Jacques d'Amboise was a French doctor and surgeon.

Life

He was the grandson of Michel d'Amboise and the son of Jean d'Amboise, surgeon to kings Francis I of France

Francis I of France

Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...

, 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,...

, Francis II

Francis II of France

Francis II was aged 15 when he succeeded to the throne of France after the accidental death of his father, King Henry II, in 1559. He reigned for 18 months before he died in December 1560...

, Charles IX

Charles IX of France

Charles IX was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death. His reign was dominated by the Wars of Religion. He is best known as king at the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.-Childhood:...

 and Henry III

Henry III of France

Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...

.

Jacques was himself surgeon to Henry III

Henry III of France

Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...

, and got himself noticed when he dissected a woman before Ambroise Paré

Ambroise Paré

Ambroise Paré was a French surgeon. He was the great official royal surgeon for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III and is considered as one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology. He was a leader in surgical techniques and battlefield medicine, especially the...

 and several grand-masters of surgery aged only 20. He then became a doctor of medicine, then doctor to king Henry IV of France

Henry IV of France

Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....

. In 1594, he was elected rector of the université de Paris. In 1596, he was made professor at the Collège royal

Collège de France

The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...

, where the medicine chair is named after him.

The university's oath of loyalty to Henry IV and the trial that brought it under the Jesuits fell under his rectorate. As rector, he pronounced bloody haranagues against the Jesuits to the parlement

Parlement

Parlements were regional legislative bodies in Ancien Régime France.The political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and...

 on 12 May and 13 July 1594.

Jacques d'Amboise was also the brother of François d'Amboise

François d'Amboise

François d'Amboise was a French jurist and writer. He was counseller to the Parlement of Brittany and advocate general to the Grand Conseil.- Biography :...

, king's advocate to the parlement de Paris, and of Adrien d'Amboise, almoner of Henry IV and bishop of Tréguier.

Sources

• Pierre Bayle, Dictionnaire historique et critique, p.177
• J. Balteau, Dictionnaire de biographie française, vol II