John B. deC. M. Saunders 53*7 



Throughout the ilhiess, Philip II exhibited the most fatherly solicitude, 

 making repeated journeys to be at his son's bedside, attending the arduous 

 consultations and watching the dressings. The Duke of Alva was ever present 

 and spent his nights all dressed, in a chair beside the boy. Don Garcia of 

 Toledo presided over all, called the meetings of surgeons and physicians and 

 scarcely went to bed. Luis Quijada, the Prince's riding master, contracted the 

 erysipelas which endangered his life. Even the Prince's invalid preceptor and 

 spiritual adviser, Honorato Joan, never failed to be present at the dressings 

 and consultations. Data's report introduces us very vividly to one of these 

 consultations. More than fifty were held, of which fourteen were in the pres- 

 ence of His Majesty, the latter being the longest. Some lasted for at least two 

 and others more than four hours. 



His Majesty was seated on a chair with the grandees and noblemen behind 

 him. The Duke of Alva and Don Garcia of Toledo were at his side. The 

 physicians and surgeons were seated in a semicircle in front of the King. Don 

 Garcia called upon each in turn to state his opinion with the reasons and 

 authorities on which they were founded, and His Majesty would ask each con- 

 sultant to explain such technical terms as he did not understand. On one 

 occasion, no doubt during an unusual wordy session, Don Garcia, in calling 

 upon Da^a to speak, said, "Speak, Licentiate Da^a, and do not quote so many 

 texts, according to His Majesty's wishes." "This," observes Da^a with unction, 

 "was a rare distinction." "I am quoting this," he says, "because there was no 

 way that we could prepare ourselves by study, so that it was thus easy to see 

 what each knew by heart." 



The purpose of these consultations, apparently, was not only to determine 

 what was to be done with regard to the immediate treatment of the Prince, 

 but also to discuss possible complications so that adequate preparations could 

 be made to treat these, should they arise. A very necessary procedure, as 

 messengers would have to be dispatched to obtain the rare drugs and herbs 

 which the therapeutics of the day demanded. 



Such was the last important consultation in which Vesalius participated. 

 The records paint a motley picture with a disfigured prince, a tender father, 

 the austere Duke of Alva transfigured into a patient sick nurse, a Moorish 

 quack, processions and watchings, the grisly relic of a dead friar, ceremonious 

 consultations and a threatening populace. 



Vesalius' longing to return to the cloistered quiet of Padua can best be ex- 

 pressed in his own words. In his letter to Fallopius (1523-1562), penned within 

 a few months of this incident, he writes, "I sincerely hope that you may long 

 maintain this purpose in that sweet leisure of letters which is yours and in that 

 throng of learned men, whose studies are dear to their hearts, and with whom 

 you can daily compare the concepts of your mind. For I feel that the ornaments 

 of our art originate in that arena from which as a young man, I was diverted 

 to the mechanical practice of medicine, to numerous wars and to continuous 

 travels . . . therefore continue to embellish our common school, whose memory 



