2 Rue de l'École de Médecine, 34090 Montpellier, France
Chauliac studied medicine at Montpellier, where he fulfilled the requirements for the degree of master of medicine.
Via Zamboni, 33, 40126 Bologna BO, Italy
Sometime after 1326 Chauliac attended the anatomical lectures of Nicolò Bertuccio, the student of and successor to the important medieval anatomist Mondino da Luzzi at the University of Bologna.
2 Rue de l'École de Médecine, 34090 Montpellier, France
Chauliac studied medicine at Montpellier, where he fulfilled the requirements for the degree of master of medicine.
Via Zamboni, 33, 40126 Bologna BO, Italy
Sometime after 1326 Chauliac attended the anatomical lectures of Nicolò Bertuccio, the student of and successor to the important medieval anatomist Mondino da Luzzi at the University of Bologna.
(Latin Edition)
Latin Edition
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1363
Chauliac was born c. 1290, at Chaulhac, France, a village near the southern border of Auvergne, France. His family were of the peasant class, and he was aided in his studies by the lords of Mercoeur. The little that is known of his childhood and early training stems from brief, but frequent, autobiographical comments in his writings.
Chauliac studied medicine first at Toulouse, then at Montpellier, where he fulfilled the requirements for the degree of master of medicine. Subsequently, that title accompanied his name in most official documents, even though he had previously taken holy orders. Sometime after 1326 Chauliac attended the anatomical lectures of Nicolò Bertuccio, the student of and successor to the important medieval anatomist Mondino da Luzzi at the University of Bologna.
After leaving Bologna, Guy traveled to Paris before taking up residence in Lyons, where he was appointed canon of St. Just. He was later appointed a canon of Rheims and of Mende. At this period the popes resided in Avignon, and Chauliac became private physician to Clement VI (1342-1352), Innocent VI (1352-1362), and Urban V (1362-1370). His service to the popes was valued enough to earn him an appointment as a papal clerk (capellanus). While serving at Avignon, Chauliac made the acquaintance of Petrarch. He was one of the most influential surgeons of the fourteenth century; in fact, some nineteenth-century medical historians went so far as to rank him second only to Hippocrates in his influence on surgery.
His chief work was the Inventorium sive collectorium in parte chirurgiciali medicine, which is usually referred to by its shorter title of Chirurgia, or sometimes Chirurgia magna. Chauliac completed it in 1363 and dedicated it to his colleagues at Montpellier, Bologna, Paris, and Avignon, places where he had either practiced medicine or been a student. The seven parts or books that make up the Chirurgia passed through numerous editions and served at least until the seventeenth century as the standard work on the subject. The book or parts of it were translated early from Latin into Provençal, French, English, Italian, Dutch, and Hebrew. The prologue (“Capitulum singulare”) is an invaluable essay on general facts that Chauliac thought every surgeon should know about liberal arts, diet, surgical instruments, and the manner of conducting an operation. It also included a brief history of medicine and surgery in the form of notes on earlier physicians and surgeons and is the source of much information about Guy himself.
Chauliac regarded his book as a collection of the best medical ideas of his time, and he modestly stated that only a few things were original with him. He thought highly of William of Saliceto but little of Lanfranchi, and he ridiculed John of Gaddesden. Chauliac urged surgeons to study anatomy and went so far as to say that surgeons who were ignorant of anatomy carved the human body in the same way that a blind man carved wood. In spite of his emphasis on anatomy, his section (Tractatus I) on the subject is the weakest part of his book; Guy shows little real understanding, even though he had undoubtedly assisted at dissections and carried out postmortem examinations. His work may be said to reflect more the teacher than the scientist and is more didactic than scientific; he probably accurately represents the state of medical knowledge at his time.
His work is a mine of information on all kinds of things, in his section on carbuncles, abscesses, tumors, and so forth, Guy also included buboes in the armpits. He then went on to describe the plagues of 1348 and 1360 at Avignon. He pointed out the prevalence of plague in Asia and Europe, indicated the differences between the pneumonic and bubonic types, and then revealed himself to be a man of his time by blaming the disease on the Jews - who, he said, wished to poison the world - or on certain conjunctions of the planets. He did, however, recognize the contagious nature of the plague and recommended purification of the air, as well as venesection and a good diet for the afflicted.
Much of the historical controversy on the place of Guy de Chauliac in the history of medicine has raged over the question of his views on infection. In many standard histories of medicine, Guy is accused of believing that pus (laudable pus) was a necessary part of the healing process. He is also accused of practicing meddlesome medicine by prescribing all sorts of salves, plasters, and so forth instead of depending upon the healing powers of nature. This labeling of Guy as a medical reactionary has in part been discounted by historians such as Jordan Haller, who are extremely critical of the standard treatments of Guy’s medical attitudes.
Chauliac is best remembered as the most eminent surgeon of the European Middle Ages, whose Chirurgia magna (1363) was a standard work on surgery until at least the 17th century. He was among the first to describe two different types of plague, pneumonic and bubonic, both of which had occurred in outbreaks in Avignon.
(Latin Edition)
1363
