Joseph Duchesne or du Chesne (Quercetan, Latin Josephus Quercetanus) ( 1544–1609) was a French physician. A follower of

Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. He w ...

, he is now remembered for important if transitional

alchemical Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

theories. He called sugar toxic, saying: “Under its whiteness, sugar hides a great blackness.”

Biography

Duchesne was born around 1544 in

Armagnac Armagnac (, ) is a distinctive kind of brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of grapes including Baco 22A, Colombard, Folle blanche and Ugni blanc, traditionally ...

and studied at

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, and then at

Basle , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

, where he received a medical diploma in 1573. During the 1570s at

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, he married Anne Trie the granddaughter of

Guillaume Budé Guillaume Budé (; Latinized as Guilielmus Budaeus; 1468 – 1540) was a French scholar and humanist. He was involved in the founding of Collegium Trilingue, which later became the Collège de France. Budé was also the first keeper of the ...

, and became a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

convert. He went into medical practice and became physician to

Francis, Duke of Anjou '' Monsieur'' Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon (french: Hercule François; 18 March 1555 – 10 June 1584) was the youngest son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. Early years He was scarred by smallpox at age eight, a ...

. He left Lyon in 1580 for

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

, and moved on to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, where in 1584 he received citizenship. Duchesne was elected to the Council of Two Hundred in 1587, and undertook diplomatic missions to

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, Basle,

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the ...

and Zurich in the years 1589 to 1596. In 1594 he became a member of the Council of Sixty. In 1598, following the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

, Duchesne returned to France and became

physician-in-Ordinary ''In ordinary'' is an English phrase with multiple meanings. In relation to the Royal Household, it indicates that a position is a permanent one. In naval matters, vessels "in ordinary" (from the 17th century) are those out of service for repair ...

attending

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

. In 1601 Nicolas Brûlart de Sillery gave him a mission as envoy to the Swiss cantons. In 1604 he went to the court of Maurice of Hesse-Cassel where he gave scientific demonstrations in a laboratory set up for him.

Works

* 1576 : ''Sclopetarius''–On wounds made by

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

s and similar weapons * 1603 : ''De priscorum philosophorum verae medicinae material'' * 1604
''Ad veritatem hermeticae medicinae ex Hippocratis veterumque decretis ac therapeusi''
* 1606 : ''Tetras gravissimorum totius capitis affectuum'', Marburg: Paulus Egenolphus, 1606. * 1607 : ''Pharmacopea dogmaticorum'' **
''La farmacopea overo antidotario riformato del signore Giuseppe Quercetano…''
translated by Giacomo Ferrari. Venice, 1619 **
''La pharmacopée des dogmatiques''
2nd ed. with emendations. Rouen: Corneille Pitreson, 1639 * 1619
''Le Ricchezze della riformata Farmacopea del Giuseppe Quercetano. Nouamente di Favella Latina traportata in Italiana da Giacomo Ferrari''
- Venice: Guerigli, 1619. * 1625
''Pharmacopeia restituta''
- Strassburg: Zetzner, 1625. * 1625
''Diaeteticon polyhistoricum''
Strassburg: Zetzner, 1625. * 1625
''Tétrade des plus grièves maladies de tout le cerveau''
* 1639
''Traicté familier de l'exacte preparation spagirique des medicamens''
Rouen: Corneille PitresonSee "

spagyric Paracelsianism (also Paracelsism; German: ') was an early modern medical movement based on the theories and therapies of Paracelsus. It developed in the second half of the 16th century, during the decades following Paracelsus' death in 1541, an ...

". * 1648
''Quercetanus redivivus, hoc est, ars medica dogmatico-hermetica'' Vol.1-3
- Francofurti: Beyer, 1648.

Notes

References

*Hirai, Hiro (2010). “The World-Spirit and Quintessence in the Chymical Philosophy of Joseph Du Chesne,” in Chymia: Science and Nature in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (1450–1750), ed. Miguel Lopez-Perez et al. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars, pp. 247–261. * *

External links

Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries
High resolution images of works by and/or portraits of Joseph Duchesne in .jpg and .tiff format. {{DEFAULTSORT:Duchesne, Joseph 1544 births 1609 deaths 16th-century French physicians Huguenots 16th-century French diplomats Court physicians