historical lectures and essays(查尔斯金斯利历史讲座)






prince; enlarging the wound twice; and torturing him seemingly on mere 

guesses。      〃I believe;〃 says Olivarez; 〃that all was done well:                    but as I 

have said; in wounds in the head there are strange labyrinths。〃                    So on the 

7th   they   stand   round   the   bed   in   despair。     Don   Garcia   de   Toledo;   the 

prince’s faithful governor; is sitting by him; worn out with sleepless nights; 

and trying to supply to the poor boy that mother’s tenderness which he has 

never known。 Alva; too; is there; stern; self…pressed; most terrible; and 

yet most beautiful。        He has a God on earth; and that is Philip his master; 

and though he has borne much from Don Carlos already; and will have to 

bear more; yet the wretched lad is to him as a son of God; a second deity; 

who   will   by   right   divine   succeed   to   the   inheritance   of   the   first;   and   he 

watches      this   lesser   deity   struggling     between      life  and   death    with    an 



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intensity of which we; in these less loyal days; can form no notion。                       One 

would   be   glad   to   have   a   glimpse   of   what   passed   through   that   mind;   so 

subtle and so ruthless; so disciplined and so loyal withal:                    but Alva was 

a man who was not given to speak his mind; but to act it。 

     One would wish; too; for a glimpse of what was passing through the 

mind of another man; who has been daily in that sick chamber; according 

to Olivarez’s statement; since the first of the month: but he is one who has 

had; for some years past; even more reason than Alva for not speaking his 

mind。      What   he   looked   like   we   know   well;   for   Titian   has   painted   him 

from the lifea tall; bold; well… dressed man; with a noble brain; square 

and yet lofty; short curling locks and beard; an eye which looks as though 

it feared neither man nor fiendand it has had good reason to fear both 

and   features   which   would   be   exceeding   handsome;   but   for   the   defiant 

snub…nose。 That is Andreas Vesalius; of Brussels; dreaded and hated by the 

doctors of the old schoolsuspect; moreover; it would seem to inquisitors 

and   theologians;   possibly   to   Alva   himself;   for   he   has   dared   to   dissect 

human bodies; he has insulted the mediaevalists at Paris; Padua; Bologna; 

Pisa;   Venice;   in   open   theatre;   he   has   turned   the   heads   of   all   the   young 

surgeons in Italy and France; he has written a great book; with prints in it; 

designed;      some     say;   by   Titianthey     were     actually    done    by   another 

Netherlander; John of Calcar; near Clevesin which he has dared to prove 

that    Galen’s    anatomy      was   at  fault   throughout;      and   that   he  had    been 

describing   a   monkey’s   inside   when   he   had   pretended   to   be   describing   a 

man’s; and thus; by impudence and quackery; he has wormed himselfthis 

Netherlander; a heretic at heart; as all Netherlanders are; to God as well as 

to   Galeninto   the   confidence   of   the   late   Emperor   Charles   V。;   and   gone 

campaigning with him as one of his physicians; anatomising human bodies 

even on the battle…field; and defacing the likeness of Deity; and worse than 

that; the most religious King Philip is deceived by him likewise; and keeps 

him   in   Madrid   in   wealth   and   honour;   and   now;   in   the   prince’s   extreme 

danger; the king has actually sent for him; and bidden him try his skilla 

man who knows nothing save about bones and muscles and the outside of 



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the body; and is unworthy the name of a true physician。 

     One      can    conceive     the    rage   of   the    old   Spanish      pedants     at  the 

Netherlander’s   appearance;   and   still   more   at   what   followed; if   we   are   to 

believe   Hugo       Bloet   of   Delft;   his   countryman   and   contemporary。   {10} 

Vesalius; he says; saw that the surgeons had bound up the wound so tight 

that an abscess had formed outside the skull; which could not break:                           he 

asserted   that   the   only   hope   lay   in   opening   it;   and   did   so;   Philip   having 

given leave; 〃by two cross…cuts。               Then the lad returned to himself; as if 

awakened from a profound sleep; affirming that he owed his restoration to 

life to the German doctor。〃 

     Dionysius Daza; who was there with the other physicians and surgeons; 

tells   a   different    story:     〃The     most     learned;    famous;     and   rare   Baron 

Vesalius;〃   he   says;   advised   that   the   skull   should   be   trepanned;   but   his 

advice was not followed。 

     Olivarez’s   account   agrees   with   that   of   Daza。         They   had   opened   the 

wounds;       he   says;   down     to  the   skull   before    Vesalius     came。     Vesalius 

insisted     that   the  injury    lay   inside   the   skull;   and    wished     to  pierce    it。 

Olivarez      spends     much     labour    in   proving     that  Vesalius     had   〃no    great 

foundation   for   his   opinion:〃   but   confesses   that   he   never   changed   that 

opinion      to  the   last;  though     all  the  Spanish     doctors     were    against    him。 

Then   on   the   6th;   he   says;   the   Bachelor   Torres   came   from   Madrid;   and 

advised that the skull should be laid bare once more; and on the 7th; there 

being   still   doubt   whether   the   skull   was   not   injured;   the   operation   was 

performedby         whom      it  is  not   saidbut    without     any    good    result;   or; 

according to Olivarez; any discovery; save that Vesalius was wrong; and 

the skull uninjured。 

     Whether   this   second   operation   of   the   7th   of   May   was   performed   by 

Vesalius;      and   whether     it  was    that  of   which    Bloet    speaks;    is  an   open 

question。       Olivarez’s      whole     relation    is   apologetic;     written    to   justify 

himself   and   his   seven   Spanish   colleagues;   and   to   prove   Vesalius   in   the 

wrong。       Public opinion; he confesses; had been very fierce against him。 

The   credit   of   Spanish   medicine   was   at   stake:   and   we   are   not   bound   to 



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believe implicitly a paper drawn up under such circumstances for Philip’s 

eye。    This; at least; we gather: that Don Carlos was never trepanned; as is 

monly said;   and   this;  also; that   whichever of   the two   stories   is  true; 

equally puts Vesalius into direct; and most unpleasant; antagonism to the 

Spanish doctors。 {11} 

     But Don Carlos still lay senseless; and yielding to popular clamour; the 

doctors called in the aid of a certain Moorish doctor; from Valencia; named 

Priotarete;      whose     unguents;      it  was    reported;     had    achieved      many 

miraculous   cures。       The   unguent;   however;   to   the   horror   of   the   doctors; 

burned   the   skull   till   the   bone   was   as   black   as   the   colour   of   ink;   and 

Olivarez declares he believes it to have been a preparation of pure caustic。 

On the morning of the 9th of May; the Moor and his unguents were sent 

away; 〃and went to Madrid; to send to heaven Hernando de Vega; while 

the prince went back to our method of cure。〃 

     Considering   what   happened   on   the   morning   of   the   10th   of   May;   we 

should now presume that the second opening of the abscess; whether by 

Vesalius or someone else; relieved the pressure on the brain; that a critical 

period     of   exhaustion      followed;     probably      prolonged      by   the   Moor’s 

premature caustic; which stopped the suppuration:                    but that God’s good 

handiwork; called nature; triumphed at last; and that therefore it came to 

pass that the prince was out of danger within three days of the operation。 

But he was taught;  it seems; to   attribute his recovery  to a very  different 

source from that of a German knife。             For on the morning of the 9th; when 

the    Moor     was    gone;    and   Don     Carlos    lay   seemingly      lifeless;   there 

descended into his chamber a Deus e machina; or rather a whole pantheon 

of   greater   or   lesser   deities;   who   were   to   effect   that   which   medical   skill 

seemed      not   to  have    effected。    Philip     sent  into   the   prince’s   chamber 

several   of   the   precious   relics   which   he   usually   ca