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The Middleton Accounts of 1526: #22

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 28th April. It was described as payment for aqua vitae. The amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today.

 

In the Accounts #20, we explained the history of aqua vitae (known today as liquors such as brandy and whisky) and what it was made from. Given the two purchases of aqua vitae in close proximity in the accounts and the nature of how it was used medicinally in the pre-Reformation Tudor era, there is a chance that someone in the household had fallen ill, or Sir Henry could have been feeling his age.

 

It was believed that aqua vitae had wide-ranging curative properties and was often added as a key ingredient for many medicines. Medieval physicians and alchemists believed that it could: improve digestion and relieve stomach pains or colic; protect or combat “evil” infections such as plague or smallpox; ease colds and respiratory congestion; be used on wounds; calm toothache; revive the heart; cure blindness and deafness; alleviate joint pain; treat paralysis; treat epilepsy and headaches; improve memory; combat the impact of aging; and more. Furthermore, it was believed that by combining it with other ingredients, it could enhance their properties too.  

 

It was thought it could combat aging because alchemists had thought it was an immortality elixir, many touting it as a panacea that would prolong life, clear ailments and revive youth. They thought that through distillation they were forming the “fifth essence”, an uncorruptible element which could purify the body and thus reverse aging. Alchemists also noted how aqua vitae could preserve fresh items like fruits and meat and prevent them from rotting. They then concluded that it could therefore also prevent the decay (aging) of the human body. Furthermore, this was in the era when medicine was based on the “humors” that were linked to the elemental qualities of hot, cold, wet and dry, and it was believed that the distillation infused the liquid with the “fire of life”, which would rejuvenate the “cold” blood that afflicted the elderly.    

 

The curative powers of aqua vitae were exaggerated but not altogether incorrect. Its use in an antiseptic way, as an anaesthetic or sedative, as a digestive aid, and to stabilise other medicinal ingredients was correct. However, it would definitely not have cured plague nor smallpox. It would also not have combatted the effects of aging.  


Iced lemon water on the bar in the Library at Middleton Hall, July 2025.
Iced lemon water on the bar in the Library at Middleton Hall, July 2025.

 Next entry: 29th April

 

Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. p.382.

Kirsten Amor, “Whisky’s Curious Medicinal History”, 16 July 2019.  https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/features/26449/whisky-s-curious-medicinal-history/


Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.


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