Johann Bachoven von Echt (1515-1576) and his work on scurvy: An omen of Vesalius' death?

A discussion is given of the figure of Johann Bachoven von Echt and his family, and on his work on scurvy. The disease is evaluated as a possible cause of the death of Andreas Vesalius. Echt's relationship with Jan Wier and his connections with Vesalius and Metellus are illustrated. A historical overview of the literature on scurvy is provided highlighting the importance of the work of Echtius and Ronsse for the early knowledge of that disease. A report by Metellus on the circumstances of Vesalius' death is added.

Reiner Solenander (1524-1601): an important 16th century medical practitioner and his original report of Vesalius' death in 1564.

Reiner Solenander (1524-1601) was a physician born in the Duchy of Cleves, who got his education at the University of Leuven and at various universities in Italy and in France. Back at home he became the court physician of William V and later of his son John William. In this article his life and works are discussed. A report on the death of Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), noted down by Solenander in May 1566, one year and seven months after the death of Vesalius, is discussed in detail. Due to the importance of that document a copy of its first publication is given, together with a transcription and a translation as well. It indicates that Vesalius did not die in a shipwreck.

Andreas Vesalius' corpses.

Judging from his writings, Andreas Vesalius must have had dozens of bodies at his disposal, thirteen of which were definitely from before 1543. They came from cemeteries, places of execution or hospitals. Not only did his students help him obtain the bodies, but also public and judicial authorities. At first, he used the corpses for his own learning purposes, and later to teach his students and to write De humani corporis fabrica, his principal work. Clearly he had an eye for comparative anatomy. He observed anatomical variants and studied foetal anatomy. Occasionally, he would dissect a body to study physiological processes, while the post-mortems on the bodies brought in by the families of the deceased gave him an insight into human pathology. Some of his dissection reports have been preserved.

[Andreas Vesalius--the life].

The details of Vesalius' life can be found in Charles O'Malley, Andreas Vesalius of Brussels, 1514-1564, (University of California Press, 1964) and in Stephen N Joffe, Andreas Vesalius: The Making, The Madman, and the Myth, (Persona Publishing, 2009). This session reviews the circumstances of his last voyage and his death and other aspects of his life.

Stolen and lost copies of Vesalius's Fabrica.

Thefts and losses of precious books are not rare. Here we report several incidents concerning vesalius's Fabrica: the fire of the University Library of Leuven in Belgium, the fate of the collection of the Leopoldina Library of Halle in Germany, the thefts from the Crerar Library in Chicago and in Christ Church College in Oxford, the disappearance of an exceptionally beautiful 'royal' copy from the Castle of Argenteuil (Belgium), and other Fabrica's missing at the Franeker Library in the Netherlands and at the Library of oradea in West Romania. Finally the means of protecting precious book collections are discussed in short as well as the importance of book identification.

The Last Months of Andreas Vesalius: a Coda.

Since the publication in this journal of our two articles on the end of Andreas Vesalius' life, some very old sources have recently become available that we were unable to consult at the time of writing and that now prompt us to add a coda. These sources give an even better picture of both the circumstances of the disaster that led to Vesalius' death and the correct site of his burial. Firstly, there is a text by Reinerus Solenander that casts a completely different light on the circumstances in which his ship was at sea and the way in which it reached land; in addition, there is a new early eye-witness report of his burial-place by Christoph Fürer von Haimendorf, dating from 6 August 1565.

[The Paraphrasis of Vesalius in the Context of Latin Translations of Rhazes]. / La Paraphrasis de Vesale dans le Contexte des Traductions Latines de Rhazes.

In the 16th century, most students initiated their studies at the Faculty of Arts (or Liberal Arts), where the syllabus was not like one of today academic studies, rather, it was closer to a grammar school program of studies. This gave the students access to one of the three other Faculties: Theology, Law (civil and canonic) and Medicine. At Louvain University, the students could choose between four pedagogic programs, called 'Porc' [Porcus], 'Lily' [Lilium], 'Falcon' [Falco] and 'Castle' [Castrum]. The most appreciated topics were Philosophy, Logics, Physics, Metaphysics and Ethics. Aristotle was the most estimated author. However, Mathematics, Astronomy and Music were also on the syllabus. There were also a number of training exercises in Latin, as well as courses on Eloquence. In higher studies, there were also Disputationes and Quaestiones quodlibeticae, during which the students were supposed to vindicate their views and to answer the questions of their teachers and of their fellow-students. The academic language was Latin, without the knowledge of which nobody could register; moreover registration fees were required, as well as taking an Oath on being faithful to the statutes of the University.

The last months of Andreas Vesalius: Part II--From Jerusalem to Zakynthos (Zante).

Returning from his pilgrimage to the Holy Land Vesalius encountered serious trouble, as a consequence of which he died on the Greek island Zakynthos. Following a discussion of the circumstances of his death and what is known about his grave, we examine also Vesalius's intentions for the period after his journey.

The last months of Andreas Vesalius.

A good deal has already been written about the last months of Andreas Vesalius' life. Most of it has been fairly speculative, because the necessary primary sources have been lacking. Much of what was supposedly known for sure seemed bizarre, and various writers even frankly characterised their own accounts as 'legend'. It is only since the discovery of several letters in the archives of Simancas by Josh Baron in 1962 that various points have become somewhat clearer. Baron presented these letters at the 19th International Congress on the History of Medicine in Basel in September 1964.

An unknown treasure in Brugge (Bruges): the oldest portrait of Andreas Vesallius on a stained glass window.

Four iconographic pictures of Andreas Vesalius on glass painted windows, in Rochester, Minnesota, USA; Leuven (Louvain, Belgium); Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; and Innsbruck (Austria), were made in the period between 1943 and 1956. Recently, we have found in Brugge (Bruges) a much older portrait of Vesalius, in the form of a medallion on glass. It was painted between 1860 and 1870 by Samuel Coucke who had been commissioned by Dr. François Vanden Abeele for the decoration of his medical office.

The statues of Andreas Vesalius: 'a capite ad calcem'.

The number of statues of Vesalius, fully depicting the father of anatomy, is very limited world-wide. What follows is a summary and description of the statues in Brussels,Vienna, Leuven (Louvain), and Chicago. The three-dimensional representation of Vesalius's first 'muscle man' in Terneuzen is also included.

Ghysbrecht Colen, alias Gisbertus Carbo, Andréas Vesalius's friend from Leuven (Louvain).

The only information that had been known about Gisbertus Carbo came from Vesalius, his friend. We know that he was a physician in Leuven and Vesalius gave him his first self constructed human skeleton. Our goal was to find as much additional material about him as we could. We looked, over approximately a year, at archives in Leuven and at some other sources. We found information about Carbo's university education, about his family, his address and his work and character. As a consequence Gisbertus Carbo becomes a little less unknown.