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






much; about himself; and much; though perhaps not too much; about poor 

old Galen; and his substitution of an ape’s inside for that of a human being。 

The     storm   which     had   been    long   gathering     burst   upon    him。    The     old 

school; trembling for their time…honoured reign; bespattered; with all that 

pedantry; ignorance; and envy could suggest; the man who dared not only 

to revolutionise surgery; but to interfere with the privileged mysteries of 

medicine; and; over and above; to bee a greater favourite at the court 

of the greatest of monarchs。            While such as Eustachius; himself an able 

discoverer; could join in the cry; it is no wonder if a lower soul; like that of 

Sylvius;   led   it   open…mouthed。        He   was   a   mean;   covetous;   bad   man;   as 

George   Bachanan   well   knew;   and;   according   to   his   nature;   he   wrote   a 

furious book 〃Ad Vesani calumnias depulsandas。〃                     The punning change 

of Vesalius into Vesanus (madman) was but a fair and gentle stroke for a 

polemic; in days in which those who could not kill their enemies with steel 

or    powder;      held   themselves       justified    in  doing     so;   if  possible;     by 

vituperation; calumny; and every engine of moral torture。                    But a far more 

terrible   weapon;   and   one   which   made   Vesalius   rage;   and   it   may   be   for 

once   in   his   life   tremble;   was   the   charge   of   impiety   and   heresy。      The 

Inquisition      was   a   very   ugly   place。    It   was    very   easy    to  get   into  it; 

especially      for  a  Netherlander:         but    not  so   easy   to  get   out。   Indeed 

Vesalius must have trembled; when he saw his master; Charles V。; himself 

take   fright;   and   actually   call   on   the   theologians   of   Salamanca   to   decide 

whether   it   was   lawful   to   dissect   a   human   body。       The   monks;   to   their 

honour; used their mon sense; and answered Yes。                        The deed was so 



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plainly useful that it must be lawful likewise。                But Vesalius did not feel 

that he had triumphed。           He dreaded; possibly; lest the storm should only 

have blown over  for a time。            He  fell; possibly; into hasty disgust at   the 

folly of mankind; and despair of arousing them to use their mon sense; 

and   acknowledge   their   true   interest   and   their   true   benefactors。         At   all 

events;     he    threw    into   the   fire   so   it  is   saidall   his   unpublished 

manuscripts;       the  records     of  long   years    of  observation;     and   renounced 

science thenceforth。 

     We hear of him after this at Brussels; and at Basle likewisein which 

latter city; in the pany of physicians; naturalists; and Grecians; he must 

have breathed awhile a freer air。           But he seems to have returned thence to 

his old master Charles V。; and to have finally settled at Madrid as a court 

surgeon   to   Philip   II。;   who   sent   him;   but   too   late;   to   extract   the   lance 

splinters from the eye of the dying Henry II。 

     He    was    now    married     to  a  lady   of  rank    from   Brussels;     Anne    van 

Hamme   by   name;   and   their   daughter   married   in   time   Philip   II。’s   grand 

falconer; who was doubtless a personage of no small social rank。 Vesalius 

was well off in worldly things; somewhat fond; it is said; of good living 

and   of luxury;   inclined;   it   may  be;  to   say;  〃Let   us   eat   and   drink;  for   to… 

morrow   we   die;〃   and   to   sink   more   and   more   into   the   mere   worldling; 

unless some shock should awake him from his lethargy。 

     And the awakening shock did e。                  After eight years of court life; 

he resolved; early in the year 1564; to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem。 

     The reasons for so strange a determination are wrapped in mystery and 

contradiction。       The   mon   story   was   that   he   had   opened   a   corpse   to 

ascertain the cause of death; and that; to the horror of the bystanders; the 

heart was still seen to beat; that his enemies accused him to the Inquisition; 

and that he was condemned to death; a sentence which was muted to 

that of going on pilgrimage。           But here; at the very outset; accounts differ。 

One says that the victim was a nobleman; name not given; another that it 

was     a  lady’s   maid;    name     not   given。     It   is  most    improbable;      if  not 

impossible; that Vesalius; of all men; should have mistaken a living body 



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for   a   dead   one;   while   it   is   most   probable;   on   the   other   hand;   that   his 

medical enemies would gladly raise such a calumny against him; when he 

was     no   longer    in   Spain    to   contradict    it。   Meanwhile        Llorente;     the 

historian   of   the   Inquisition;   makes   no   mention   of   Vesalius   having   been 

brought before its tribunal; while he does mention Vesalius’s residence at 

Madrid。      Another story is; that he went abroad to escape the bad temper 

of his wife; another that he wanted to enrich himself。                 Another storyand 

that not an unlikely oneis; that he was jealous of the rising reputation of 

his    pupil    Fallopius;     then    professor      of   anatomy      at   Venice。      This 

distinguished   surgeon;  as   I   said   before; had   written   a   book; in   which   he 

added      to  Vesalius’s     discoveries;     and    corrected     certain   of   his   errors。 

Vesalius had answered him hastily and angrily; quoting his anatomy from 

memory;   for;   as   he   himself   plained;   he   could   not   in   Spain   obtain   a 

subject for dissection; not even; he said; a single skull。                 He had sent his 

book to Venice to be published; and had heard; seemingly; nothing of it。 

He may have felt that he was falling behind in the race of science; and that 

it was impossible for him to carry on his studies in Madrid; and so; angry 

with his own laziness and luxury; he may have felt the old sacred fire flash 

up in him; and have determined to go to Italy and bee a student and a 

worker once more。 

     The very day that he set out; Clusius of Arras; then probably the best 

botanist     in  the   world;    arrived    at  Madrid;      and;   asking    the   reason    of 

Vesalius’s     departure;     was   told   by   their  fellow…countryman;         Charles     de 

Tisnacq;   procurator   for   the   affairs   of   the   Netherlands;   that   Vesalius   had 

gone of his own free will; and with all facilities which Philip could grant 

him;   in   performance   of   a   vow   which   he   had   made   during   a   dangerous 

illness。    Here; at least; we have a drop of information; which seems taken 

from  the   stream  sufficiently  near   to   the  fountain…head:            but   it   must   be 

recollected that De Tisnacq lived in dangerous times; and may have found 

it necessary to walk warily in them; that through him had been sent; only 

the   year   before;   that   famous   letter   from   William   of   Orange;   Horn;   and 

Egmont; the fate whereof may be read in Mr。 Motley’s fourth chapter; that 



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the crisis of the Netherlands which sprung out of that letter was ing 

fast; and that; as De Tisnacq was on friendly terms with Egmont; he may 

have felt his head at times somewhat loose on his shoulders; especially if 

he had heard Alva say; as he wrote; 〃that every time he saw the despatches 

of   those   three   senors;   they   moved   his   choler   so;   that   if   he   did   not   take 

much care to temper it; he would seem a frenzied man。〃                      In such times; 

De   Tisnacq   may   have   thought   good   to   return   a   diplomatic   answer   to   a 

fellow…countryman          concerning       a  third   fellow…countryman;         especially 

when   that   countryman;   as   a   former   pupil   of   Melancthon   at   Wittemberg; 

might   himself   be   under   suspicion   of   heresy;   and   therefore   of   possible 

treason。 

     Be this as it may;   one cannot   but suspect some   strain of  truth in   the 

story about the Inquisition; for; whether or not Vesalius operated on Don 

Carlos; he had seen with his own eyes that miraculous Virgin of Atocha at 

the bed’s foot of the prince。         He had heard his recovery attributed; not to 

the operation; but to the intercession of Fray; now Saint Diego; {12} and