[Andreas Vesalius in the Spanish Court]

After the publication of "Fabrica," Andreas Vesalius entered the Spanish court and became a court physician to Charles the Fifth, Holy Roman Emperor, and then to Philip the Second, Spanish king. The author studied this process and its historical background. The ancestors of Vesalius had close relations with the Hapsburgs and the dukes of BUrgundy, and served them as court physician or a court pharmacist. Vesalius was born in Brussels, obtained his degree at the University of Padua, Italy, became professor of anatomy and surgery there, and published "Tabulae Anatomicae Sex" and "Fabrica."In the ear of the Spanish court, the treatments of Henry the Second, French king, and of Don Carlos, Spanish crown prince, are famous among Vesalius' medical contributions. In the year of his resignation, Charles the Fifth conferred the title of count palatine on Vesalius.