Auger Ferrier
Encyclopedia
Auger Ferrier was a French physician, known also as an astrologer, poet, and interpreter of dreams.
, and educated by his father, a surgeon. He studied medicine with the law and mathematics. He took a medical degree at the University of Montpellier
in 1540, under Jean Schyron. He was particularly interested in judicial astrology
.
He went to Paris, where he made his way rapidly. Cardinal Bertrand
presented him to Catherine de Medici, who made him physician in ordinary. He was a success in Rome, also, and befriended Julius Caesar Scaliger
.
Settling finally in Toulouse, Ferrier fell into a sharp controversy with Jean Bodin
, over his Six Livres de la République, when Ferrier answered a slight in Avertissement à Jean Bodin sur le quatrième livre de sa République. Aged 75, he died of an intestinal complaint.
Life
He was born near ToulouseToulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, and educated by his father, a surgeon. He studied medicine with the law and mathematics. He took a medical degree at the University of Montpellier
University of Montpellier
The University of Montpellier was a French university in Montpellier in the Languedoc-Roussillon région of the south of France. Its present-day successor universities are the University of Montpellier 1, Montpellier 2 University and Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III.-History:The university...
in 1540, under Jean Schyron. He was particularly interested in judicial astrology
Judicial astrology
Judicial astrology is the art of forecasting future events by calculation of the planetary and stellar bodies and their relationship to the Earth...
.
He went to Paris, where he made his way rapidly. Cardinal Bertrand
Pierre Bertrand (cardinal)
Pierre Bertrand was a French Cardinal, theologian, and canonist....
presented him to Catherine de Medici, who made him physician in ordinary. He was a success in Rome, also, and befriended Julius Caesar Scaliger
Julius Caesar Scaliger
Julius Caesar Scaliger was an Italian scholar and physician who spent a major part of his career in France. He employed the techniques and discoveries of Renaissance humanism to defend Aristotelianism against the new learning...
.
Settling finally in Toulouse, Ferrier fell into a sharp controversy with Jean Bodin
Jean Bodin
Jean Bodin was a French jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parlement of Paris and professor of law in Toulouse. He is best known for his theory of sovereignty; he was also an influential writer on demonology....
, over his Six Livres de la République, when Ferrier answered a slight in Avertissement à Jean Bodin sur le quatrième livre de sa République. Aged 75, he died of an intestinal complaint.
Works
- De diebus decretoriis secundum Pythagoricam doctrinam et astronomicam observationem, Leyden, 1541, 1549, in-16; reproduced on microfilm in the 1549 edition, Cambridge (Mass.), Omnisys, 1990,, 153 p.
- Remèdes préservatifs et curatifs de la peste, Lyon, 1548, 93 p.
- Liber de Somniis, Leyden, 1549, in-16, with treatises of HippocratesHippocratesHippocrates of Cos or Hippokrates of Kos was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles , and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine...
, GalenGalenAelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...
and SynesiusSynesiusSynesius , a Greek bishop of Ptolemais in the Libyan Pentapolis after 410, was born of wealthy parents, who claimed descent from Spartan kings, at Balagrae near Cyrene between 370 and 375.-Life:...
on insomniaInsomniaInsomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
; republished in Toulouse, no date, 95 p. This was the longest treatment of dreamDreamDreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
s, in the Western European tradition, since Albertus MagnusAlbertus MagnusAlbertus Magnus, O.P. , also known as Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, is a Catholic saint. He was a German Dominican friar and a bishop, who achieved fame for his comprehensive knowledge of and advocacy for the peaceful coexistence of science and religion. Those such as James A. Weisheipl...
. - Jugements astronomiques sur les nativités, Lyon, 1550, 220 p.; Rouen, 1583, 248 p.
- De Pudendagra, lue Hispanica, libri duo, Toulouse, 1553, in-12, often reprinted; De Lue hispanica sive morbo gallico, Paris, 1564, 122 p. On syphilisSyphilisSyphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
; - De radice chinœ liber, quo probatur diversam esse ab apio, Toulouse, 1554, in-8° ;
- Vera medendi methodus, duobus libris comprehensa. Castigationes medicinæ, Toulouse, 1557, in-8°; Leyde ; 1574, 1602, in-8° ;
- Advertissemens à M. Jean Bodin sur le quatriesme livre de sa République, Paris, 1580, in-8°, 71 p.
Further reading
- Lynn ThorndikeLynn ThorndikeLynn Thorndike was an American historian of medieval science and alchemy...
, A history of magic and experimental science (1923-1958), t. VI : The sixteenth century, part II, 1941. - Dr. Lile, "Auger Ferrier et le milieu médical toulousain", in Nathalie Dauvois (dir.), L'humanisme à Toulouse (1480-1596). Actes du colloque international de Toulouse. 13-13 mai 2005, Paris, Honoré Champion, 2006, 640 p. ;
- Ingrid De Smet, Of doctors, dreamers and soothsayers : the interlinking worlds of Julius Caesar Scaliger and Auger Ferrier, in Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance, Genève, Droz, 1999, vol. 70, n° 2, p. 351-376