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Guy de Chauliac

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Doctor

The Resume

    (1300-July 25, 1368)
    Born in Chaulhac, Lozère, France
    Birth name was Guigo de Cauliaco
    Medieval physician, surgeon
    Author of the popular treatise on surgery, 'Chirurgia Magna' (published posthumously, 1363)
    Served in the royal court as personal physician to King Philip VI of France
    Served in the Papal Court of Avignon, as personal physician to Pope Clement VI (1342–52)
    Later served as personal physician to Pope Innocent VI (1352–62), and Pope Urban V (1362–68)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was sometimes known simply by the name 'Guido.'
    His written works on surgery have been widely criticized by modern physicians.
    Little recorded information exists as to his personal or private life.
    He prescribed to the backwards medical practices of bloodletting with leeches, and using pus from infections to enhance healing processes (both commonly accepted at the time).
    Even after his groundbreaking studies of the plague, he still held to the belief that it was caused by 'a wind' and a 'miasma from God' (he held firm to the belief that a degree in medicine was useless without a degree in theology as well).
    His works were heavily edited in later years, when translated from the original Latin, to remove any references to Islamic scientists he drew influence from, such as al-Razi and Ibn-Sina .
    His work was almost unrecognizable as a result, with only references to (comparably archaic) Greek doctors like Hippocrates and Galen remaining.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His celebrated work, the ‘Chirurgia Magna’ went on to inspire surgeons and physicians for the next three centuries.
    His written testimony gives one of the most detailed accounts of the symptoms experienced by those afflicted with the Black Death.
    He chose to stay in Avignon during the outbreak of The Plague, when many physicians fled the area.
    He contracted The Plague while tending sick patients.
    Amazingly, he opted to take advantage of the situation. For an agonizing six weeks, treating himself by sizing the tumor-like growths on his body.
    His colleagues and friends left him for dead, but miraculously he recovered.
    He worked tirelessly to unravel the nature of the disease by studying the autopsies of Plague victims.
    He paid particularly careful attention to the infected lungs of the dead victims, deducing that inhalation of some miasma in the air (e.g. germs) was the cause of the illness.
    He eventually reached the conclusion that distinction could be made between two forms of the disease; the Bubonic Plague and the Pneumonic Plague (the former being the more treatable of the two).
    He advised Pope Clement to isolate himself from any outside contact (especially any Plague victims), and to surround himself with large pyres in his chamber to 'purify the air.' The Pope survived the pandemic unscathed.
    He actively fought against attempts to scapegoat the Jewish community as the cause of the pandemic, producing scientific evidence to refute the charge that they were 'poisoning the wells of Europe.'
    His helping to save countless lives during the years of Black Death earned him the title 'Father of Surgery.'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying