Medicine at the Court of Louis Xiv

Abstract

WHEN we think at all of Louis XIV, it is generally in terms of the gorgeous portraiture of Rigaud and the vivid word-pictures of Saint-Simon. We see the Grand Monarque in his ermine-lined robes of State, sceptre in hand, arm on hip, gazing out on the world with affable condescension and consummate pose. We see the epitome of majesty: grace, dignity, command. It is a disillusioning experience to turn from this figure to the Louis XIV as seen in private life by his doctors. A new and disconcertingly human Sun King emerges. One begins to discern a man plagued by chronic infirmities of all kinds; pestered by doctors and surgeons; subjected to incredible purges, enemas, and emetics; treated often like a small boy who really does not know what is good for him; occasionally driven to rebellion but on the whole remarkably tolerant of his medical advisors. In the seventeenth century, it was the fortunate man who could not afford medical treatment. The higher one's station in life the greater became one's medical woes. One of the most scathing critics of seventeenth-century doctors (but unfortunately a hypochondriac who could not leave doctors alone), the famous Madame de Sevigne, recognized this truth. When her three-year-old grandson fell sick and, to her dismay, was promptly bled, Sevigne commented wryly: 'I fear that they do this to our child so as to honour him, as they do to the children of the King.... 20I

What is medicinal chemistry? – Demystifying a rapidly evolving discipline!

“…The French courts used to forbid the utilization of chemistry in medicine until Louis XIV was cured of chronic digestive problems with an antimony purge. 5 World War II is a turning point when the definition of medicinal chemistry developed. After World War II, our advancement in the understanding of pharmacology at the molecular level made it possible to express the biological activity of a compound as quantifiable molecular properties.…”

Medicine at the Court of Louis Xiv

“…For well ov.er a century, France dominated surgery until hardly any outstanding practitioner could be found in either the Old World or the New who was not French trained. 25 Through no conscious effort of his own, Louis XIV played an important role in elevating the status of the surgeons. On i8 November i686, he submitted himself to the 'grande operation' for an anal fistula, one of the great events, medical or otherwise, of his long reign.…”