Gabriel da Fonseca (c. 1586 - 1668) was a Portuguese

New Christian New Christian ( es, Cristiano Nuevo; pt, Cristão-Novo; ca, Cristià Nou; lad, Christiano Muevo) was a socio-religious designation and legal distinction in the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire. The term was used from the 15th century ...

physician of the 17th century who worked as

Pope Innocent X Pope Innocent X ( la, Innocentius X; it, Innocenzo X; 6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death in January ...

’s personal physician. He was a nephew of physician Rodrigo da Fonseca.

Background

Born in

Lamego Lamego (; cel-x-proto, Lamecum) is a city and municipality in the Viseu District, in the Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region of the Douro Subregion, Douro in northern Portugal. Located on the shores of the Balsemão River, the municipality has a ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

treasurer Diogo Rodrigues Fonseca and Isabel Gomes, he studied at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

in 1603, receiving his doctorate in 1609. It was common for Portuguese physicians to study in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

during this time due to the prestige Italian institutions offered. It is possible Fonseca left Portugal to hide his

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish origins, as

Philip II of Portugal Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain. As Philip II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621. A member of the House of Habsburg, Phi ...

had, in 1604, by royal decree, officially excluded Jews from studying or practicing medicine.

Career

Fonseca was Professor of Logic at the Academy of Pisa from 1609 to 1611. Afterwards he left for

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to tend to bishop

Gaspar de Borja y Velasco Gaspar de Borja y Velasco (26 June 1580 – 28 December 1645) was a Spanish cardinal, ecclesiastic and politician. He belonged to the house of Borgia (though he always used the Spanish spelling of ''Borja'') and served as Primate of Spain, Archb ...

, and where he became Professor of Medicine at

La Sapienza University The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

for twenty-eight years. After Giovanni Battista Pamphili was elected Pope in 1644, Fonseca was hired as his personal physician, for which he was well paid. Pamphili had such strong trust in Fonseca that he regarded him not only as his physician but also as a private advisor. This lasted for eight years until, on 28 March 1654, the Pope expelled Fonseca and refused to see him. According to Rome chronicler Giacinto Gigli (1594-1671), Fonseca had defended a barber who had bled the irascible Pope.

Personal life

On 14 September 1618 he married Portuguese woman Catarina Gomes, daughter of António Gomes of

Elvas Elvas () is a Portuguese municipality, former episcopal city and frontier fortress of easternmost central Portugal, located in the district of Portalegre in Alentejo. It is situated about east of Lisbon, and about west of the Spanish fortress ...

. They settled in the parish of San Tommaso in

Parione Parione is the 6th ''rione'' of Rome, identified by the initials R. VI, and belongs to the Municipio I. Its name comes from the fact that in the area there was a huge ancient wall, maybe belonging to the stadium of Domitianus; the nickname ...

. Fonseca was an associate of many Italian-based physicians, such as Irish plague doctor

Niall Ó Glacáin Niall Ó Glacáin, or Nellanus Glacanus (c. 1563–1653) was an Irish physician who worked to treat victims of bubonic plague outbreaks in various places throughout Europe. Early life and education Ó Glacáin's date of birth is uncertain. So ...

and Italian surgeon

Marco Aurelio Severino Marco Aurelio Severino (November, 1580 – July 12, 1656) was an Italian surgeon and anatomist. Biography Severino was born in Tarsia (Calabria, Italy), of Giovanni Jacopo Severino, a lawyer. He died of plague in 1656 in Naples. Adept of the ...

Death

Gabriel da Fonseca died on 20 May 1668 in

, having become a Roman citizen in 1638.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseca, Gabriel da 1586 births 1668 deaths 17th-century Portuguese physicians University of Pisa alumni Academic staff of the University of Pisa Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome