Caius [Keys, Kees], John
- 1. Dates
- Born: Norwich, 6 Oct. 1510
- Died: London, 29 July 1573.
- Dateinfo: Dates Certain
- Lifespan: 63
- 2. Father
- Occupation: Unknown
- We know only that his name was Robert Caius.
- No information on financial status.
- 3. Nationality
- Birth: English
- Career: English
- Death: English
- 4. Education
- Schooling: Cambridge, M.A.; Padua, M.D.
- Cambridge University, 1529-33; Gonville Hall; B.A., 1533; M.A., 1535.
- Created M.D. in Cambridge in 1558 on the occasion of the refoundation, through his endowment, of his college as Gonville and Caius.
- University of Padua, 1539-41; M. D., 1541.
- At Padua he studied under Montanus and Vesalius, and lived in Vesalius' house for a number of months.
- 5. Religion
- Affiliation: Catholic.
- He remained a Catholic despite the increasing pressure during the Elizabethan reign.
- 6. Scientific Disciplines
- Primary: Medicine
- Subordinate: Zoology, Anatomy, Natural History
- Caius was a firm Galenist who believed that Galen had settled medical knowledge once and for all. He collected and published Galenic texts and, in 1544, he published a Galenic treatise, Methodus medendi. He also restored a couple of Hippocratic treatises, and he collated a printed work of Celsus with manuscripts in Italy.
- His Boke or Counseill Against the Disease Commonly Called the Sweate, 1552, was a classic study of a single disease.
- As an anatomical demonstrator, Caius made contributions to the development of anatomy in England.
- De rariorum animalium atque stirpium historia, 1570, was a description of flora and fauna around London.
- De canibus britannicis, 1570.
- 7. Means of Support
- Primary: Medicine, Patronage
- Secondary: Scientific Society, Academia
- In 1533, Principal of Physwick's Hostel, an annex of Gonville Hall. Also in 1533, Fellow of Gonville Hall; he continued to hold the fellowship until his return from Italy.
- 1541-2, Professor of Logic and Philosophy (in Greek) at Padua. Caius remained on the continent, first in Italy and then in Basel, until at least 1544.
- Appointed anatomical demonstrator to the Company of Barber Surgeons, 1546-63. (The beginning date is in question; possibly it was 48 or 49.)
- Medical practice in London from c. 1548, gaining considerable wealth. In his practice he was frequently called out of London by the aristocracy and gentry.
- Appointed physician succesively to Edward VI, Mary and Elizabath.
- Caius was Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University, 1559-73. The college itself was Caius' benefaction; he accepted no salary.
- 8. Patronage
- Types: Court Official, Aristrocrat, Gentry, Eccesiastic Official, Physician
- Caius began to lecture on anatomy in London in 1546 on the express command of Henry VIII. He dedicated Galeni libri aliquot Graeci, 1544, to Henry.
- He dedicated Galeni de tuenda valetudine libri sex, 1549, to Edward VI.
- He was physician succesively to Edward VI, Queen Mary, and Elizabeth by royal commands. The appointment with Elizabeth was terminated in 1568 because of Caius' Catholicism. (Source on patronage: C.D. O'Malley, English Medical Humanists, pp. 26-46, R489 .C3O5)
- Caius dedicated A Boke Against the Disease Commonly Called the Sweate, 1552, to the Earl of Pembroke. He dedicated the Latin edition, 1556, to the Bishop of Arras.
- He dedicated Galenus de propriis libris, 1556, to the Bishop of Chichester.
- Caius was called to attend the aristocracy and gentry in the neighborhood of London--e.g., the Countess of Oxford and a son of Sir John Baker of Kent in 1557.
- He dedicated his first book, Methodus medendi, 1544, when he was returning to England to set up practice, to Dr. Butts, physicians to Henry VIII.
- 9. Technological Involvement
- Type: Medical Practice
- 10. Scientific Societies
- Membership: Medical College
- Informal Connections: friendship with Gesner, Framingham, Parkhust, Claymound, Bullock.
- The College of Physicians of London, 1547-73; Elect, 1550; Consilarius, 1550-1; President, 1555-60, 1562-63, 1571. Caius made a major effort to extend the College's control over medical practice throughout England.
- Sources
- C. D. O'Malley, English Medical Humanists, (Lawrence, Kan., 1965), pp. 26-46. R489 .C3 O5. C. Raven, English Naturalists from Neckam to Ray, (Cambridge, 1947), pp. 138-40, 148. QH26 .R25. William Munk, The Roll of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 2nd ed., 3 vols. (London, 1878), 1, 37-49.
- Dictionary of National Biography (repr., London: Oxford University Press, 1949-1950), 3, 673-7. John Venn, "John Caius," in E.S. Roberts, ed. The Works of John Caius, M.D., (Cambridge, 1912), pp. 1-78.
- John Venn, Biographical History of Gonville and Caius College, 3 vols. (Cambridge, 1897-1901), 1, 27; 3, 30-63.
- John Aikin, Biographical Memoirs of Medicine in Great Britain from the Revival of Literature to the Time of Harvey, (London, 1780), pp. 103-36.
- Not Available and Not Consulted
- John L. Stender, "Master Doctor Caius," Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 8 (1940), 133-8.
- Paul Wohlfarth, "Dr. Caius, a French Physician," Sudhoff's Archiv, 40 (1956), 97-105.
- Compiled by:
- Richard S. Westfall
- Department of History and Philosophy of Science
- Indiana University
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