Paracelsus's Medical Reform

Timeline

1. 1521–1526German states · Holy Roman EmpireParacelsus accumulated clinical experience in mines and on battlefields, publicly burning the works of Galen and Avicenna to signal his break, advocating treatment with mineral preparations such as arsenic, mercury, and antimony, and proposing revolutionary ideas such as 'the dose makes the poison.'
2. 1527–1528Basel · SwitzerlandParacelsus was appointed lecturer in medicine and city physician at Basel, lecturing publicly in German rather than Latin, breaking the academic monopoly. His chemical therapies and empiricist methodology sparked fierce controversy but also attracted many followers.
3. 1528–1529Europe · EuropeAfter leaving Basel, Paracelsus continued writing; his ideas on wound treatment, toxicology, and mineral materia medica spread across Europe through print publication. Iatrochemistry formed as an independent current of thought, paving the way for the development of pharmacology in the 17th century.