A brief biography

François Rousset (c1530–1603) was born in Pithiviers, France. After completing his classical studies in Orléans and Paris, he spent two years attending the lectures of Jacques duBois (1478–1555), the famous professor of medicine at the University of Paris, better known by his Latin cognomen, Sylvius. Rousset then moved to Montpellier to join the classes of the professor of medicine, Guillaume Rondelet (1507–1566), an early practitioner of human dissection. There, he received his Bachelor of Medicine degree and was granted his medical licence after passing the examinations and presenting a thesis. In Montpellier, the separation of surgery and academic medicine was not as pronounced as it was in Paris, so it is possible that Rousset had some exposure to the practical aspects of surgery. He had to abandon his doctoral studies because an outbreak of plague in Montpellier forced his move to Avignon.

After some months teaching and practising medicine in Avignon, the itinerant Rousset travelled throughout France, seeking to learn from other prominent physicians. After serving an apprenticeship with Nicolas de Villeneuve in Valréas, Provence, he returned to Paris, probably in 1554, and continued his attendance at Sylvius' lectures. It was on the latter's advice that he returned to practise in his hometown of Pithiviers around 1556. Here, his experience and reputation grew and he was ultimately called upon to attend ancient and noble families in the area, becoming physician to the Duchess of Ferrara (Appendix 2), the Duke of Nemours (Appendix 3), Catherine de Medici and, finally, Henry IV.