a position of prominence where their discoveries in medicine had a
vogue they otherwise could not have attained. The list of the Royal
physicians of any reigning house of Europe for the last seven
centuries looks trivial beside the roll of Papal physicians. Could the
Popes possibly have done anything more than this for medicine, or
shown their interest in its progress, or made people realize better,
that while prayer might be of service, every possible human means must
be taken to secure, maintain and recover health.

To read even the headings of Dr. White's chapter on from Miracles to
Medicine, in which he tells of how "the medieval miracles of healing
checked medical science," how "pastoral medicine held back scientific
effort," how "there was so much theological discouragement of
medicine," and finally, how "the study of Anatomy was considered a sin
against the Holy Ghost," in the light of this plain, matter-of-fact
story of the wonderful development of medical science in the
ecclesiastically founded and ruled universities of the thirteenth
century, makes one realize into what a farcical state of mind as
regards the realities of history such writers have forced themselves,
and unfortunately have led many readers, by their excursions into the
history of medicine and science. Probably there was never a more
pretentious exhibition of ignorance of the facts of history than is
displayed by these expressions and by the whole drift of this chapter.
Dr. White would have us {14} believe that the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries were so backward in medicine and surgery that
they practically have no history in these departments, or so little as
not to be worth talking about. The simple facts show us that this is
one of three or four great periods in human history in which there was
the most wonderful development of medicine and surgery.

As we shall see in the course of this book, there was no bull or any
other document issued by the Popes forbidding dissection or hampering
the development of anatomy in any way. As a matter of fact, the
ecclesiastics, instead of being behind their age in liberality of
spirit with regard to the use of the human body after death for
anatomical purposes, were always ahead of it. There has always existed
a popular horror of dissection, and this has manifested itself from
the earliest times in history down to and within the last half
century, in refusal to enact such secular legislation as would