de Chauliac, Guy (c. 1298-1368)

French surgeon. He was appointed physician to Pope Clement VI and to his two successors at Avignon, France. In 1363 he completed his Chirurgia Magna, first printed in France in 1478.

Born in Chauliac, Auvergne. Educated at Montpellier and Bologna, he took holy orders and became a canon at Lyons, where he also practised surgery. In his Chirurgia Magna he distinguished the various kinds of hernia, illustrated a hernia operation, and described the treatment of wounds and fractures. He also gave an excellent account of contemporary dentistry and a vivid and accurate account of the Black Death, which he had witnessed at Avignon in 1348 and 1360. He was considered the most eminent surgeon of his time.

During the plague epidemics at Avignon he continued to tend the sick while many other physicians fled.