The tomb (cadaver monument) of Guillaume de Harsigny (c. 1300 – 10 July 1393) – a French doctor and court physician to Charles V of France [1701×1200]

    by emilos260

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    1. From Wikipedia:

      A **cadaver monument** or ***transi*** is a type of [funerary monument](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funerary_art) to a deceased person, featuring a sculpted [tomb effigy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_effigy) of a skeleton, or of an emaciated or decomposing dead body, with closed eyes. It was particularly characteristic of the [Late Middle Ages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Middle_Ages) when they were designed to remind viewers of the transience and vanity of mortal life, and the eternity and desirability of the Christian after-life.

      Harsigny studied medicine in Paris, where he also obtained his doctorate. He traveled across the Mediterranean, notably to Italy, Palestine, Syria, and Egypt, visiting centers of medical scholarship such as the [Schola Medica Salernitana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schola_Medica_Salernitana). Having expanded his knowledge, he returned to his homeland, [Picardy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picardy), where, in the course of the plague epidemics of the Black Death, he gained a reputation as one of the best doctors in France. Thus, he became the personal physician of the powerful feudal lord Enguerrand VII de Coucy. During this time, he learned new medical techniques and compiled information from medical manuscripts.

      When king [Charles VI of France](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_VI_of_France) suffered a nervous breakdown in August 1392 near Le Mans, during a campaign against Brittany, unexpectedly attacked his own companions, killing some of them and falling into a coma himself, he was already abandoned by his doctors. It was only under the care of the aged Harsigny that the king recovered. This unexpected cure was the culmination of Harsigny’s medical career.

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