Medieval Surgery
Even this brief account of the surgeons who taught and studied at the
medieval universities demonstrates what fine work they did. It is surely
not too much to say that the chapter on university education mainly
concerned with them is one of the most interesting in the whole history
of the universities. Their story alone is quite enough to refute most of
the prevalent impressions and patronizing expressions with regard to
men of many nations in the development of an extremely important
application of science for the benefit of suffering humanity. Their work
utterly contradicts the idea so frequently emphasized that the great
students of the Middle Ages were lacking in practicalness. Besides,
they make very clear that we have been prone to judge the Middle Ages
too much from its speculative philosophies. It has been the custom to
say that speculation ruled men's minds and prevented them from making
observations, developing science, or applying scientific principles.
There was much speculation during the Middle Ages, but probably not any
more in proportion than exists at the present day. We were either not
acquainted with, or failed to appreciate properly, until comparatively
recent years, the other side of medieval accomplishment. Our ignorance
led us into misunderstanding of what these generations really did. It
was our own fault, because during the Renaissance practically all of
these books were edited and printed under the direction of the great
scholars of the time in fine editions, but during the eighteenth century
nearly all interest was lost in them, and we are only now beginning to
get back a certain amount of the precious knowledge that they had in the
Renaissance period of this other side of medieval life. We have learned
so much about surgery because distinguished scholars devoted themselves
to this phase of the history of science. Doubtless there are many other
phases of the history of science which suffered the same fate of neglect
and with regard to which the future will bring us equally startling
revelations. For this reason this marvellous chapter in the history of
surgery is a warning as well as a startling record of a marvellous epoch
of human progress.
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Basil Valentine Last Of The Alchemists First Of The Chemists
Fieri enim potest ut operator erret et a via regia deflectat, sed ut erret natura quando recte tractatur fieri non potest. For it is quite possible that the physician should err and be turned aside from the straight (royal) roa... Abulcasis
The most important of the Arabian surgeons of the Middle Ages is Albucasis or Abulcasis, also Abulkasim, who was born near Cordova, in Spain. The exact year of his birth is not known, but he flourished in the second half of the tenth century. He is ... Aetius
The first great Christian physician whose works meant much for his own time, and whose writings have become a classic in medicine, was Aetius Amidenus, that is, Aetius of Amida, who was born in the town of that name in Mesopotamia, on the upper Tigr... Alexander Of Tralles
An even more striking example than the life and work of Aetius as evidence for the encouragement and patronage of medicine in early Christian times, is to be found in the career of Alexander of Tralles, whose writings have been the subject of most c... Ali Abbas
Rhazes lived well on into the tenth century. His successor in prestige, though not his serious rival, was Ali Ben el-Abbas, usually spoken of in medical literature as Ali Abbas, a distinguished Arabian physician who died near the end of the tenth ce... Arabian Christian Physicians
That this is not a partial view suggested by the desire to make out a better case for Christianity in its relation to science will be very well understood, besides, from the fact that a number of the original physicians of Arab stock who attracted a... Arabian Influence
The fame of these great thinkers and writers in philosophy and in medicine came to be known not only through the distribution of their books long after their death, but during their lifetime, and in immediately subsequent generations, ardent seekers... Avenzoar
Another of the distinguished Arabian physicians was Avenzoar--the transformation of his Arabic family name, Ibn-Zohr. He was probably born in Penaflor, not far from Seville. He died in Seville in 1162 at the age, it is said, of ninety-two years. He ... Averroes
Among the distinguished contributors to medicine at this time, though more a philosopher than a physician, is the famous Averroes, whose full Arabic name among his contemporaries was Abul-Welid Mohammed Ben Ahmed Ibn Roschd el-Maliki. Like Avenzoar,... Avicenna
Undoubtedly the most important of Abulcasis' contemporaries is the famous physician whose Arabic name, Ibn Sina, was transformed into Avicenna. He was born toward the end of the tenth century in the Persian province of Chorasan, at the height of Ara... Bruno Da Longoburgo
The first of this important group of north Italian surgeons who taught at these universities was Bruno of Longoburgo. While he was born in Calabria, and probably studied in Salerno, his work was done at Vicenza, Padua, and Verona. His text-book, the... Constantine Africanus
Probably the most important representative of the medical school at Salerno, certainly the most significant member of its faculty, if we consider the wide influence for centuries after his time that his writings had, was Constantine Africanus. He ... Cusanus And The First Suggestion Of Laboratory Methods In Medicine
As illustrating how, as we know more about the details of medical history, the beginnings of medical science and medical practice are pushed back farther and farther, a discussion in the Berliner klinische Wochenschrift a dozen years ago is of inter... Early Greek Medicine
Apollo--AEsculapius--Temples--Serpents--Gods of Health--Melampus--Homer--Machaon--Podalarius--Temples of AEsculapius--Methods of Treatment--Gymnasia--Classification of Renouard--Pythagoras--Democedes--Greek Philosophers. The... Early Roman Medicine
Origin of Healing--Temples--Lectisternium--Temple of AEsculapius--Archagathus--Domestic Medicine--Greek Doctors--Cloaca Maxima--Aqueducts--State of the early Empire. The origin of the healing art in Ancient Rome is shrouded in un... Fees In Ancient Times
The professional incomes of doctors in ancient Greece and Rome varied greatly as at the present day. A few were paid very large fees, but the rank and file did not make more money than was equal to keeping them in decency. Seleucus paid Erasist... Further Christian Physicians
Another distinguished Christian medical scientist was Theophilus Protosbatharius, who belonged to the court of the Greek Emperor Heraclius, in the seventh century. He seems to have had a life very full of interest and surprisingly varied duties. He ... Galen
His life and works--His influence on Medicine. Claudius Galenus, commonly known as Galen, has influenced the progress of medical science by his writings probably more than any other medical writer. His influence was paramount for fourteen c... Great Arabian Physicians
In order to understand the place of the Arabs in medicine and in science, a few words as to the rise of this people to political power, and then to the cultivation of literature and of science, are necessary. We hear of the Arabs as hireling soldi... Great Jewish Physicians
Any account of Old-Time Makers of Medicine without a chapter on the Jewish Physicians would indeed be incomplete. They are among the most important factors in medieval medicine, representing one of the most significant elements of medical progress... Great Physicians In Early Christian Times
What we know of the life of the Founder of Christianity and how much He did for the ailing poor would make us expect that the religion that He established would foster the care and the cure of suffering humanity. As we have outlined in the Introdu... Great Surgeons Of The Medieval Universities
Strange as it may appear to those who have not watched the development of our knowledge of the Middle Ages in recent years the most interesting feature in the medical departments and, indeed, of the post-graduate work generally of the medieval unive... Guy De Chauliac
One of the most interesting characters in the history of medieval medicine, and undoubtedly the most important and significant of these Old-Time Makers of Medicine, is Guy de Chauliac. Most of the false notions so commonly accepted with regard to th... Gymnasia And Baths
Gymnastics--Vitruvius--Opinions of Ancient Physicians on Gymnastics--The Athletes--The Baths--Description of Baths at Pompeii--Thermae--Baths of Caracalla. GYMNASTICS. Gymnastics were held in such high repute in ancient Greece ... Hippocrates
His life and works--His influence on Medicine. Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, was born at Cos during the golden age of Greece, 460 years before Christ. He belonged to the family of the Asclepiadae, and, according to tradition, could t... Hugh Of Lucca
Bruno brought up with him the methods and principles of surgery from the south of Italy, but there seems to have been already in the north at least one distinguished surgeon who had made his mark. This was Ugo da Lucca or Ugo Luccanus, sometimes kno... In The Reign Of The Caesars To The Death Of Nero
Augustus--His illnesses--Antonius Musa--Maecenas--Tiberius-- Caligula--Claudius--Nero--Seneca--Astrology--Archiater--Women poisoners--Oculists in Rome. Long before the settlement of the constitutional status of Augustus in 27 B.C... Influence Of Christianity On Altruism And The Healing Art
Essenes--Cabalists and Gnostics--Object of Christ's Mission--Stoics--Constantine and Justinian--Gladiatorial Games--Orphanages--Support of the Poor--Hospitals--Their Foundation--Christianity and Hospitals--Fabiola--Christian ... John Ardern
In English-speaking countries of course we are interested in what was done by Englishmen at this time. Fortunately we have the record of one great English surgeon of the period worthy to be placed beside even the writers already mentioned. This is J... Lanfranc
After Salicet's lifetime the focus of interest in surgery changes from Italy to France, and what is still more complimentary to William, it is through a favorite disciple of his that the change takes place. This was Lanfranchi, or Lanfranco, sometim... Mainmonides
The life of one of the great Jewish physicians, who has come to be known in history as Maimonides, is of such significance in medical biography that he deserves to have a separate sketch. Born in Spain, his life was lived in the East, where his co... Medieval Dentistry - Giovanni Of Arcoli
If there is one phase of our present-day medicine and surgery that most of us are likely to be quite sure is of very recent development it is dentistry. Probably most people would declare at once that they had every reason to think that the scienc... Medieval Popularization Of Science
The idea of collecting general information from many sources, of bringing it together into an easily available form, so as to save others labor, of writing it out in compendious fashion, so that it could readily pass from hand to hand, is likely t... Medieval Surgery
Even this brief account of the surgeons who taught and studied at the medieval universities demonstrates what fine work they did. It is surely not too much to say that the chapter on university education mainly concerned with them is one of the most... Medieval Women Physicians
Very probably the most interesting chapter for us of the modern time in the history of the medical school at Salerno is to be found in the opportunities provided for the medical education of women and the surrender to them of a whole department in... Mondeville
The next of the important surgeons who were to bring such distinction to French surgery for five centuries was Henri de Mondeville. Writers usually quote him as Henricus. His latter name is only the place of his birth, which was probably not far fro... Mondino And The Medical School Of Bologna
The most important contributions to medical science made by the Medical School of Salerno at the height of its development were in surgery. The text-books written by men trained in her halls or inspired by her teachers were to influence many succe... Moorish Physicians
After Rhazes, the most important contributors to medical literature from among the Arabs, with the single exception of Avicenna, were born in Spain. They are Albucasis or Abulcasis, the surgeon; Avenzoar, the physician, and Averroes, the philosophic... Paul Of Aegina
Another extremely important writer in these early medieval times, whose opportunities for study in medicine and for the practice of it, were afforded him by Christian schools and Christian hospitals, was Paul of AEgina. He was born on the island of ... Physicians From The Time Of Augustus To The Death Of Nero
Celsus--His life and works--His influence on Medicine--Meges of Sidon--Apollonius of Tyana--Alleged miracles--Vettius Valleus--Scribonius Longus--Andromachus--Thessalus of Tralles--Pliny. Aulus Cornelius Celsus lived in the ... Plato Aristotle The School Of Alexandria And Empiricism
Plato--Aristotle--Alexandrian School--Its Origin--Its Influence-- Lithotomy--Herophilus--Erasistratus--Cleombrotus--Chrysippos-- Anatomy--Empiricism--Serapion of Alexandria. Two very eminent philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, were... Rhazes
The most distinguished of the Arabian physicians was the man whose rather lengthy Arabian name, beginning with Abu Bekr Mohammed, finished with el-Razi, and who has hence been usually referred to in the history of medicine as Rhazes. He was born abo... Roger Roland And The Four Masters
Ruggero, or Rogero, who is also known as Rogerio and Rogerus with the adjective Parmensis, or Salernitanus, of Parma or of Salerno, and often in German and English history simply as Roger, lived at the end of the twelfth or the beginning of the thir... Roman Medicine At The End Of The Republic And The Beginning Of The
EMPIRE. Asclepiades of Prusa--Themison of Laodicea--Methodism--Wounds of Julius Caesar--Systems of Philosophy--State of the country--Roman quacks--Slaves and Freedmen--Lucius Horatillavus. Asclepiades of Prusa, in Bithynia, was a... Sanitation
Water-supply--Its extent--The Aqueducts--Distribution in city--Drainage--Disposal of the Dead--Cremation and Burial--Catacombs--Public Health Regulations. THE WATER-SUPPLY. In ancient Greece, the cities were supplied with water... Science At The Medieval Universities
With the growth of interest in science and in nature study in our own day, one of the expressions that is probably oftenest heard is surprise that the men of preceding generations and especially university men did not occupy themselves more with t... St Luke The Physician
In the midst of what has been called the higher criticism of the Bible in recent times, one of the long accepted traditions that has been most strenuously assailed and, indeed, in the minds of many scholars, seemed, for a time at least, quite disc... The First And Second Centuries Of The Christian Era
Athenaeus--Pneumatism--Eclectics--Agathinus--Aretaeus--Archigenes-- Dioscorides--Cassius Felix--Pestilence in Rome--Ancient surgical instruments--Herodotus--Heliodorus--Caelius Aurelianus--Soranus-- Rufus of Ephesus--Marinus--Qui... The Later Roman And Byzantine Period
Beginning of Decline--Neoplatonism--Antyllus--Oribasius--Magnus-- Jacobus Psychristus--Adamantius--Meletius--Nemesius--AEtius-- Alexander of Tralles--The Plague--Moschion--Paulus AEgineta--Decline of Healing Art. The death o... The Medical School At Salerno
The Medical School at Salerno, probably organized early in the tenth century, often spoken of as the darkest of the centuries, and reaching its highest point of influence at the end of the twelfth century, is of great interest in modern times for ... The North Italian Surgeons
After Roger and Rolando and the Four Masters, who owe the inspiration for their work to Salerno and the south of Italy, comes a group of north Italian surgeons: Bruno da Longoburgo, usually called simply Bruno; Theodoric and his father, Hugo of Lucc... Theodoric
This son, after having completed his medical studies at the age of about twenty-three, entered the Dominican Order, then only recently established, but continued his practice of medicine undisturbed. His ecclesiastical preferment was rapid. He attra... William Of Salicet
The third of the great surgeons in northern Italy was William of Salicet. He was a pupil of Bruno's and the master of Lanfranc. The first part of his life was passed at Bologna and the latter part as the municipal and hospital physician of Verona. H... Yperman
One of the maxims of the old Greek philosophers was that good is diffusive of itself. As the scholastics put it, bonum est diffusivum sui. This proved to be eminently true of the old universities also, and especially of their training in medicine an...