Forman’s and Napier’s consultations typically began with questions. First the astrologer asked questions about the patient’s name and age. Then the patient or the person asking on her of his behalf, known as the ‘querent’, asked a question about the cause of a disease or another matter. Parents asked about children, husbands asked about wives, and masters asked about servants. Questions were integral to the exchanges between the astrologers and their clients. This edition is structured around these questions.
Forman recorded a limited repertoire of questions from his patients and querents. The majority were about medical topics, with the majority of these some form of ‘What is my disease?’, often abbreviated as ‘diz’. He was asked less often about topics that we have grouped together as ‘personal affairs’ and ‘sex, family and generation’. He was his own best client, posing a rich array of questions about his bodily, financial, romantic, and spiritual concerns.
Forman taught Napier his system, but Napier and his associates tended to record discursive details rather than formulaic questions. Hence Napier’s topics include more granular categories about body parts and symptoms. His cases include proportionally more medical questions, and within these, more questions about diseases of the mind and witchcraft. He, like Forman, consulted the stars on his own behalf, often about topics related to his patients and his medical practice. Only occasionally did Napier’s associates ask questions on their own behalves.
Throughout the casebooks, questions represent the words of patients and querents as mediated by the astrologers. Our edition databases this information in full. We also note whether a case includes a judgment, treatment, payment, or other information. The full text of these classes of information, with a few exceptions, is not included in our edition, but readers can access this content through the manuscripts. Each edited case links to an image of the relevant manuscript page.
To access cases on a particular question (e.g. the general ‘medical’, specific ‘women’s matters’, or even more specific ‘menstrual problems’), select the relevant facets to limit cases in our browse view. Keyword searches can also be used to find questions, but we recommend beginning with a faceted search.
Summary of questions in the casebooks
These questions follow categories in the casebooks, grouped into clusters imposed by the editors. Note that a single case could have multiple questions.
Medical | Sex, family and generation | Personal affairs | Worldly affairs | Unknown
- Medical Diseases of the mind Aegritudo (passions) Entries in which the practitioner uses the term ‘ægritudo’ (sickness or grief) or a cognate term to describe a problem of the passions. Afflicted (passions) Entries in which the practitioner explicitly records someone as being ‘afflicted’, where the problem is one of the passions. Amiss (passions) Entries in which the practitioner explicitly records someone as being ‘amiss’, where the problem is one of the passions. Bad dreams Brain (passions) Crazed Despair Discontentment Disease (passions) Entries in which the term ‘disease’ (sometimes abbreviated to ‘diz’) is explicitly used in reference to mental disorder. Disquieted Distempered (passions) Distracted Evil thoughts Fancies Fear Fits (passions) Mental disturbances explicitly described as ‘fits’. Foolish Frantic Fretting Frighted Grief (passions) Head (passions) Entries in which the head is explicitly listed as the affected part but the disorder is mental rather than physical. (It is of course possible for the head to be affected in both senses at once, in which case both ‘head’ and ‘head (passions)’ will be listed as topics.) Hearing things Sick at heart A term used formulaically by Napier to denote what might now be termed ‘depression’. Heaviness Idle headed Idle talk Illness (passions) Problems of the passions explicitly designated by the term ‘illness’ or a description of the sufferer as ‘ill’. Incomprehension Incontinence (passions) Jealousy Laughing Lightheaded (passions) ‘Light-headed’ is a term frequently used by Napier to describe people not entirely in their right wits: its precise meaning (if it has one) is yet to be established. Lost mind Lost senses Lost wits Lunatic Mad Melancholy Memory loss Recovery (passions) Whether or not someone will recover from a disorder explicitly described as being of a mental nature. Mind Mopish Morbus (passions) Diseases of the passions explicitly designated by the Latin term ‘morbus’. Not well (passions) Entries in which the patient is described as ‘not well’ or ‘never well’, and is suffering from a problem of the passions. Raging Raving Religious doubts Treatment follow-up (passions) Where the question consists of or includes a report of the effects of previous treatment for mental disorder. Sadness Senses Sickness (passions) Mental disorder explictly described as ‘sickness’. Sleeplessness (passions) Screaming Seeing things Sorrow Sottish Speechless (passions) Tempted and suicidal The term ‘tempted by Satan’ almost always (and often explicitly) means ‘suicidal’, but some patients are described as being tempted to commit other sins such as murder. Thoughts of suicide were generally understood at the time as by definition of Satanic origin. Trance Troubled Uncomfortable Weak (passions) Weeping Wits Not specified in question Entries that clearly relate to a mental issue, although none is specified in the question section. Uncategorised Questions that are clearly psychological in nature but couched in terms that defy more precise definition. Unidentified anxiety and melancholy Wild Illness (general) Aegritudo Entries in which the practitioner uses the term ‘ægritudo’ (sickness or grief) or a cognate term to describe a physical ailment. Afflicted Entries in which the practitioner explicitly records someone as being ‘afflicted’. Amiss Entries in which the practitioner explicitly records someone as being ‘amiss’. Bedridden Confined to bed through illness. Disease Entries in which the practitioner explicitly records the issue as ‘disease’ (normally abbreviated by Forman as ‘diz’). The term covers a much wider range of ailments than ‘disease’ in the modern sense, including (for instance) toothache or a bad back. The vast majority of Forman’s medical entries fall into this category, suggesting that medical questions not so designated belonged to a different category in his mind. Napier uses this category much less frequently and tends to be more specific about the nature of medical problems. Distempered Entries in which the practitioner explicitly records that a person is ‘distempered’ or ‘out of temper’. Grief Entries in which the practitioner uses the term ‘grief’ to describe a physical ailment. Illness Entries in which the practitioner explicitly records that a person is ‘ill’. Infirmity Entries in which the practitioner explicitly records the issue as ‘infirmity’ or ‘infirmitas’. Morbus Latin for ‘disease’. Not well Entries in which the patient is described as ‘not well’ or ‘never well’. Sickness Entries in which the terms ‘sickness’, ‘sick’, ‘sickly’, ‘sickened’ etc. are used. Treatment Practitioners Requesting bloodletting Where someone explicitly requests bloodletting. Requesting sigils Where someone explicitly requests a sigil. Requesting treatment Where someone explicitly requests treatment other than bloodletting or sigils, either in general or of a particular nature. Recipe Explicit requests for medical recipes. Treatment Questions posed (usually by the practitioner) about how and/or when a patient should be treated; also interrogations put by the practitioner concerning treatments he has already administered. Treatment follow-up Where the question consists of or includes a report of the effects of previous treatment. Whether to be let blood Questions posed (in some cases by the practitioner) about the advisability of bloodletting as a treatment, or about the likely effects of bloodletting already carried out. Prognosis Life or death (medical) Whether or not the person being asked about is at death’s door. Mend or pair Forman’s formulaic term for questions about whether the person suffering the ailment will recover or grow worse. Recovery (‘mend or no’) Whether or not someone will recover from their ailment, not necessarily as a result of medical intervention. This is a distinct (though not always very clearly distinct) category from ‘life or death’ in that it is possible to carry an illness to the grave but to die of something else. Current state Alteration Formulaic term for enquiries about an ‘alteration’ in the patient’s condition. Curable Whether or not the patient’s condition can be cured. Cured Whether or not the patient has fully recovered from or been cured of a given ailment. ‘stat(e)’ or ‘stat(us)’ Forman’s formulaic term for questions about the progress of a given problem or its cure. ‘state of [his/her] body’ Another of Forman’s formulaic terms. Definition not entirely clear, but seems to refer to someone’s general physical wellbeing. ‘state of [his/her] disease’ Questions about the progress of an explicitly medical problem or its cure. Cause of the affliction Cases where the querent has explicitly asked what has caused a medical disorder, as opposed to what to do about it. Medical counsel Entries in which the querent is recorded as having asked for advice or counsel of a medical nature. Poison Entries concerning people who have been poisoned, who fear they may have been poisoned, or who wish to know if they have been poisoned. Preventative Regimen/Diet Questions about the advisability for a person’s health of adhering to particular routines, undertaking particular activities, residing in certain places or eating certain foods. Requesting prayer Requests for Napier to pray for the patient(s) in question. Trauma Physical injury or wound. Uncategorised Questions that are clearly medical in nature but couched in terms that defy more precise definition. Not specified in question Entries that clearly relate to a medical issue, although none is specified in the question section. Illnesses (named) Aegilops Ulcer or fistula of the eye. Ague Malarial fever (but see also ‘new ague’). Apoplexy Sudden loss of sensation and motion. Asthma Cataract Cholerica passio Simultaneous, sudden and violent diarrhoea and vomiting. Colic Spasmodic abdominal pain. Dropsy Oedema (accumulation of watery fluid in any part of the body). Falling sickness Epilepsy. Gonorrhoea Used at the time to refer to a symptom (genital discharge) rather than a disease in its own right; frequently referred to as ‘running of the reins’. Gout Green sickness A wasting disease typically affecting relatively young women of post-puberal age, sometimes retrospectively diagnosed as chlorosis. Hypochondriac passion Stomach disorder. Jaundice Black jaundice Green jaundice Jaundice Yellow jaundice Measles Migraine Morbus gallicus Syphilis, or venereal disease more generally. New ague Napier’s term (he usually calls it ‘the new ague’) for an epidemic that appears to have broken out in Buckinghamshire in late 1598. It is unclear precisely what it was. Plague Bubonic plague. Planet-stricken Afflicted by a sudden infirmity attributed to the malign influence of a planet. Pleurisy Pox Any ailment characterised by pock-marks, often retrospectively diagnosed as either smallpox or venereal disease. Purples Purpura (eruption of purple spots on the skin). Sciatica Scrofula Tuberculosis of the lymph nodes in the neck. Often referred to as ‘Queen’s/King’s evil’ as it was supposedly curable by the touch of the monarch. Scurvy Squinsy Suppurative tonsilitis. Stone and strangury Stone Stone colic Strangury Strain Struck/stroke Surfeit An excess of one of the four bodily humours, frequently posited by Napier as the cause of a particular ailment. Took a cold Tympany Whites, the Vaginal discharge. Parts of the body Head and neck Head Brain Throat and mouth Eyes Face Nose Teeth Ears Torso Anus Usually referred to in the records as ‘fundament’. Back Bladder Bowels Internal organs generally: not necessarily limited to intestines. Breasts Chest Genitalia Guts Groin Heart Kidneys Usually referred to at the time as ‘reins’. Liver Loins Lungs Navel Reins of the back The precise meaning of this term is unclear, but it does seem to be distinct from ‘reins’ in the sense of ‘kidneys’. Side(s) Spleen Belly Stomach Torso Waist Womb, matrix, mother Usually referred to as ‘mother’ or ‘matrix’. Limbs and joints Legs Arms Hands Feet Limbs Shoulders Hips Huckbone Thighs Knees Joints Ankles Fingers Whole body Everywhere Entries in which patients are described as being afflicted ‘everywhere’, ‘all over’, ‘in all parts’, etc. Flesh Sinews Skin Bones Women’s matters No milk Suckling Questions around the feeding of a baby, such as whether it is advisable for a mother, or a particular nurse, to suckle the child, or whether an illness is as a result of that feeding Childbirth complications Questions about medical problems suffered by women during the course of childbirth. Menstrual problems Questions about stopped, excessive, irregular or painful menstrual periods. Menstruation Questions about excessive, irregular or painful menstrual periods. No courses Miscarriage/abortion Symptoms (specified) Bad breath Bleeding Bloating and swelling Swelling Hardness Bruises Including congealed blood. Burning and inflamed Burning Hot Speech problems Cannot speak Anything from faltering speech to an inability to speak. Speech problems Constipation Diarrhoea and bloody flux Diarrhoea and bloody flux Flux Lask Looseness Scouring Voiding phlegm Dizzy and/or faint Dizziness Faintness Feebleness Swooning Vertigo Weak Dry and/or thirsty Dry Thirsty Eating and drinking problems Problems with appetite Cannot eat Cannot digest Cannot swallow Eye troubles Anything from bloodshot eyes to complete blindness. Bloodshot Eyesight Sightlessness Red eyes Watering Fevers, chills and sweating Cold Fever Flushing Hot and cold Malignant fever Shivering Sweating Fits and convulsions Fits Convulsions Foaming Gripings, gnawings and stitches Gnawing Griping Pinched Stitch Gross humours Hair loss Hearing problems Deafness Hearing Tinnitus Hernia, fistula and haemorrhoids Fistula Hernia Haemorrhoids Hiccups Impotence Itch Lame, numb or paralysed Cannot stand Cannot turn Cannot walk Lameness Cannot use part Numbness Palsy Trembling Lesions and abscesses Blisters Boils Canker Impostume Issue Leprosy Sores Spots Lumps Nausea and vomiting Choler Nausea Nausea phlegm Rising Vomiting blood Pacing Used quite frequently by Napier as a symptom of mental disturbance or distress. Pain and pricking Pain Pricking Pulling Shooting Respiratory problems Catarrh Cough Hoarseness Phthisis Rattling Ready to stop her/his wind Respiratory phlegm Rising of the lights Short winded Stuffed Wheezing Whooping Rheumy Rheum Running Spitting Wet Sleep problems Sleepiness Sleeplessness Spitting blood Stooped, bent or stiff Bent double Stiffness Trembling of the heart Now more commonly known as palpitations. Urinary problems Inability to hold water Bloody urine Excessive urination Hot urine No urine Painful urination Wasting Consumed Lean Pale Pining Splenetic Wasting Wind Wind Flatus Wind WindColic Worms Witchcraft and devil Devil Questions in which people are described as being involved with or speaking of Satan. This is distinct from people being tempted by Satan (to commit suicide or some other sin), which comes under ‘tempted and suicidal’ in the Diseases of the Mind category. Fairy pinched Normally but not exclusively of children: suffering unexplained superficial injuries imputed to the influence of malign spirits. The term ‘fairy blasted’ is sometimes also used. Haunted Seeing or hearing ghosts or spirits. Strange affliction Questions about problems whose nature is described as ‘strange’; patients in these cases are most often described as ‘strangely taken’ or ‘strangely handled’. The strangeness of an illness was sometimes taken as an indication that it was the result of witchcraft. Strange affliction (passions) Mental disorders whose nature is described as ‘strange’; patients in these cases are most often described as ‘strangely taken’ or ‘strangely handled’. The strangeness of an illness was sometimes taken as an indication that it was the result of witchcraft. Witchcraft suffered (medical) Supposedly preternatural attack or manipulation by a known or unknown person or agency. Unexplained conditions such as epilepsy were frequently believed or at least suspected to be the effects of witchcraft or demonic possession.
- Sex, family and generation Childbirth Questions about the outcome of a pregnancy. Fertility Questions about the possibility of someone begetting or bearing children (or any more children). Fidelity Questions about the sexual fidelity (past, present or future) of spouses or other partners. Girl or boy Questions about the sex of an unborn child Marital prospects Whether someone should or will marry a given person; whether he/she should or will marry at all; which of two or more potential spouses to choose, or whether an already contracted marriage will turn out well. Marital relations Questions about the prospects for an impending marriage, the reuniting of separated spouses, the behaviour of one spouse towards another, and so forth. Paternity Issues of uncertain or disputed fatherhood. Pregnancy Whether or not the person in question is pregnant. Romantic relations Anything (other than prospective marriage) concerning actual or prospective amatory and/or sexual relations between unmarried couples. Wardship or upbringing of children The advisability of particular courses of action connected with the bringing up of children (e.g. fostering, nursing, becoming godparent).
- Personal affairs Absent person Questions about the whereabouts and/or wellbeing of people absent from the querent for whatever reason. Alive or dead Whether someone is alive or dead at the time of asking. This is normally a subcategory of ‘absent person’ but sometimes refers to people whose whereabouts are known but whose condition is not. Astrology/Alchemy Alchemy Questions about someone’s progress in the art of transmutation; propitious times for alchemical undertakings; or the veracity of other people’s claims to alchemical prowess. Mind reading Another category peculiar to the early days of Napier’s practice, in which he appears to have tested his astrological skills by reading the stars to divine what someone (occasionally himself) was thinking about at a given moment. Sigils These questions concern the creation of ‘laminæ’ or ‘sigils’: rings, bracelets and the like marked with magical signs and produced under highly specified conditions. These objects were used to conjure or repel spirits, influence future events, or draw astral properties into the body. Whether to help Questions posed by the practitioner about whether or not to help someone, medically or otherwise. Whether to practise A very few entries appear to constitute queries by the practitioner about the advisability of preparing or dispensing medicine at all at a given time. Such questions have not been categorised as ‘medical’ since no specific patient or medical issue is involved. Personal relations Character Entries in which the point at issue is someone’s character or personal qualities. Clearing name These questions are all put by Napier, and are his attempts to ascertain whether or not a given person is guilty of some crime of which he or she has been accused but professes him or herself innocent. Disputes Disputes of any sort that do not clearly fall within the rubric of ‘legal matters’. This can cover anything from good-natured disagreements between friends to fisticuffs. This topic can be inferred based on remarks made in the judgment or event information (if it is, evidence should be supplied). Friendship Questions about whether it is advisable to remain someone’s friend, whether someone will remain a friend, or about finding and making friends. There is an obvious overlap here with ‘marital prospects’ and ‘romantic relations’ questions, but where such relationships are not explicitly described as marital, romantic and/or sexual, they have been subsumed into this category. Rumours Questions about whether or not a given rumour (usually involving the querent’s partner or associate) is true, or reports that a given rumour has been confirmed or refuted Secret enemies Questions about whether the querent has secret enemies lying in wait for him or her. In some cases the enemies in question are not in fact very ‘secret’, being explicitly named in the consultation, but the term has been adopted since it is one that Forman uses himself in his Astrologicalle Judgmentes (where he spells it ‘secrete enimies’). Trust Whether or not a given person is to be trusted, either in general or some particular matter. Turba Forman’s idiosyncratic Latin term for impending trouble of a non-medical nature. Witchcraft suspect A question, explicit or implicit, about whether particular people are guilty of witchcraft. Business affairs Absent ship A few consultations (usually by ship owners) concern the welfare or whereabouts of a ship as such, rather than any of the people on board it. Choice of employee Which of two or more applicants to employ, or whether or not to employ a given applicant. Choice of student Whether or not to take someone on as a student. Finance and property Financial matters generally, including debts, wills, or the buying and selling of houses. Legal matters Questions concerning lawsuits or mentioning the actual or prospective intervention of legal authorities. Occupation Should the client remain in or change her or his current employment? Preaching Questions relating to a priest’s duties. Preferment Gaining an advantage of some sort from an authority figure. This covers promotion, job offers, intervention in legal cases, and favours of any kind. Prison Questions about the likelihood of someone’s being sent to, or released from, prison. Punishment Diary notes recording episodes in which Napier punishes a servant. Place list Journeys Questions about whether and/or when it would be advisable to embark on a journey, or whether a proposed journey will be successful or profitable, or diary notes or questions about journeys that have alraedy taken place. Residence Whether or not someone should, or will have to, move house. Unfortunate places Whether a particular location is unlucky or unhealthy for the patient. Current state Fortune Questions about a person’s luck, including worries about misfortunes. Gambling In the early days of his practice, Napier quite regularly drew up astrological charts to find out why he had won or (more often) lost at cards, dice or other games. Prosperity and social standing Questions about someone’s present or future prosperity and/or social standing. Life stories Death Entries in which the person being asked about is known to be dead. It is seldom clear precisely what the question is in such entries, but in most cases cause of death seems the likeliest possibility. Personal history Past events in the personal life of the individual being asked about. Predictive General predictions Questions about what will happen next, or what the future holds. How long someone will live Distinct from ‘life or death’ questions in that the person in question is not expected to die imminently. Life or death Normally associated with a medical question, but sometimes relating to someone whose imminent death through non-medical causes (e.g. shipwreck or murder) is considered a possibility. Who will die first Which of two or more people will die first. A question most often posed by disgruntled spouses or people with an eye to an inheritance. Private/Spiritual experiences Dreams Questions explicitly noted as having been inspired by a (prophetic) dream. In Forman’s case, such dreams are usually his own, but he sometimes took clients’ dreams into account when assessing their cases. This is a category Napier uses only very rarely. Emotional episodes Diary entries in which Napier records his own (often quite extreme) mood swings, accompanied by a star-chart. Where his elation or distress is explicitly ascribed to a religious experience or the failure of one to occur, these are categorised as ‘religious experience’ (q.v.), but records of his emotional state without any such explanation are placed under this heading. Religious experience Napier regularly made cryptic and often emotionally intense notes, almost invariably in Latin, about having experienced divine grace at particular moments - or, conversely, about not having experienced it at particular moments when he had hoped or expected to. Many of these records are accompanied by star-charts, but what he hoped to learn from them remains decidedly opaque. Communications Conversation Questions about whether and/or when it would be propitious to discuss a topic with someone, or diary notes or questions about conversations that have already taken place where the conversation itself is the significant point, rather than the subject discussed. Encounters Questions about encounters that have taken place. Gifts Entries peculiar to Napier in which an astrological chart is accompanied solely by a report of someone’s having given him a present. It is far from clear exactly what he was trying to establish. Questions about gifts. The majority of these are entries peculiar to Napier in which an astrological chart is accompanied solely by a report of someone’s having given him a present. It is far from clear exactly what he was trying to establish. Theology Diary entries in which Napier records having debated points of theology with acquaintances, where these are accompanied by a star-chart. Letters Whether and/or when it would be advisable to write or send a letter, on whatever subject. Summon or respond to summons Whether or not the querent should issue or respond to a summons (of either a legal or personal nature). Visits Whether the querent would be well advised to pay a visit or is likely to receive one, or questions about visits that have already taken place. Death and/or disease of animals These are usually questions about the cause of the problem (witchcraft or foul play?) rather than requests for the animal(s) to be treated. Loss and theft Questions about the location of missing possessions and the likelihood of their recovery, or the identity and whereabouts of thieves. Personal counsel and advice Entries in which the querent is recorded as having asked for advice or counsel of a non-medical nature. Stalking Questions about the whereabouts and current doings of a given person, almost invariably one in whom the querent has a romantic and/or sexual interest. Treasure Questions about the existence and/or whereabouts of hidden treasure. Witchcraft suffered (non-medical) Supposedly preternatural attack or manipulation by a known or unknown person or agency, causing non-medical problems. Unexplained events such as sleepwalking or the sudden death of animals, were frequently believed or at least suspected to be the effects of witchcraft or demonic possession.
- Worldly affairs Current affairs Questions put (normally by the practitioner himself) about contemporary events, e.g. whether Spain is likely to invade England this year. Weather Diary entries by Napier in which an account of the day’s weather is accompanied by a star-chart.
- Unknown There are three reasons for the topic of a consultation to be classified as ‘unknown’. The relevant information may be lost through deletion or manuscript damage; there may have been no relevant information in the first place, or it may be stated in such cryptic terms that no one (yet) has managed to interpret it.