Lancelot Browne (c.1545–1605) was an English physician.

Life

He was a native of York. He matriculated at

St. John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

, in May 1559, where he was a few months behind William Gilbert, with whom he associated in later life. He graduated B.A. in 1562–3, and M.A. in 1566. In 1567 he was elected fellow of

Pembroke Hall Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

; in 1570 received the license of the university to practise physic. He took a leading part in the opposition to the new statutes of the university promulgated in 1572, and in 1573 was made proctor. He was created M.D. in 1576, and after this would appear to have moved to London, as on 10 June 1584 he was elected fellow of the

College of Physicians A college of physicians is a national or provincial organisation concerned with the practice of medicine. {{Expand list, date=February 2011 Such institutions include: * American College of Physicians * Ceylon College of Physicians * College of Phy ...

. He was censor in 1587, and several times afterwards; an elect in 1599; and a member of the council of the college in 1604–5; but died in 1605, probably shortly before 11 December Browne was physician to Queen Elizabeth, to James I, and to his queen

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Eng ...

. In the 1570s the privy council consulted him and

Roger Marbeck Roger Marbeck (1536–1605), son of organist John Marbeck, was a noted classical scholar, was appointed public orator in the University of Oxford in 1564, and in 1565 became a canon of Christ Church and was elected Provost of Oriel College; h ...

, another royal physician, concerning diseases encountered in the English naval campaign against the Spanish. Just before the Spanish Armada, Browne, Gilbert, Marbeck and Ralph Wilkinson were put on alert to help the navy with drugs. He was one of those entrusted by the College of Physicians in 1589 with the preparation of a

pharmacopoeia A pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea (from the obsolete typography ''pharmacopœia'', meaning "drug-making"), in its modern technical sense, is a book containing directions for the identification of compound medicines, and published by ...

, and in 1594 was on a committee appointed for the same object. The work was stalled, and was not resumed until after his death. He had learned some Arabic, and William Bedwell relates that, when ambassadors came in 1600 from the Sultan of Morocco, Browne was the only person who could understand them.

G. J. Toomer Gerald James Toomer (born 23 November 1934) is a historian of astronomy and mathematics who has written numerous books and papers on ancient Greek and medieval Islamic astronomy. In particular, he translated Ptolemy's '' Almagest'' into Englis ...

, ''Eastern Wisedome and Learning: the study of Arabic in seventeenth-century England'' (1996), p. 55.

Works

He contributed a commendatory letter in Latin prefixed to

John Gerard John Gerard (also John Gerarde, c. 1545–1612) was an English herbalist with a large garden in Holborn, now part of London. His 1,484-page illustrated ''Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes'', first published in 1597, became a popular gard ...

's ''Great Herbal'' (first edition, 1597). A dictionary he compiled to the works of Avicenna was unpublished, but was used much later by

Edmund Castell Edmund Castell (1606–1686) was an English orientalist. He was born at Tadlow, in Cambridgeshire. At the age of fifteen he entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, gaining his BA in 1624-5 and his MA in 1628. Appointed Professor of Arabic in 1666, ...

for his ''Lexicon Heptaglotton'', and Browne is mentioned in the introduction. He collaborated with Thomas Blundeville, on ''The Theoriques of the Seuen Planets'' (1602),an astronomy book that also published research of William Gilbert on magnetism, and contained work by

Henry Briggs Henry Briggs may refer to: *Henry Briggs (mathematician) (1561–1630), English mathematician *Henry Perronet Briggs (1793–1844), English painter *Henry George Briggs (1824–1872), English merchant, traveller, and orientalist *Henry Shaw Briggs ...

and Edward Wright.

Family

He was father-in-law to

William Harvey William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions in anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, the systemic circulation and propert ...

, who married his daughter Elizabeth, and father of Galen Browne, also a physician.

Notes

References

External links

Page at Royal College of Physicians
{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Lancelot 1545 births 1605 deaths 16th-century English medical doctors 17th-century English medical doctors Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge