Edward Jorden

Edward Jorden

Name	Edward Jorden
Birth name
Birth date	1569
Birth place	High Halden, Kent, England
Death date	7 January 1633
Death place	London, England
Alma mater
Occupation	Physician
Years active
Organization
Known for	Work on hysteria and witchcraft
Notable works
Spouse(s)
Website

Edward Jorden (1569 – 7 January 1633) was an English physician known for his pioneering work in the field of medicine and his influential treatise on hysteria and witchcraft. His work laid the foundation for understanding the medical explanations behind conditions that were often attributed to supernatural causes in the early modern period.

Early Life and Education

Edward Jorden was born in 1569 in High Halden, Kent, England. He pursued his education at the University of Oxford, where he studied under prominent scholars of the time. Jorden later continued his medical studies at the University of Padua, which was renowned for its medical faculty.

Medical Career

Jorden returned to England and established a successful medical practice in London. He became a member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1604, where he was highly regarded for his medical expertise and scholarly contributions.

Contributions to Medicine

Edward Jorden is best known for his work "A Briefe Discourse of a Disease Called the Suffocation of the Mother" published in 1603. In this treatise, Jorden argued that many cases of supposed witchcraft and possession were actually due to natural causes, specifically a condition he referred to as "suffocation of the mother," which is now understood as a form of hysteria.

Jorden's work was groundbreaking in that it challenged the prevailing beliefs of the time, which often attributed unexplained medical phenomena to supernatural forces. He proposed that these conditions could be explained by natural causes, such as imbalances in the body, and should be treated as medical issues rather than matters of witchcraft.

Legacy

Edward Jorden's contributions to medicine were significant in shifting the perspective from supernatural explanations to natural and medical explanations for certain conditions. His work influenced later physicians and helped pave the way for more scientific approaches to medicine.

Also see

• Hysteria
• Witchcraft
• Royal College of Physicians
• University of Padua