the Roman authority Celsus. His main innovation in-
volved the adoption of such therapeutic drugs as mercury
and antimony rather than pursuing the humoral approach
of traditional medicine (see IATROCHEMISTRY). In chem-
istry his name is linked with the claim that matter was ul-
timately reducible to the three elements: salt, sulfur, and
mercury. Both proposals were fertile enough to establish a
Paracelsian tradition, which survived late into the 17th
century.
Further reading: Allen G. Debus, The Chemical Phi-
losophy (New York: Science History Publications, 1977;
new ed. Dover, 2002); Gerhild Scholz Williams and
Charles D. Gunnoe, Jr (eds), Paracelsian Moments: Science,
Medicine, and Astrology in Early Modern Europe (Kirksville,
Mo: Truman State University Press, 2003); Charles Web-
ster, From Paracelsus to Newton: Magic and the Making of
Modern Science (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University
Press, 1982).
Paré, Ambroise (c. 1510–1590) French surgeon
The son of an artisan at Laval, Paré qualified as a master
barber-surgeon in 1536. He immediately joined the army
with which he practiced his skill on a number of cam-
paigns. He also served as court surgeon to Henry II,
Charles IX, and Henry III. One of the major problems fac-
ing the military surgeon of Paré’s day was how to deal with
the fearsome wounds produced by cannon and other
firearms introduced into warfare in the 14th century. The
orthodox technique of cauterization could prove as crip-
pling as the wound itself. During the siege of Turin in
1536, Paré tried instead the alternative technique of ap-
plying dressings; he found it just as satisfactory. Later, in
his Dix livres de la chirurgie (1563), he described a second
and even more revolutionary technique: the use of the lig-
ature in such wounds, an innovation that would eventu-
ally permit surgery to extend its domain considerably.
Paré’s attitude to his art is epitomized in his dictum: “I
treated him, God cured him.”Paris The capital city of France on the River Seine in
northern France. Paris was founded by the Parisii, a Gal-
lic tribe, and (as Lutetia) was a capital under the Romans,
and later under the Merovingians and the Capetian
founders of modern France. As the Capets restored order
and stability during the later Middle Ages the population
and prosperity of Paris grew. The 12th century saw the es-
tablishment of the first guilds. In the 13th century the uni-
versity of Paris gained royal recognition (1200), the
Sorbonne was founded (1257), and a royal charter gave
Parisians the right to levy duties on incoming goods
(1220).
At the beginning of the 14th century Paris probably
possessed the largest urban population in Europe, about
100,000; this was halved by the Black Death (1348–49)
and the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). Paris was torn
apart by the struggle between the Burgundian and Arma-
gnac factions (1407–35) and occupied by the English and
the Burgundians in 1418. After Paris was recaptured by
Charles VII’s forces (1435) the city enjoyed a period of
comparative peace and its population rose to 200,000 by
the middle of the 16th century. The municipality was re-
organized (1450) and the parlement of Paris became
France’s most powerful court of justice. The installation of
the first printing press (1470) was followed by the devel-
opment of Paris as most prolific center of publishing in
Europe; during the 16th century 25,000 editions were
published in Paris.
During the second half of the 15th century many
churches were restored and work started on such magnif-
icent private residences as the Hôtel de Sens and the Hôtel
de Cluny. The first half of the 16th century saw the start
of work on the rebuilding of the LOUVREand the con-
struction of the Hôtel de Ville. During the second half of
the 16th century the Louvre became the royal residence,
and work was begun on the TUILERIESpalace.
Paris prospered and its population expanded until
the sectarian turmoil (see RELIGION, (FRENCH) WARS OF) of
the second half of the 16th century. Although Paris had
been a center of humanist scholarship under the inspira-
tion of LEFÈVRE D’ÉTAPLESin the late 15th century, it be-
came a stronghold of Catholic reaction during the
Reformation. In 1535 the appearance of placards de-33660 0 PPaarree ́ ́,, AAmmbbrrooiisseeParacelcusA woodcut portrait appearing in his Astronomica
et astrologica(1567).