Part 4 (1/2)

BATTLE OF SAINT DENIS, 1567

As for the battle of Saint Denis, there were many killed on both sides Our wounded withdrew to Paris to be dressed, with the prisoners they had taken, and I dressedordered o to her house to dress the Constable; who had a pistol-shot in the middle of the spine of his back, whereby at once he lost all feeling and sbecause the spinal cord, whence arise the nerves to give feeling and movement to the parts beloas crushed, broken, and torn by the force of the bullet Also he lost understanding and reason, and in a few days he died The surgeons of Paris were hard put to it for many days to treat all the wounded I think, reat God of victories, that we be never more employed in such misfortune and disaster

VOYAGE OF THE BATTLE OF MONCONTOUR 1569

During the battle of Moncontour, King Charles was at Plessis-les- Tours, where he heard the news of the victory A great nuentlemen and soldiers retreated into the town and suburbs of Tours, wounded, to be dressed and treated; and the King and the Queen-eons ere then on duty, as Pigray, du Bois, Portail, and one Siret, a surgeon of Tours, a eon to the King's brother And for the multitude of bad cases we had scarce any rest, nor the physicians either

M le Coht of the Order of the King, was severely wounded in the battle, in the left arreat part of his elbow; and he withdrew to Borgueil near Tours Then he sent a gentleeons, to help hieon they should send M le Marechal de Montht to send hied that M de Mansfeld had donesaid flat, he would not have o, and wished me to stop with hio and con lord, who had co of Spain, to help hio, provided I came back very soon So he sent for o and find the Lord de Mansfeld, wherever he should be, to do all I could for him to heal his wound I went to him, with a letter froood-will, and forthwith dis hiret, because his wound seeentle been wounded: for they knew that M de Guise was there, who also had been badly wounded with a pistol-shot through the leg, and they were sure that he would have good surgeons to dress hienerous, and would relieve their wants This he did with a will, both for their eating and drinking, and for what else they needed: and for my part, they had the comfort and help ofto their wounds M le Co of Navarre before Rouen M de Bassompierre, colonel of twelve hundred horse, ounded by a similar shot, in the same place, as M de Mansfeld: whom I dressed, and God healed God blessed my work so well, that in three weeks I sent them back to Paris: where I had still to make incisions in M de Mansfeld's arm, to remove some pieces of the bones, which were badly splintered, broken, and carious He was healed by the grace of God, and made me a handsome present, so I ell content with him, and he with me; as he has shown me since He wrote a letter to M le Duc d' Ascot, hoas healed of his wound, and also M de Bassompierre of his, and many others whom I had dressed after the battle of Moncontour; and advised hi of France to let me visit M le Marquis d' Auret, his brother: which he did

THE JOURNEY TO FLANDERS 1569

M le Duc d' Ascot did not fail to send a gentle he would do him so much kindness and honour as to pereon to visit M le Marquis d' Auret, his brother, who had received a gunshot wound near the knee, with fracture of the bone, about seven eons all this ti sent for ive him all the help I could, to heal him of his wound I told hie it had pleased God to give entleue and a half fro So soon as I had co had commanded me to colad I had co, who had done him so h fever, his eyes deep sunken, with a ue dry and parched, and the whole body much wasted and lean, the voice low as of a h reenish and very offensive sanies I probed it with a silver probe, ith I found a large cavity in the h, and others round the knee, sanious and cuniculate: also several scales of bone, soreatly swelled, and imbued with a pituitous hue bedsore; he could rest neither day nor night; and had no appetite to eat, but very thirsty I was told he often fell into a faintness of the heart, and sometimes as in epilepsy: and often he felt sick, with such tre and considering all these great complications, and the vital powers thus broken down, truly I was very sorry I had come to him, because it seemed to me there was little hope he would escape death All the saood hope, I told hirace of God, and the help of his physicians and surgeons

Having seen hiarden, and prayed God He would show race, that he should recover; and that He would bless our hands and our ht such a complication of diseases I discussed in my mind the means I must take to do this They called me to dinner I careat pot, half a sheep, a quarter of veal, three great pieces of beef, tls, and a very big piece of bacon, with abundance of good herbs: then I said to myself that the broth of the pot would be full of juices, and very nourishi+ng

After dinner, we began our consultation, all the physicians and surgeons together, in the presence of M le Duc d' Ascot and soeons that I was astonished they had notthat it was all suppurating, and the thickbeen pent up there; and that I had found with the probe caries of the bone, and scales of bone, which were already loose They answered me: ”Never would he consent to it”; indeed, it was near two et leave to put clean sheets on his bed; and one scarce dared touch the coverlet, so great was his pain Then I said, ”To heal hi else than the coverlet of his bed” Each said what he thought of the malady of the patient, and in conclusion they all held it hopeless I told the, and God and Nature soeons impossible

To restore the wareneral frictions ht, to left, and around, to draw the blood and the vital spirits from within outwardFor the bedsore, he must be put in a fresh, soft bed, with clean shi+rt and sheets Having discoursed of the causes and complications of his malady, I said we must cure the openings in the thigh to let out theand coldness of the limb, we must apply hot bricks round it, and sprinkle thear, and wrap them in napkins; and to his feet, an earthenware bottle filled with the decoction, corked, and wrapped in cloths Then the thigh, and the whole of the leg, e, rosemary, thyme, lavender, flowers of chamomile andpowder ar and half a handful of salt

Thirdly, we e plaster uentuether, to ease his pain and dry the ulcer; and he must have a little pillow of down, to keep all pressure off it

And for the strengthening of his heart, we erant of oil of waterlilies, ointar and treacle, spread on a piece of red cloth For the syncope, fro the brain, he s, plureat pot, whereof I have already spoken; the white s est, as veal, kid, pigeons, partridges, thrushes, and the like, with sauce of orange, verjuice, sorrel, sharp poood herbs, as lettuce, purslain, chicory, bugloss, ht he can take barley-water, with juice of sorrel and of waterlilies, of each two ounces, with four or five grains of opium, and the four cold seeds crushed, of each half an ounce; which is a good nourishi+ng remedy and will make him sleep His bread to be farreat pain in his head, his hair ar just warm, and a double cloth steeped in it and put there; also a forehead-cloth, of oil of roses and water-lilies and poppies, and a little opiued from time to time Moreover, we must allow him to sar and rose-water, with a little camphor, all wrapped in a handkerchief, to be held some ti water froh place into a cauldron, that he may hear the sound of it; by which means sleep shall be provoked on hihting it e have let out the pus and other huh, and have rubbed the whole knee with ointment of mallows, and oil of lilies, and a little eau-de-vie, and wrapped it in black ith the grease left in it; and if we put under the knee a feather pillow doubled, little by little we shall straighten the leg

This eons

The consultation ended, ent back to the patient, and I hTwo or three hours later, I got a bed made near his old one, with fair white sheets on it; then a strong man put him in it, and he was thankful to be taken out of his foul stinking bed Soon after, he asked to sleep; which he did for near four hours; and everybody in the house began to feel happy, and especially M le Duc d' Ascot, his brother

The following days, I made injections, into the depth and cavities of the ulcers, of Aegyptiacum dissolved sometimes in eau-de-vie, other times in wine, I applied compresses to the bottoy flesh, and hollow leaden tents, that the sanies e plaster of Diacalcitheos dissolved in wine And I bandaged hione, the fever began at once to abate Then I gave hi it would restore and quicken the vital forces And all that we agreed in consultation was done in due time and order; and so soon as his pains and fever ceased, he began steadily to aeons, and one of his physicians, so that ere but three with him

Now I stopped there about twomany patients, both rich and poor, who caave food and drink to the needy, and co me to help them for his sake I protest I refused not one, and did for theinning to be well, I told him we h: which he did In one ot hiarden and at the door of his chateau, to see everybody passing by

The villagers of two or three leagues round, now they could have sight of hi and dance, ood convalescence, all glad to see hihter and plenty to drink He always gave theshead of beer; and they all drank merrily to his health And the citizens of Mons in Hainault, and other gentlehbours, carave; and from the time he ell, he was never without company When one went out, another came in to visit him; his table was alell covered He was dearly loved both by the nobility and by the coenerosity, so for his handsoracious word for everybody, so that all who saw him had perforce to love him

The chief citizens of Mons cao to Mons, where they wished to entertain me with a banquet, for their love of hio, which he did; but I said such great honour was not for ain he urged reed The next day, they caot to Mons, we found the dinner ready, and the chief reat devotion We sat down to dinner, and they put me at the top of the table, and all drank tohe was happy, and they with hiain; and truly the whole company were full of honour and love for hiht me back to the Chateau d'Auret, where M le Marquis aiting me; who affectionately welcomed me, and would hear e had done at our banquet; and I told him all the company had drunk an to stand a little on crutches, and to put on fat and get a good natural colour He would go to Beau-chair, by eight h which we passed, knowing it was M le Marquis, fought who should carry him, and would have us drink with them; but it was only beer Yet I believe if they had possessed wine, even hippocras, they would have given it to us with a will And all were right glad to see him, and all prayed God for him When we came to Beaumont, everybody came out to meet us and pay their respects to hiood health We caentlemen whom M le Duc d'Ascot had invited to come and be happy with his brother; and he kept open house three whole days After dinner, the gentle and play with the foils, and were full of joy at the sight of M d'Auret, for they had heard he would never leave his bed or be healed of his wound I was always at the upper end of the table, and everybody drank to hi to make me drunk, which they could not; for I drank only as I always do