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2800BC
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First written record of herbal medicines, the Pen Ts'ao by
Shen Nung
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| c400BC |
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First Greek herbal written; Hippocrates develops principles
of diet, exercise and happiness as the cornerstones of
health |
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| c100BC |
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First illustrated herbal produced in Greece |
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| c50AD |
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Roman Empire spreads herbal medicine and commerce of plants
around the Empire |
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| c200AD |
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Herbal practitioner, Galen, creates system for classifying
illnesses and remedies |
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| c500AD |
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Hippocrates' principles followed in Britain by Myddfai
practitioners throughout Saxon times |
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| c800AD |
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Monks now pioneer herbal medicine with infirmaries and
physic gardens at every monastery |
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| 1100sAD |
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Arab world now major influence on medicine and healing
practices.
Physician Avicenna writes the Canon of Medicine |
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| 1200sAD |
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Black Death spreads across Europe; 'qualified' apothecaries
try bleeding, purging, mercury and arsenic to stem the
epidemic with no more success than traditional herbalists
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| 1500sAD |
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Henry VII promotes herbal medicine in the face of the
growing number of untrained apothecaries and other 'medical
practitioners' flourishing in London
Various Acts of Parliament passed to introduce some
regulation of medical practices including protection for
'simple herbalists' to practice without fear of
prosecution
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| 1600sAD |
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Society sees the first two-tier health system emerge -
herbs for the poor and exotics (plant, animal or mineral
extracts) or 'drugs' for the rich
Nicholas Culpepper writes his famous herbal: The English
Physician, explaining in simple terms the practice of herbal
medicine
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| 1700sAD |
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Preacher Charles Wesley advocates a sensible diet, good
hygiene and herbal medicine as the keys to a healthy life |
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| 1800sAD |
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Herbal medicines begin to be eclipsed by mineral-drug based
treatments. With powerful drugs such as calomel (mercury) and
laudanum available over the counter serious side effects begin
to be documented.
Albert Coffin pioneers low-cost herbal remedies using
plants from his native America as well as European ones
helping hundreds of working class people at his north of
England practice.
Burgeoning pharmaceuticals industry makes herbal medicine
seem outdated. National Association of Medical Herbalists
founded to defend the practice. Later to become the National
Institute of Medical Herbalists
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| 1900sAD |
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Medicinal herbals used extensively during World War I as
drugs are in short supply.
Post war period sees enormous expansion in the
international pharmaceuticals industry and the discovery of
penicillin
A handful of dedicated herbalists keep the tradition alive.
A Modern Herbal by Hilda Leyel is published.
Pharmacy & Medicines Act 1941 withdraws herbal
practitioners rights to supply patients with medicines. Public
outcry ensures the Act is never enforced.
After much campaigning by the NIMH, the Medicines Act in
1968 reinstates practitioners' rights and the British Herbal
Medicine Association is founded.
The BHMA produce the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia.
Revised edition is published in 1990. Public concern starts
to grow over the side effects of the 'wonder drugs' of the
1950s and their impact on the environment.
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| 2000AD |
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EU legislation advocates all herbal medicines should be
subject to compulsory clinical testing comparable to that
undertaken for conventional drugs. Thus all herbal medicines
would be licensed.
UK government currently considering the possible impact and
public perception of this legislation.
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