Guillaume Rondelet
Encyclopedia
Guillaume Rondelet known also as Rondeletus (Rondeletius), was Regus Professor of medicine
at the University of Montpellier
in southern France
and Chancellor of the University between 1556 and his death in 1566. He achieved renown as an anatomist
and a naturalist
with a particular interest in botany
and zoology
. His major work was a lengthy treatise on marine animals, which took two years to write and became a standard reference work for about a century afterwards, but his lasting impact lay in his education of a roster of star pupils who became leading figures in the world of late-16th century science.
in 1507. His father was an aromatius, a combination of pharmacist, grocer and druggist. Both parents died while he was a child and he was brought up in the care of his elder brother and sister, who was the wealthy widow of a merchant from Florence
. He was educated in Montpellier and was enrolled at the city's university before being sent to Paris
in 1525, where he studied at the Collège de Sorbonne
.
He matriculated in 1529 and returned to Montpellier; having developed an interest in medicine, he joined the Faculty of Medicine at his home town's university. He became procurator (Student Registrar) within a year. He became friends around this time with a fellow physician, François Rabelais
, who later wrote La vie de Gargantua et Pantagruel
in which Rondelet is satirised under the thinly disguised alias of "Rondibilis". In October 1529, while serving as procurator, Rondelet expelled the newly enrolled Nostradamus
from the university for being an apothecary
and slandering doctors.
Rondelet moved to Pertuis
in the Vaucluse
after gaining his medical degree from Montpellier and tried to supplement his income by teaching local children, but met with little success. He went back to Paris to learn Greek
and to study anatomy, again supporting himself through teaching. He practised for a while as a medical doctor at Maringues
in the Auvergne
before returning to Montpellier in 1537. There he finished his doctorate and married Jeanne Sandre the following year. The couple lived with Jeanne's family for the next seven years.
His medical practice was not a success. He managed his finances badly and he outraged the citizens of Montpellier when he publicly dissected his infant son in an attempt to determine the cause of death. He became a teacher with the medical faculty in 1539 but the arrival of plague in Montpellier a few years later meant that he found himself with almost nobody to teach; only three students were left by 1543.
, whom he attended as his personal physician. De Tournon and the Bishop of Montpellier, Guillaume Pellicier
, had both stood as sponsors for Rondelet's twin children on their birth in 1538. Rondelet left Montpellier and travelled with de Tournon in the Cardinal's entourage, journeying widely around France, what is now Belgium and Italy and stayed in Rome for three months in 1549. His trip to Italy enabled him to meet many of the Italian scholars whom he knew through his correspondence, among them Luca Ghini
at Pisa
, Antonio Musa Brasavola at Ferrara
, Ulysse Aldrovandi at Padua
and Cesare Odo at Bologna
. While in Italy he was able to indulge his interest in natural history
by visiting the coast.
His rising status was confirmed in 1545 by his appointment to the post of Regius Professor of Medicine at Montpellier. He returned to his home town in 1551 on leaving the service of the cardinal and devoted two years to the writing of a great treatise on marine animals, titled Libri de piscibus marinis in quibus verae piscium effigies expressae sunt. It took him two years to write and, despite the title's reference to piscibus (fish), it covered all aquatic animals; like others of his time, he made no distinction between fish, marine mammals such as seals and whales, crustaceans and other invertebrates. He also tackled the question of whether freshwater sea creatures could live in marine environments and vice-versa.
His approach was broadly similar to that of Aristotle
in that he focused on the functional aspects of a creature and examined why and how a particular feature or organ functioned. In the case of freshwater fish, for instance, he looked for and compared the swim bladders of freshwater and marine specimens. He dissected and illustrated numerous creatures; his anatomical drawing of a sea urchin
is the earlier extant depiction of an invertebrate and he found important anatomical similarities between dolphins, pigs and humans. Published in 1556, the book was used as a standard reference work for many years afterwards and was translated into French in 1558 under the title L'histoire entière des poissons ("The complete story of fish").
(Carolus Clusius), Matthias de l'Obel (Lobelius), Pierre Pena and Jacques Daleschamps. Rondelet also taught Jean Bauhin
and Felix Platter, the latter arriving at Montpellier aged only 15 after riding a pony all the way from Basel
in Switzerland. Under Rondelet's chancellorship, the university attracted students from across France and abroad and received sponsorship from the French crown; he persuaded King Henry II
to fund the construction of an anatomy theatre in Montpellier.
However, the university suffered the effects of France's growing division between Catholics and Protestants that broke out into the French Wars of Religion
in 1562. Many students came from Protestant areas of France, reflecting the Protestant sympathies of Rondelet's home region of Languedoc
. They had been unable to study elsewhere in France where Catholics controlled the universities. Rondelet himself was drawn into the religious dispute when his friend Bishop Pellicier was imprisoned, prompting Rondelet to make a public protest by burning his own theology books. It is unclear whether Rondelet himself was a Protestant but he seems to have either converted to Protestantism late in his life or to have been generally interested in Protestant thought.
In 1566 Rondelet retired to Réalmont
in the Tarn. He died there a few months later.
A genus of fish and a plant genus are both named Rondeletia
after Rondelet.
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
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 southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Chancellor of the University between 1556 and his death in 1566. He achieved renown as an anatomist
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
and a naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
with a particular interest in botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
. His major work was a lengthy treatise on marine animals, which took two years to write and became a standard reference work for about a century afterwards, but his lasting impact lay in his education of a roster of star pupils who became leading figures in the world of late-16th century science.
Early life and education
Rondelet was born in MontpellierMontpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
in 1507. His father was an aromatius, a combination of pharmacist, grocer and druggist. Both parents died while he was a child and he was brought up in the care of his elder brother and sister, who was the wealthy widow of a merchant from Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. He was educated in Montpellier and was enrolled at the city's university before being sent to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1525, where he studied at the Collège de Sorbonne
Collège de Sorbonne
The Collège de Sorbonne was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, after whom it is named. With the rest of the Paris colleges, it was suppressed during the French Revolution. It was restored in 1808 but finally closed in 1882. The name Sorbonne...
.
He matriculated in 1529 and returned to Montpellier; having developed an interest in medicine, he joined the Faculty of Medicine at his home town's university. He became procurator (Student Registrar) within a year. He became friends around this time with a fellow physician, François Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
, who later wrote La vie de Gargantua et Pantagruel
Gargantua and Pantagruel
The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel is a connected series of five novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It is the story of two giants, a father and his son and their adventures, written in an amusing, extravagant, satirical vein...
in which Rondelet is satirised under the thinly disguised alias of "Rondibilis". In October 1529, while serving as procurator, Rondelet expelled the newly enrolled Nostradamus
Nostradamus
Michel de Nostredame , usually Latinised to Nostradamus, was a French apothecary and reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become famous worldwide. He is best known for his book Les Propheties , the first edition of which appeared in 1555...
from the university for being an apothecary
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
and slandering doctors.
Rondelet moved to Pertuis
Pertuis
Pertuis is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Located south of the Luberon, this town is also near Aix-en-Provence, a famous town. Pertuis has existed since at least 981, while a castle was first built in the 12th century...
in the Vaucluse
Vaucluse
The Vaucluse is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.- History :Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes...
after gaining his medical degree from Montpellier and tried to supplement his income by teaching local children, but met with little success. He went back to Paris to learn Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and to study anatomy, again supporting himself through teaching. He practised for a while as a medical doctor at Maringues
Maringues
Maringues is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-References:*...
in the Auvergne
Auvergne (province)
Auvergne was a historic province in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the Counts of Auvergne. It is now the geographical and cultural area that corresponds to the former province....
before returning to Montpellier in 1537. There he finished his doctorate and married Jeanne Sandre the following year. The couple lived with Jeanne's family for the next seven years.
His medical practice was not a success. He managed his finances badly and he outraged the citizens of Montpellier when he publicly dissected his infant son in an attempt to determine the cause of death. He became a teacher with the medical faculty in 1539 but the arrival of plague in Montpellier a few years later meant that he found himself with almost nobody to teach; only three students were left by 1543.
Service with Cardinal de Tournon and work on marine zoology
Rondelet's fortunes, however, did not disperse along with the student body. He gained a powerful patron in the person of Cardinal François de TournonFrançois de Tournon
François de Tournon was a French Augustinian diplomat and Cardinal. From 1536 he was also a military leader of French forces operating in Provence, Savoy and Piedmont. In the same year he founded the Collège de Tournon. For a period he was effectively France's foreign minister.-External links:*...
, whom he attended as his personal physician. De Tournon and the Bishop of Montpellier, Guillaume Pellicier
Guillaume Pellicier
Guillaume Pellicier was a French prelate and diplomat.Born at Melgueil in Languedoc, he was educated by his uncle, the bishop of Maguelonne, whom he succeeded in 1529...
, had both stood as sponsors for Rondelet's twin children on their birth in 1538. Rondelet left Montpellier and travelled with de Tournon in the Cardinal's entourage, journeying widely around France, what is now Belgium and Italy and stayed in Rome for three months in 1549. His trip to Italy enabled him to meet many of the Italian scholars whom he knew through his correspondence, among them Luca Ghini
Luca Ghini
Luca Ghini was an Italian physician and botanist, notable as the creator of the first recorded herbarium, as well as the first botanical garden in Europe....
at Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
, Antonio Musa Brasavola at Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
, Ulysse Aldrovandi at Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
and Cesare Odo at Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
. While in Italy he was able to indulge his interest in natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
by visiting the coast.
His rising status was confirmed in 1545 by his appointment to the post of Regius Professor of Medicine at Montpellier. He returned to his home town in 1551 on leaving the service of the cardinal and devoted two years to the writing of a great treatise on marine animals, titled Libri de piscibus marinis in quibus verae piscium effigies expressae sunt. It took him two years to write and, despite the title's reference to piscibus (fish), it covered all aquatic animals; like others of his time, he made no distinction between fish, marine mammals such as seals and whales, crustaceans and other invertebrates. He also tackled the question of whether freshwater sea creatures could live in marine environments and vice-versa.
His approach was broadly similar to that of Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
in that he focused on the functional aspects of a creature and examined why and how a particular feature or organ functioned. In the case of freshwater fish, for instance, he looked for and compared the swim bladders of freshwater and marine specimens. He dissected and illustrated numerous creatures; his anatomical drawing of a sea urchin
Sea urchin
Sea urchins or urchins are small, spiny, globular animals which, with their close kin, such as sand dollars, constitute the class Echinoidea of the echinoderm phylum. They inhabit all oceans. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from across. Common colors include black and dull...
is the earlier extant depiction of an invertebrate and he found important anatomical similarities between dolphins, pigs and humans. Published in 1556, the book was used as a standard reference work for many years afterwards and was translated into French in 1558 under the title L'histoire entière des poissons ("The complete story of fish").
Teaching and notable students
Rondelet was a popular and effective teacher and lecturer and was elected chancellor of Montpellier University in 1556. Among his pupils were Charles de l'ÉcluseCharles de l'Écluse
Charles de l'Écluse, L'Escluse, or Carolus Clusius , seigneur de Watènes, was a Flemish doctor and pioneering botanist, perhaps the most influential of all 16th century scientific horticulturists....
(Carolus Clusius), Matthias de l'Obel (Lobelius), Pierre Pena and Jacques Daleschamps. Rondelet also taught Jean Bauhin
Jean Bauhin
Jean Bauhin was a French physician. He was born in Amiens, France and died in Basel, Switzerland, where he had to relocate after converting to Protestantism.He was the physician to Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre....
and Felix Platter, the latter arriving at Montpellier aged only 15 after riding a pony all the way from Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
in Switzerland. Under Rondelet's chancellorship, the university attracted students from across France and abroad and received sponsorship from the French crown; he persuaded King Henry II
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
to fund the construction of an anatomy theatre in Montpellier.
However, the university suffered the effects of France's growing division between Catholics and Protestants that broke out into the French Wars of Religion
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...
in 1562. Many students came from Protestant areas of France, reflecting the Protestant sympathies of Rondelet's home region of Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...
. They had been unable to study elsewhere in France where Catholics controlled the universities. Rondelet himself was drawn into the religious dispute when his friend Bishop Pellicier was imprisoned, prompting Rondelet to make a public protest by burning his own theology books. It is unclear whether Rondelet himself was a Protestant but he seems to have either converted to Protestantism late in his life or to have been generally interested in Protestant thought.
In 1566 Rondelet retired to Réalmont
Réalmont
Réalmont is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.-References:*...
in the Tarn. He died there a few months later.
A genus of fish and a plant genus are both named Rondeletia
Rondeletia
Rondeletia is a genus name. It can refer to:* Rondeletia, the redmouth whalefishs* Rondeletia , flowering plants in the madder family...
after Rondelet.
External links
"Rondelet the Huguenot Naturalist": An essay by Charles KingsleyCharles Kingsley
Charles Kingsley was an English priest of the Church of England, university professor, historian and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and northeast Hampshire.-Life and character:...