edicine and Surgery,
London, Macmillan Co., 1905.

One other great mediaeval physician may be mentioned, Peter of Abano (a
small town near Padua, famous for its baths). He is the first in a long
line of distinguished physicians connected with the great school of
Padua. Known as "the Conciliator," from his attempt to reconcile the
diverse views on philosophy and medicine, he had an extraordinary
reputation as a practitioner and author, the persistence of which
is well illustrated by the fact that eight of the one hundred and
eighty-two medical books printed before 1481 were from his pen. He seems
to have taught medicine in Paris, Bologna and Padua. He was a devoted
astrologer, had a reputation among the people as a magician and, like
his contemporary, Arnold of Villanova, came into conflict with the
Church and appears to have been several times before the Inquisition;
indeed it is said that he escaped the stake only by a timely death.
He was a prolific commentator on Aristotle, and his exposition of the
"problems" had a great vogue. The early editions of his texts are among
the most superb works ever printed. He outlived his reputation as a
magician, and more than a century after his death Frederick, Duke of
Urbino, caused his effigies to be set up over the gate of the palace at
Padua with this inscription:

PETRUS APONUS PATAVINUS PHILOSOPHIAE MEDICINAEQUE
SCIENTISSIMUS, OB IDQUE, CONCILIATORIS NOMEN
ADEPTUS, ASTROLOGIAE VERO ADEO PERITUS,
UT IN MAGIAE SUSPICIONEM INCIDERIT,
FALSOQUE DE HAERESI POSTULATUS,
ABSOLUTUS FUERIT.(21)

(21) Naude: History of Magick, London, 1657, p. 182, or the
original: Apologie pour les grands hommes soupconnez de magic,
e.g., ed. Amst., 1719, p. 275.

It is said that Abano caused to be painted the astronomical figures in
the great hall of the palace at Padua.

One characteristic of mediaeval medicine is its union with theology,
which is not remarkable, as the learning of the time was chiefly in
the hands of the clergy. One of the most popular works, the "Thesaurus
Pauperum," was written by Petrus Hispanus, afterwards Pope John XXI.
We may judge of the pontifical practice from the page here reproduced,
which probably includes, under the term "iliac passion," all varieties
of appendicitis.

For our purpose two beacons illuminate the spirit of the thirteenth
century in its outlook on man and nature. Better than Abelard or St.
Thomas