Antonio Mizauld (born in
Montluçon
Montluçon (; ) is a commune in central France on the river Cher. It is the largest commune in the Allier department, although the department's prefecture is located in the smaller town of Moulins. Its inhabitants are known as ''Montluçonna ...
in 1510 and died in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1578) was a French
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
and
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
.
Biography
A doctor and professor of medicine in Paris, and a close friend of Oronce Fine, he acted as astrologer and physician to Marguerite de Valois.
[.]
His first published work, a treatise on weather prediction, appeared in 1546. He was a prolific author, writing about comets, gardens, herbs, medicine and astronomy. He published a variety of tracts on medical, astronomical, botanical and meteorological subjects. Mizauld is best known for his treatises on medicine and astrology, ''Secrets of the Moon'' (1571), and ''Harmonia Coelestium Corporum & Humanorum'' (1555). ''Harmonia Superioris'' is rooted in
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
discourse on the relationship between macrocosm and microcosm.
He devoted most of his research to the study of natural curiosities. In these two books, he brings together the essence of his knowledge of horticulture, in particular the cultivation and care of fruit trees. He devoted himself entirely to the publication of unusual treatises, including several on gardening, medicinal plants and popular pharmacy.
He tried to make medicine accessible to all, and to free poor patients from the notorious rapacity of apothecaries.
In several of his books, he claims to show that, in many cases, one have to look far and wide for remedies that they can pick from their own garden!
According to
Gérard Oberlé,
"''Mizault's works deserve to be researched today, when health manuals are resurfacing, concocted by distant epigones of the Bourbonnais scientist, unemployed singers, leek magicians and other natural healers''".
Works
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Bibliography
* R. P. Niceron, « Antoine Mizauld », in Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire des hommes illustres dans la république des lettres, Paris, 1739, t. 40, p. 201-213.
* William Eamon, Science and the Secrets of Nature, Princeton University Press, 1994, p. 274.
* Jean Dupèbe, Médecine, astrologie et religion à Paris : Antoine Mizauld (ca. 1512-1578), thèse d’état, Paris-X Nanterre, 1999.
* Hiro Hirai, "Lecture néoplatonicienne d’Hippocrate chez Fernel, Cardan et Gemma", in Pratique et pensée médicales à la Renaissance, éd. Jacqueline Vons, Paris, De Boccard, 2009, p. 241-256.
* Maurice Malleret, Encyclopédie des auteurs du pays montluçonnais et de leurs œuvres (de 1440 à 1994), Charroux, Éd. des Cahiers bourbonnais, 1994, p. 29-34 (notice no 3).
* Maurice Sarazin, Les Bourbonnais célèbres et remarquables des origines à la fin du XXe siècle, tome III : Arrondissement de Montluçon, Charroux, Éditions des Cahiers bourbonnais, 2014, p. 236-237.
References
People from Montluçon
1510 births
1578 deaths
French astrologers
16th-century French astronomers
16th-century French physicians
16th-century astrologers
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