Theodoric Borgognoni

Theodoric Borgognoni (1205 – 1296/8), also known as Teodorico de'Borgognoni, and Theodoric of Lucca, was an Italian who became one of the most significant surgeons of the medieval period. A Dominican friar and Bishop of Cervia, Borgognoni is considered responsible for introducing and promoting important medical advances including basic antiseptic practice in surgery and the use of anaesthetics.

Theodoric Borgognoni was born in Lucca, Italy in 1205. He may well have been the son of Master Hugh Borgognoni, a leading physician of the previous generation, and was certainly a student of his. Theodoric studied medicine at the University of Bologna becoming a Dominican friar in the same period. In the 1240s, he became personal physician to Pope Innocent IV. In 1262 he was made Bishop of Bitonto. He then served as Bishop of Cervia, close to Ravenna, from 1266 until his death in 1296.

Borgognoni practiced surgery in addition to his episcopal and religious duties. Despite this, he became the favoured practitioner of many leading personages, including the pope. His major medical work is the Cyrurgia, a systematic four volume treatise covering all aspects of surgery. The book broke with many traditional surgical practices handed down from the ancient Greeks and the Arabic surgeons. Borgognoni was significant in stressing the importance of personal experience and observation as opposed to a blind reliance upon the ancient sources. He insisted that the practice of encouraging the development of pus in wounds, handed down from Galen and from Arabic medicine be replaced by a more antiseptic approach, with the wound being cleaned and then sutured to promote healing. Bandages were to be pre-soaked in wine as a form of disinfectant. He also promoted the use of aneasthetics in surgery. A sponge soaked in a dissolved solution of opium, mandrake, hemlock, mulberry juice, ivy and other substances was held beneath the patients nose to induce unconsciousness. In addition to his surgical works, Borgognoni also produced volumes on veterinary medicine and falconry.

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