John Bradmore was an English surgeon, metalworker, and court physician during the reign of King Henry IV of England. He is best known for extracting an arrow embedded in the skull of the king's son, the future king Henry V at Kenilworth, after the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. He compiled an early surgical treatise, which he entitled Philomena
Bradmore attended the prince at Kenilworth, where the wounded Henry had been taken after the battle of Shrewsbury. An arrow penetrated on the right side below the eye and beside the nose of the young prince. When surgeons tried to remove the arrow, the shaft broke, leaving the bodkin point embedded in his skull some five to six inches deep, narrowly missing the brain stem and surrounding arteries. Several other physicians had already been called on to resolve the problem but were unable to help. Bradmore's successor as royal surgeon, Thomas Morstede, later called them lewd chattering leeches
Bradmore instructed honey to be poured into the wound and invented an instrument for extraction. Two threaded tongs held a centre threaded shaft, which could be inserted into the wound: the shape was not unlike a tapered threaded rod inside a split cylinder. Once the end of the tongs was located within the skirt of the arrowhead, the threaded rod was turned to open the tongs within the bodkin socket, locking it into place, and it, along with the device, could be extracted. The instrument was quickly made by Bradmore or a blacksmith to Bradmore's specifications. Bradmore himself guided it into the wound to extract the arrowhead successfully. The wound was then filled with wine to cleanse it.
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