Hieronymus Brunschwig or Hieronymus Brunschwygk () was a German surgeon ("Wundarzt"), alchemist and botanist. Around 1500, he published several works in German, including a plague treatise and two books on pharmaceutical distillation, aimed at non-academic practitioners.Taape, Tillmann. "Part I. Crafting Medicine in the Early Age of Print". Crafting Medicine: Artisans, Knowledge, and the Common Man in Hieronymus Brunschwig's Books on Surgery and Distillation, University of Chicago Press, 2025, pp. 1- 28. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226840598-002 He was notable for his methods of treatment of gunshot wounds and for his early work on distillation techniques. His most influential book was the Liber de arte distillandi de simplicibus (also called Kleines Destillierbuch). These distillation books helped establish the genre of Destillierbücher, which became popular during the sixteenth century, especially among non-academic readers. He was also the author of the Buch der Cirurgia (1497), the first printed surgical treatise in German, which compiled ancient and medieval medical knowledge and included some of the earliest detailed discussions of gunshot wounds, fractures, dislocations, and surgical treatments.Hernigou, P. Medieval orthopaedic history in Germany: Hieronymus Brunschwig and Hans von Gersdorff. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 39, 2081–2086 (2015).
Life Brunschwig was born c. 1450 in the free imperial city of Strasbourg, which in his time was part of the Holy Roman Empire and an important center for printing and scientific study.Hernigou, P. Medieval orthopaedic history in Germany: Hieronymus Brunschwig and Hans von Gersdorff. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 39, 2081–2086 (2015). He was trained as a craftsman in the guild of barbers and bathers and understood medicine (arznei) primarily as a practical craft (kunst or handwerk), grounded in manual skill and experience. Some notes in his Buch der Cirurgia may suggest that he studied in Bologna, Padua and Paris and that he participated in the Burgundian Wars, but all this is unfounded.Henry E. Sigerist. "Hieronymus Brunschwig and his work". In: The book of Cirurgia by Hieronymus Brunschwig. R. Lier, Milano 1923, p. V.Jan Frederiksen. Hieronymus Brunschwig. In: Die Deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters. Verfasserlexikon. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1978, Vol I, sp. 1073. Archival evidence records him among barbers drafted for military service in the Burgundy campaigns in the 1470s. After training as a surgeon, he traveled widely through regions such as Alsace, Swabia, Bavaria, Franconia, and the Rhineland as far as Cologne. At these places, he practiced surgery and learned pharmaceutical techniques, especially the distillation of medicinal substances. He also drew on a wide range of medical and alchemical texts, adapting this knowledge into practical applications for the workshop and bedside. He settled at Strasbourg at the end of the fifteenth century, where he worked primarily as a surgeon serving local practitioners. He died in Strasbourg, c. 1512.
Publications
1497: Das Buch der Cirurgia: Hantwirckung der Wundarztny.
Reprints: Strasbourg 1513 - Rostock 1518 in Low German - Augsburg 1534 - Munich 1911, 1968 - Milan - 1923. Translations: 1) In English by Peter Treveris in London. 1525. 2) In Dutch by Jan Berents in Utrecht. 1535.
1500 (08.05.): Liber de arte distillandi de simplicibus. (= Kleines Destillierbuch)
Reprints of the Liber de arte distillandi de simplicibus were contained in the reprints of Medicinarius (see below) starting from 1505. Moreover the Liber de arte distillandi de simplicibus was merged with the Gart der Gesundheit (Mainz 1485) into the Kräuterbuch von allem Erdgewächs of Eucharius Rösslin the Younger. (Frankfurt 1533, 1535, 1536, 1538, 1540, 1542 and 1546). Translations: 1) In Dutch by Thomas van der Noot in Brussels. 1517. 2) In English by Lawrence Andrew in London 1527. 3) In Czech by Jan GüntherJan Günther. Liber de arte distillandi. Knihy o pravém umění distilování. Morava, Olomouc 1559. 54.G.593; Národní knihovna České republiky in Olmütz. 1559.
1500 (19.08.): Liber pestilentialis de venenis epidemie.: It was an illustrated work of approximately seventy pages analyzing how medical practitioners and ordinary citizens could navigate epidemics such as the plague.Taape, Tillmann. "Part I. Crafting Medicine in the Early Age of Print". Crafting Medicine: Artisans, Knowledge, and the Common Man in Hieronymus Brunschwig's Books on Surgery and Distillation, University of Chicago Press, 2025, pp. 1- 28. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226840598-002
1505: Medicinarius: Containing: The Liber de arte distillandi de simplicibus. (Kleines Destillierbuch), The treatise De vita libri tres of Marsilio Ficino (translated into German by Johann Adelphi of Strasbourg), Glossaries of drugs names, A treatise called De Quinta essentia which was largely influenced by the book De consideratione quintae essentiae of Jean de Roquetaillade. Reprints: Strasbourg 1508, 1515, 1521, 1528, 1531, 1537; Frankfurt 1551, 1554, 1555, 1560, 1610, 161
1512: Liber de arte distillandi de compositis. (= Großes Destillierbuch):
Containing : A book about «Quinta essentia» and other alchemical drugs – with long passages taken out of the book De consideratione quintae essentiae of Jean de Roquetaillade,Udo Benzenhöfer. Johannes' de Rupescissa « Liber de consideratione quintae essentiae omnium rerum » deutsch. F. Steiner, Stuttgart 1989, p. 58-63. An enumeration of simplicia (medicines, composed by one single drug) and composita (medicines, composed by several drugs) – according to the character of diseases, An enumeration of simplicia and composita – according to the location of diseases (from head to feet), An enumeration of simplicia and composita – for use in surgical practice and A treatise intitled «Thesaurus pauperum» - dispensatory in 45 chapters, containing cheap medicines for the poor. The «Thesaurus pauperum» was separately reprinted: 1) under the titles Hausapotheke or Hausarzneibüchlein. (39 reprints. 1537 -1658). 2) under the title Apotheke für den gemeinen Mann together with the Büchlein von den ausgebrannten Wässern, which was ascribed to Michael Puff. (30 reprints. 1529-1619). Reprints of the whole Liber de arte distillandi de compositis: Strasbourg 1519, 1532; Frankfurt 1538, 1551, 1552, 1597; Leipzig 1972.
Buch der Cirurgia Hieronymus Brunschwig's Buch der Cirurgia, was first published in 1497 in Strasbourg by Johannes Grüninger, and was the first printed surgical treatise in the German language, representing a major milestone in the development of surgical literature in Germany.Taape, Tillmann. "Part II. Crafting Surgical Identities". Crafting Medicine: Artisans, Knowledge, and the Common Man in Hieronymus Brunschwig's Books on Surgery and Distillation, University of Chicago Press, 2025, pp. 29-68. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226840598-003 At a time when surgery in Germany lagged behind that of France and Italy, this work demonstrated that German surgeons were not isolated form broader European medical traditions. In fact, Brunschwig was one of the first German surgeons to make extensive use of French and Italian sources, thereby helping to transmit their advances to a wider German-speaking audience.Tubbs, R. Shane, et al. "Hieronymus Brunschwig (c. 1450–1513): His Life and Contributions to Surgery." Child's Nervous System [Berlin/Heidelberg], vol. 28, no. 4, April 2012, pp. 629–32, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-011-1417-x.
The Cirurgia was written for the unspecialized or general surgeon and was primarily a compilation of knowledge derived from classical, Arabic, medieval, and contemporary sources, combined with Brunschwig's own practical experience.Gerstner, Patsy A. "Surgical Instruments, from Brunschwig's Cirurgia." Technology and Culture 7, no. 1 (1966): 70–71. https://doi.org/10.2307/3101605. The purpose of this work was to teach the art of surgery (chirurgia) to those seeking to learn it. The handbook is comprehensive, covering all aspects of general surgery, with particular attention given to gunshot wounds, and fractures. It includes detailed discussions of gunshot wounds, arrow injuries, amputations, cranial procedures such as trepanation, and the treatments of dislocations and fractures.Hernigou, P. Medieval orthopaedic history in Germany: Hieronymus Brunschwig and Hans von Gersdorff. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 39, 2081–2086 (2015).
The handbook is divided to multiple treatises that address the role of the surgeon, the nature and causes of wounds, methods of treatment arranged from head to foot, accidental and deliberate injuries, and the management and reduction of fractures. The final part consists of an antidotarium, a collection of medicinal remedies like ointments and plasters used in surgical care.Benati, Chiara. "Physical Impairment in the First Surgical Handbooks Printed in Germany." Fifteenth-Century Studies 35, edited by Matthew Z. Heintzelman et al., vol. 35, Boydell & Brewer, 2010, pp. 12–22. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7722/j.ctt81rks.5.
It also includes notable illustrations, including numerous woodcuts depicting surgeons treating patients and demonstrating procedures. They are not always scientifically precise, but these images served an educational function, often portraying the surgeon as a teacher instructing students. The book also includes multiple depictions of surgical instruments, such as pincers for removing arrowheads or bullets, trephining tools for cranial surgery, bone saws for amputation, and other instruments like syringes, knives, cauteries, and needles. This also provided insight into the technology of late fifteenth-century surgery.
Unlike most contemporary medical texts, the Cirurgia was written in German rather than Latin, making it more accessible to practicing surgeons. Its popularity is reflected in its multiple editions (1497, 1513, 1534, 1539) and numerous translation, including English (London, 1525), Dutch (Utrecht, 1535), and Czech (Olomouc, 1559). The use of the printing press allowed the work to circulate widely, and its English translation became the first illustrated surgical book printed in that language.Leong, Elaine. 2020. "Learning Medicine by the Book: Reading and Writing Surgical Manuals in Early Modern London." BJHS Themes 5: 93–110. https://doi.org/10.1017/bjt.2020.7.
The Buch der Cirurgia played a crucial role in disseminating surgical knowledge in Germany. Through compiling established tradition and integrating them with practical experience, Brunschwig provided a manual that enabled German surgeons to participate in the broader progress of European medicine during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance.
Liber de arte distillandi de simplicibus
The Liber de arte distillandi de simplicibus (1500) was the earliest printed book dealing with the techniques of distillation from herbal and animal substances. It reflects an early modern understanding of nature in which matter, including the human body, was constantly changing and subject to decay, and presents distillation as a process that could stabilize and purify these materials for medicinal use.Taape, Tillmann. "Distilling Reliable Remedies: Hieronymus Brunschwig's Liber de Arte Distillandi (1500) Between Alchemical Learning and Craft Practice." Ambix [England], vol. 61, no. 3, August 2014, pp. 236–56, https://doi.org/10.1179/0002698014Z.00000000060.
It consisted of three parts: