Peter of Abano (1257–1316)

Italian physician. He believed that ‘the art of medicine must not consider only things that can be seen and felt’, and maintained, against Aristotelian teaching, that the brain and not the heart was the centre of all sensation and motion. He wrote several works on philosophy and medicine, and made translations of ancient and Arabic medical writers. His works include Conciliator differentiarum, an attempt to reconcile all differences between Arabic and Greek medical thought, and De venenis, an important treatise on toxicology.

Peter was born in Abano Bagni, Italy. He was considered the most learned physician of his time. He studied first in Padua, Italy, then travelled to Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey) to study Greek, and afterwards to Paris, France, where he studied medicine and mathematics. He also travelled in England and Scotland, but in 1307 he returned to Padua to become professor of medicine. On his return he studied astronomy, astrology, and, controversially, also explored magic. In 1306 he came before the Inquisition as a result of his studies of magic and was accused of being a sorcerer; he cleared himself. In 1314 he was invited to Treviso, Italy. The next year another accusation was brought against him and he was again brought to trial; he died, however, before judgement was given. Forty years after his death, his writings were again tried and found heretical; as a result his body was disinterred and burnt.