William of Salicet[1] (1210–1277) (Italian: Guglielmo da Saliceto;[2] French: Guillaume de Salicet; Latin: Guilielmus de Salicetum) was an Italian surgeon and cleric in Saliceto.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Guglielmo_da_Saliceto.jpg/220px-Guglielmo_da_Saliceto.jpg)
He broke tradition with Galen by claiming that pus formation was bad for wounds and for the patient. He was a professor at the University of Bologna. In 1275 he wrote Chirurgia which promoted the use of a surgical knife over cauterizing. He also was the author of Summa conservationis et curationis on hygiene and therapy. Lanfranc of Milan was a pupil who brought William's methods into France. William gave lectures on the importance of regular bathing for infants, and special care for the hygiene of pregnant women.
References
edit- ^ Roger Kenneth French Canonical Medicine: Gentile Da Foligno and Scholasticism 2001 - Page 43 "Where 'William' is quoted on surgery (Canon III, 69r), it seems likely that Guglielmo da Saliceto is intended. Sometimes Gentile specifies a 'William the Lombard', for example Canon III, 88r. As Brescia is in Lombardy, William the Lombard is ..."
- ^ Plinio Prioreschi A History of Medicine: Medieval Medicine 1996 - Page 453 "Guglielmo da Saliceto"
- The Surgery of William of Saliceto, English translation by Leonard D. Rosenman ISBN 1-4010-8572-5.
- Copernicus, Ivan Crowe ISBN 0-7524-2553-6.
- Medicine and the Italian Universities: 1250-1600, Nancy G. Siraisi.
External links
editWikimedia Commons has media related to William of Saliceto.
- Of blood, inflammation and gunshot wounds: the history of the control of sepsis, AJ Thurston.