Homeopathy began in the German-speaking medical world at the end of the eighteenth century. Samuel Hahnemann set out its central ideas from 1796, used the word “homeopathic” in 1807 and published the first edition of the Organon in 1810.
Before homeopathy
European medicine in Hahnemann’s time included bloodletting, purging and large doses of substances such as mercury. Outcomes were inconsistent and some treatments were dangerous. Hahnemann’s criticism of those practices shaped his search for a different system.
1796 to 1810: the system takes shape
Hahnemann published an essay in 1796 proposing that substances should be tested for the symptoms they produced and then matched to similar symptom patterns. The term “homeopathic” appeared in his writing in 1807. In 1810 the first Organon brought together the principle of similars, individualised case-taking and instructions for preparing and testing remedies.
The cinchona experiment often retold in homeopathic histories was a personal observation, not a modern clinical trial. Read the sourced biography of Samuel Hahnemann for the chronology and its limits.
Nineteenth-century expansion
Homeopathy spread through Europe and the United States through practitioner networks, publications, dispensaries, hospitals and teaching institutions. Its growth also produced competing schools of practice. Some practitioners emphasised one individualised remedy, while others used combinations or more condition-focused methods.
Homeopathy in Britain
Homeopathy arrived in Britain during the nineteenth century and became associated with private practice, dispensaries and hospitals. Frederick Foster Hervey Quin helped establish the London Homeopathic Hospital in 1849. The institution later changed names and functions; historical use of “hospital” should not be confused with current NHS endorsement of homeopathy.
Twentieth-century change
Laboratory science, pharmacology, clinical trials and modern public-health systems changed how treatments were tested and adopted. Homeopathy continued in private and voluntary settings, but its proposed mechanism and clinical effectiveness remained contested.
The UK position today
Homeopathic practitioners are not legally regulated as a profession in the UK. Voluntary registers exist. Products are subject to MHRA medicines rules, including the Simplified Registration and National Rules schemes. Registration controls a product’s quality, safety information and permitted presentation; it is not general proof that homeopathy works.
For current evidence and safety, read Homeopathy: Evidence and Research and Is Homeopathy Safe?.
International development
Education and regulation differ by country. India has statutory institutions for homoeopathic education and registration, while the UK relies on non-statutory practitioner arrangements. The broader WHO category of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine is used in many countries, but its statistics must not be treated as homeopathy-specific.
Read Homeopathy Around the World for a current country-level explanation.
A short timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1755 | Samuel Hahnemann is born in Meissen. |
| 1796 | Hahnemann publishes his essay on a new principle for testing and using medicines. |
| 1807 | He uses the term “homeopathic” in print. |
| 1810 | The first edition of the Organon is published. |
| 1843 | Hahnemann dies in Paris. |
| 1849 | The London Homeopathic Hospital is founded. |
Sources
- Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine: A brief history of homeopathy
- History of Science and Medicine: theory, history and status of the principle of similars
- NHS 111 Wales: Homeopathy
- MHRA: Register a homeopathic medicine
- National Commission for Homoeopathy, India
Source check: 31 August 2026.