August 17, 1220, in Montpellier: And medicine was born!
On August 17, the University of Montpellier celebrated the 800th anniversary of its School of Medicine. Eight centuries of history and progress have made it the oldest university-level medical school in the world. Although the anniversary was disrupted by the health crisis, theUM ’s academic, institutional, and socio-economic partners, as well as representatives of the faculty and student body, were still able to participate.
It was in the warmth of a late summer afternoon—tempered by the coolness of its ancient stones—that the School of Medicine celebrated its eight centuries of existence on August 17. Was the weather in Montpellier just as pleasant on August 17, 1220? History does not tell us, but it does tell us that it was on this very day that Cardinal Conrad of Urach, legate of Pope Honorius III, promulgated the Statutes ofthe Universitas medicorum Montispessulani, thereby securing Montpellier’s place in the history of medicine.
A story with a capital “H” that, in this year of 2020, had to adapt to the constraints of our unique current circumstances. Due to the health crisis, an audience limited to two hundred people was able to attend the commemoration held in the Atrium of the History Department. For a little over an hour, academics and local elected officials took the floor and drew parallels between the institution’s centuries-old tradition and a future now embodied by the new Arnaud de Villeneuve campus and its ultra-modern facilities.
A Unique University
Sophie Béjean, Rector of the Occitanie Academic Region and Chancellor of the Universities, had the honor of unveiling the commemorative plaque, on which students and visitors will be able to read:“OnAugust17,1220, Cardinal Conradof Ubach,legate of Pope Honorius III in Languedoc, issuedthe statutes of the Universitas medicorum, tam doctorum quam discipulorum, Montispessulani, the world’s oldest medical university.”
A motto that, according to Gérald Chanques, spokesperson for the Association for the 800th Anniversary of the Faculty of Medicine, “serves as a reminder that, since its founding and the granting of its first charter, the University of Montpellier has remained unique. ” Indeed, born out of the collaboration between Christian and Jewish physicians under the strong influence of Arabic medicine, it remained a purely medical university until the Revolution. It embraced dissection and the natural sciences very early on and developed a holistic view of human beings in their environment—a hallmark that would define it even after the Revolution, during which the Convention —following the abolition of the universities—retained only three schools of health: Paris, Strasbourg, and Montpellier.
Universal medicine…
“It’s no coincidence that the oldest botanical garden is located in Montpellier,”notes Michel Mondain, dean of the University of Montpellier-Nîmes. It was also in Montpellier that France’s first—and“probably unofficial”—dissection took place, performed by Henri de Mondeville; and, more importantly,“it was the first city where an edict stipulated that the city had to provide one corpse per year taken down from the gallows, and later two corpses per year for educational purposes,” the dean adds. An educational innovation…even back then!
It is, in fact, this openness that has played such a significant role in elevating the discipline to the pantheon of sciences, as Thierry Lavabre Bertrand, vice president of the University and chair of the 800th-anniversary organizing committee, noted:“What we are celebrating is not simply the anniversary of a medical school. We are celebrating the day when, for the first time,medicine was recognized as ascience, a field of knowledge, on par with philosophy, law… with universal significance.”
Deeply rooted in its community
Universality and humanism—two pillars of this faculty—which Rabelais, a student in Montpellier in his day, had summed up in his famous saying:“Science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.” Over the centuries, this strong identity has come to define the city as a whole, as Philippe Augé, President of theUM, was keen to point out, emphasizing the essential role the University plays today at the heart of its region. “Montpellier would not have developed as much without its university, and the university has been able to flourish fully in this city. A university certainly owes its reputation to its international rankings, but also to its regional presence.”
A statement that will resonate with the 3,000 new medical students who, following in the footsteps of illustrious predecessors such as Nostradamus, Lapeyronie, and Rondelet, have once again chosen—in this year 2020—the combination of Montpellier and medicine to shape their future. A future marked by innovation and excellence, where modernity never overshadows tradition.