
and blames midwives who "through neglect and oversight... destroy children far and wide." He threatens midwives with a warning that
God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
will call them to account. "And since no midwife that I've asked / Could tell me anything of her task / I'm left to my medical education."


Success

The book was an immediate success. It then appeared in English in 1540 as ''The Birth of Mankind''. By the mid-16th century, it had been translated into all the main European languages and had gone through numerous editions. Rösslin returned to his original job in Frankfurt in 1517, where he remained until his death in 1526. His son, Eucharius Rösslin the Younger, succeeded his father as town physician. He wrote a book on minerals and mineral use, and published a Latin translation of his father's book as ''De partu Hominis'' in 1532.


''Der Rosengarten''

And when the time of labour is come, in the same stoole ought to be put many clothes or crows in the backe of it, the which the midwife may remove from one side to another, according as necessity shall require. The Midwife her selfe shall sit before the labouring woman, and shall diligently observe and waite, how much, and after what meanes the child sitrreth itselfe: also shall with hands, first anoynted with the oyle of almonds or the oyle of those white lillies, rule and direct everything as shall seeme best. Also the midwife must instruct and comfort the party, not only refreshing her with good meate and drinke, but also with sweet words, giving her hope of a good speedie deliverance, encouraging and enstomacking her to patience and tolerance, bidding her to hold in her breath as much as she may, also stroking gently with her hands her belly about the Navell, for that helpeth to depress the birth downeward.Fetal Neonatal Ed. – Sign In Page
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Gallery

File:Eucharius Rösslin - Der schwangeren Frauen und Hebammen Rosengarten.jpg,
Presentation (obstetrics) In obstetrics, the presentation of a fetus about to be Childbirth, born specifies which Human anatomy, anatomical part of the fetus is leading, that is, is closest to the pelvic inlet of the birth canal. According to the leading part, this is ide ...
illustration Image:Eucharius Rößlin Rosgarten Childbirth.jpg, 4th Chapter illustration. A woman giving birth on a birth chair.


References


External links


Eucharius Rösslin (c 1470–1526) of Germany and the rebirth of midwiferyReforming the Body
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosslin, Eucharius 1470s births 1526 deaths Physicians from Baden-Württemberg 16th-century German physicians People from Worms, Germany Midwifery 15th-century German physicians 16th-century German writers 16th-century German male writers