The End of My Liffvb

It seems to me my time on this miraculous planet is coming to an end. Just moments before, my ship had fallen victim to the Ionian Sea, leaving survivors weak upon the island of Zakynthos. I am ill beyond imagine and currently unable to pay for my funeral to come… Will I be left for the animals? Or perhaps some human would save my remains… I don’t have a clue. This shall be my last post on my blog before I perish…

The Island of Zakynthos

Before we had crashed, I was sailing in the Venetian Fleet with James Malatesta. I had taken this voyage due to pressure from the Inquisition. Those fiends. None of them had given me a chance to explicate my situation… What had happened was completely unimaginable. I had been performing an autopsy on a “dead” Spanish Aristocrat and when I had cut in before the heart, I found it beating. Was he drugged? I shall not ever know. Immediately I was deemed a murderer by his family and brought before the Inquisition. Only my link to Phillip II helped me survive their ways of torture and condemnation. The generous Phillip II was able to reduce my sentence to a mere Pilgrimage. Of course, these events would probably never be properly recorded to prove it's accuracy...

Yet here I am now, lying here prepared to die, with recent news during my time in Jerusalem that my friend Gabriel Fallopius had died recently at the University of Padua. I had planned to take his position, but such an event would never occur. I will not be able to travel back to the main lands of Europe. I hope my family fares well without me; God knows where they are… I am 50 years old and a proud physician, surgeon, and anatomist and today is October 15, 1564. The end is nearing, I end my post here. 

Court Times with the Royals

These past years I had been working in a new occupation as the imperial psychiatric court physician of Emperor Charles V, and later of his son, Phillip II. Yeah. That's a long title. To take this job I had rejected an offer from Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, another position with a title worth having, but I decided to turn it down. The office offered by the emperor was just that much more appealing. Weeks into the job I found myself being ridiculed by the other physicians. They thought of me as an inferior barber-surgeon, one who cuts hair and, for part time, performs surgery as well. Each had put themselves above me with their statuses as physicians. How could they continue though? After all, my researches were more radical and effective than that of theirs. In the time as physician for the emperor I successfully established a position where at the top of the most wanted physicians. I was also able to write several letters which, with the help of my brother Franciscus, was published as the Letters on the China Root with evidence of its efficiency by 1546. (P.S. A year before the publication I had gotten married to Anne Van Hamme! Nearing the time of the publication was the birth of our new baby daughter whom we also named Anne. Yes. Feel the creativity.)

Smilax Chinae

During the time studying the China root, I found its properties extraordinary. Which other plant could suck syphilis right out of your system? Its original name was the Smilax Chinae, an oriental root. Unfortunately the recent distributions of this superior drug have brought it to become a commonly misused drug among the young. My further studies had allowed me to find the exact perpetrators of this drug in as much as a glimpse. Ahh… The unfortunate misuse... Perhaps these unfortunates have fallen into the wrong circles in life… Might I remind a few of the young’uns reading this to live life effectively, les’t you wish to find yourself on my dissection table :].

Continuing from this, I had served time already as a surgeon and physician in the mending of wounds during the travels of the courts with Charles V. Injuries from tournaments and other events were brought to my attention and I had several chances to perform postmortems. Now I serve under his son, Philip II, who has generously given me annuity for life. Who knows what shall go on next? Phillip seems to advocate Catholicism to the largest reaches…

Background Information about Me

So, perhaps you’ve wondered, “what is it inside me?” –looks in shirt– well, I for one, found the answer in my time. My name is André Wesele Crabbe, but often I was called Andreas Vesalius. I was brought into this world in Brussels, Habsburg Netherland on the 31^st of December in the year of 1514. I was born to Isabella Crabbe and Andries van Wesele and along with me were my four siblings. My family was one of Physicians, so naturally I was thought to inherit some of my talents from my forefathers.

                Growing up, Father enrolled me in with the Brethren of Common Life. The purpose of this was so I could become educated in the languages I would need to properly educate myself in fields of my interests. Upon the year 1528, I took my studies further into artistry as I took my place in the University of Louvain. Chances came to surface and I decided to take on the art of medicine instead. This brought me to the University of Paris where I took much interest in dissections and anatomy. Studying Galen under my teachers, Sylvius and Jean, my knowledge had flown up levels than they had before. Unfortunately, France and the Holy Roman Empire found a reason to war, bringing me back to the Louvain in order to escape the violence. In my time there, I studied under Guinter of Andernach. Soon enough though, I had developed the need to leave when we began sharing discussions of rage and differences. From there, with my bachelor’s degree, I began studying in the University of Padua. By December 6th, at the age of 23, I had received my doctorate in medicine and had began teaching a more interactive kind of class compared to that of the boring professors. I taught as the explicator chirurgiae until I was offered a more promising position. How did they expect new curious minds to prosper if they continuously hold them down?

University of Padua

Over the time of my life, I took the liberties of drawing up a few books… By 1541, I had already succeeded to disprove the works of Galen himself. Yes, I, Andreas Vesalius, proved Galen’s work to be blasphemous. Through the 1540s, I spent my time in research and work, publishing some of the most influential books in anatomy and medicine. Though I had taken the job as Physician to the Holy Roman Emperor, my interests in Anatomy and the systematic workings of the human body did not cease to exist. In fact, I had written my books on the Human body the same year before taking the new job. Upon taking the job as a Physician, I found joy with the experimentation of more radical ideas of healing the sick.

Yet days are still to come as I continue my research upon the mysteries of mankind, surely there will be a time of peace where I am not being watched by the mongrels of the church. Perhaps they suspect some illegal activity looked down upon by society? Hopefully not… Not only are they persistent, but they have been constantly reminding me of how my life has worked out. Maybe it’s time I changed a bit more of my life in terms of adventure rather than of research and healing.