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Andreas Vesalius Timeline


Timeline Description: Andreas Vesalius is often called the founder of human anatomy. He studied and taught about the human body when most people had no knowledge of it at all, and his famous and influential book on the subject is still studied today.

DateEvent TitleEvent Description
December 31, 1514Andreas is bornAndreas was born in Brussels, Habsburg, Netherlands. Today it is called Belgium.
1537Graduation from collegeAndreas graduated with a doctorate after studying in Paris and Padua. As soon as he graduated, he was made Professor of Surgery and Anatomy at the University of Padua.
1538Teachings on the bodyUsing his own studies and observations, Andreas taught his students using charts he had created. When he realized the charts were being copied, he officially published them and called them Tabulae anatomicae sex.
1539Further writingsPeople were impressed with Andreas' observations. They wanted more information, so he went on to publish Institutiones anatomicae, which was an updated version of an anatomical handbook.
1541A disturbing discoveryUp to this point in history, the people of the day followed the medical teachings of Galen. However, Andreas discovered that Galen's teaching were all based on animal dissections instead of the human body.
1543A human dissectionDetermined to teach with the most accurate information, Andreas decided to perform a human dissection. He used the body of a deceased felon in order to learn more about the human body; the skeleton of this subject is still preserved today in a museum in Basel.
1543On the Fabric of the Human BodyAfter his dissection, Andreas began a book that would become famous and live on for centuries. On the Fabric of the Human Body is a textbook still used today.
1540'sAn Imperial physician(Late 1540's)At some point after the publication of his book, Andreas was invited to move to the court of Emperor Charles V. He moved to the royal court and worked as the king's Imperial physician.
1546A paper on the China rootOne of Galen's most recognized treatments of the day was the use of the China root. Andreas Vesalius published a paper which pointed out how useless the China root was for treating ailments.
1551Personal attacksPhysicians who had long followed Galen's teachings resented Andreas' success. They launched personal attacks on his methods, and Andreas was eventually investigated and cleared of any wrong doing.
1553More controversyAndreas' personal attacks grew when he published Christianismi Restitutio. In this paper he disproved Galen's theories on the heart, and his enemies grew in number.
1555An updated textAfter years of hands-on learning, Andreas updated his famous textbook, On the Fabric of the Human Body. He released the revised edition in 1555.
1561A professional rebukeA man named Gabriele Fallopio, who also studied human anatomy, published a public but friendly correction to Andreas' famous textbook. Andreas took the correction in stride, and recognized the areas he had been wrong.
1564Andreas leaves the Imperial courtAndreas left the Imperial court in order to take a journey to the Holy Land. Throughout history it has been believed that he was forced to leave because of his controversial teachings, but this has never been proven.
1564Andreas' deathDuring his journey, the ship encountered bad weather and the ship was wrecked. Andreas died due to injuries in the wreck; he was around 50 years old.