Charles de Lorme, Delorme, d'lorm, or De l'Orme (1584 – 24 June 1678),"Delorme, Charles (1584–1678)", Notice de personne"
BnF. was a French medical doctor who practiced in several regions across Europe during the 17th century. Charles was the son of Jean Delorme (a professor at Montpellier University), who was the primary doctor to

Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...

. This ultimately opened doors for Charles' medical career soon after he graduated from the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier (french: Université de Montpellier) is a public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the wor ...

in 1607 at the age of 23. He first came to Paris after graduation to practice medicine under the watchful eye of his father, until he was ready to practice as a regular doctor on his own. There are no records of his marriages, except that he married for the third time at the age of 78. This wife died within a year. Charles was the personal physician to several members of the royal family of the

House of Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the M ...

from 1610 to 1650. He was the main doctor to Louis the Just after his father retired and additionally became the primary physician to the king's brother

Gaston, Duke of Orléans '' Monsieur'' Gaston, Duke of Orléans (Gaston Jean Baptiste; 24 April 1608 – 2 February 1660), was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de' Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a '' Fils de France''. He lat ...

starting in 1629.Tibayrenc, pp. 680–681. French sourced as: Delaunay, Paul, ''La vie médicale aux XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles,'' p. 274, Genève: Slatkine, 2001, Charles was the chief physician of three French kings,

Henri IV Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...

and

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

. He was very reputable in his profession as a doctor.Universal Pronouncing Dictionary of Biography and Mythology, Volume 1 By Joseph Thomas
/ref> He acquired the friendship of

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

and Chancellor Pierre Séguier, who granted him a pension.

Biography

One biography describes him as having nice features including a good complexion, and a strong distinct voice. He also had an excellent volubility of language, elegant ease of speech, and a good memory. He was generally open-minded, had a great wit, and spoke with authority. Charles claims he was a direct descendant of Jacques de L'Orme, one of those who worked on the reform of the Custom of Bourbonnais. Through his father's influence, a professor at the

, he learned Latin, Greek, Spanish and Italian. He also influenced Charles' education in the medical field. Charles did nine theses while he was a student at the University of Montpellier. They were in Latin and Greek and were published and sold in Paris in 1608.Bernardin, pp. 3–7
/ref> The following are some of these theses. * '' Convient-il d'employer les mêmes remèdes avec les amants qu'avec les déments?'' *: Should one use the same remedies for lovers as are used for the insane? * '' Une fièvre pestilente peut-elle être intermittente?'' *: Can pestilential fever be intermittent? * ''La guimauve est-elle un être vivant, et a-t-elle les propriétés que lui accordent Dioscoride et Galien ? '' *: Is the

althaea officinalis ''Althaea officinalis'', the marsh mallow or marshmallow, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, which is used in herbalism and as an ornamental plant. A confection made from the root since ancient ...

a living being, and does it have the properties which

Pedanius Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of '' De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vo ...

and

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be o ...

ascribe to it? The following were four theses, dedicated to the Chancellor de Sillery, that Charles wrote after October 30, 1607. * '' La vie des rois, des princes et des grands est-elle moins exposée à la maladie et plus longue que telle des gens du peuple et des paysans?'' *: Are the lives of kings, princes and great men less exposed to disease and longer than common people and peasants? * '' Les vésicants sont-ils bons pour les douleurs arthritiques?'' *: Are blister-causing agents good for arthritis pain? * ''Peut-on préparer un poison qui tue à une époque déterminée?'' *: Can one prepare a poison that kills at a certain time? * ''Est-il permis, quand une femme enceinte souffre d'une maladie aiguë, de lui prescrire des abortifs?'' *: Is it permissible, when a pregnant woman suffers from an acute illness, to prescribe her an abortion? De Lorme is credited with the invention of the medico della peste costume worn by plague doctors in Europe's lazarettos in the 17th century. The costume included a beak filled with perfumes and hat and vestments made of Levantine leather, all intended to prevent a doctor from becoming ill with

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium ('' Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as wel ...

when visiting sick patients in quarantine.

Mineral baths and spas

Jean de Lorme, Charles' father, was one of two doctors from Moulins that introduced

Bourbon-Lancy Bourbon-Lancy is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a rural town on the river Loire with a walled medieval area on the dominant hill. It has an authentic medieval belfr ...

as a spa town to Europe. Charles was the heir to his father's interest in the

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, B ...

, however for some unknown reason promoted the rival spa town of

Bourbon-l'Archambault Bourbon-l'Archambault is a spa town and a commune in the Allier department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in central France. It is the place of origin of the House of Bourbon. Population Personalities In 1681, Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon, ...

. Charles profited hugely from promoting the spa in this town. He was accused with the proverb ''d'avoir pris pension des habitants pour y faire aller bien du monde'' ("to have boarded the inhabitants in order to make the world go well") because of his enthusiasm for this rival spa. Charles gave the spa of Bourbon-l'Archambault its excellent reputation in the European

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...

Antimony

Charles became wealthy in a medical practice of prescribing a

concoction Concoction is the process of preparing a medicine, food or other substance out of many ingredients, and also the result of such a process. Historically, the word referred to digestion, as conceived by Aristotle who theorized that this was the resu ...

antimony Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient ti ...

to Henry IV,

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

, and

Madame de Sévigné Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ...

as a health-preserving, health-restoring and life extending preparation. This concept was originally started by

Basil Valentine Basil Valentine is the Anglicised version of the name Basilius Valentinus, ostensibly a 15th-century alchemist, possibly Canon of the Benedictine Priory of Saint Peter in Erfurt, Germany but more likely a pseudonym used by one or several 16th-c ...

in his work ''Currus Triumphalis Antimonii'' ("The triumphal chariot of antimony"); who obtained the idea of medical benefits from

Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. He ...

(1480–1541). Charles claimed "qui plus en boira, plus il vivra" (''He who drinks more will live more''). Some of the patients to whom he prescribed this concoction were Guez de Balzac, who lived to the age of 70,

Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (; 1 November 1636 – 13 March 1711), often known simply as Boileau (, ), was a French poet and critic. He did much to reform the prevailing form of French poetry, in the same way that Blaise Pascal did to reform the ...

, who lived to the age of 75, and

Daniel Huet P. D. Huetius Pierre Daniel Huet (; la, Huetius; 8 February 1630 – 26 January 1721) was a French churchman and scholar, editor of the Delphin Classics, founder of the Académie de Physique in Caen (1662-1672) and Bishop of Soissons from 1685 t ...

, who lived to the age of 91. Charles himself lived to the age of 94.''Antimonyall Cupps: Pocula Emetica, Or Calices Vomitorii '' by St Clair Thomson, The British Medical Journal, Vol. 1, No. 3406 (Apr. 10, 1926), pp. 669–671, BMJ Publishing Group

Footnotes

Sources

* Astruc, Jean, ''Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la Faculté de médecine de Montpellier'', P.G. Cavelier, 1767 * Bernardin, Maurice Napoleon, ''Men and manners'' (French), 1900 * Sneader, Walter, ''Drug discovery: a history'', John Wiley and Sons, 2005, * Thomas, Joseph, ''Universal Pronouncing Dictionary of Biography and Mythology,'' Volume 1, * Tibayrenc, Michel, ''Encyclopedia of infectious diseases: Modern methodologies'', Wiley-Liss, 2007, {{DEFAULTSORT:Lorme, Charles de 16th-century French physicians 17th-century French physicians People from Moulins, Allier 1584 births 1678 deaths