The School of Medicine - Faculté de Médecine

The Montpellier School of Medicine will welcome you in the honour court on Monday at 7 pm to celebrate the opening of the 31st International Congress of Biostatistics.

The School of Medicine and honour court are unique places with a rich history. The city of Montpellier was founded in the year 985, and its name signifies “the pastel hills.” The site was officially recognized as a source of medical knowledge and teaching in 1220. The perpetuation of medical knowledge in Gothia was in large part due to teachings from the Arabs and Jews during Medieval times.

During the time that preceded the founding of Montpellier, the field of Medicine was restricted to practical knowledge which was learned and passed on empirically. Around the founding of Montpellier, the healing arts were passed on from person to person by recognized doctors, often from foreign lands, or by “Grocer-Doctors” who had learned to ease suffering. Schools were then formed around the most famous of these early doctors: Arnaud de Villeneuve and Gui de Chauliac are two good examples, and the two main hospitals of Montpellier still carry their names.

At the beginning of the 13th century, Cardinal Conrad, a delegate from the Holy See, created a Medical University placed under the authority of the Bishop of Maguelone. The Bishop of Maguelone then officially organised the school, distributed titles and diplomas, and guaranteed teaching positions. Finally, the Medical University of Montpellier was created in 1289, and is today 720 years old.

The long tradition of tolerance and dialog characteristic of this University is based on the decisive contribution of the early teachings and support that at first came from the Jews and Arabs, and later Christian doctors.

However, before Montpellier was recognized as a university, medical students and teachers went to Salerno (south of Naples) to learn medicine. The first medical university open to everybody, regardless of ethnic group, nation, religion or gender, was created in Salerno by Emperor Frédéric II in 1237.

Unfortunately, the University of Salerno was closed by Joachim MURAT, King of Naples, in 1811. The University of Montpellier survived the Renaissance, l’Ancien Régime and the French revolution as a “school of health” which later became the School of Medicine open to both the military and traditional medicine. The School of Medicine was located for a long time in the Saint Benedict Monastery founded by Pope Urban V. The monastery was constructed between 1364 and 1367 and was dedicated to monastic life and the sciences.

This monastery, which had quite a limited start, was completed with time, and greatly suffered during the wars of religion and the French Revolution. Finally, it is in Year III of the revolution that the School of Health of Montpellier was founded and the premises of the diocese dedicated to that purpose.

The Dean of the School of Medicine will welcome you in those very same buildings, which have been in use since 1795. Currently, several courses are still held in the “Anatomy Amphitheatre”, which is also the traditional location for MD and PhD thesis defense. Many of our older halls are still covered with the portraits of the Professors of the university, and currently serve as meeting rooms for diverse councils, or as administrative buildings. Practical labs and gross anatomy still take place in this building, which also includes the office of the Dean.

You will thus enter the School of Medicine via a large bridge framed by the statues of PJ BARTHEZ and F. LAPEYRONIE (Louis XIV’s surgeon), and then arrive at the atrium of the university. To the right of the atrium, you will see the “Hall of Acts” where medical students take the Hippocratic oath (there is a bust of Hippocrates in the hall). To the left of the atrium is a dressing room (a cloak room) for the professors and council chambers, followed by a jury room and the office of the Dean. Upon leaving the atrium, you'll reach a balcony overlooking the courtyard of the former monastery.
From this vantage point, you will dominate the XIVth century collegiate monastery of Saint Benedict. To the left, you will see a wall with markings which are remnants of the old cloister arcade. In front of you, you will see the Theatrum Anatomicum, i.e. the “Anatomy Amphitheatre”, were courses are still taught. An elliptical, marble table occupies the centre of the amphitheatre, and was used for early anatomy demonstrations.

You will then go down a double stairway, built in 1846, to the Honour Court, where the Dean of Medicine, Pr Jacques BRINGER, will greet you. Next, you will see the very old, beautiful and vaulted A.L. DUGES hall. This hall has several niches containing the bust of Hippocrates, reproductions of the edict of William VI of 1881 concerning the liberty to practice medicine at Montpellier, or the statutes establishing the Université Médicorum in 1220.

You have seen only a small part of the story of the Montpellier School of Medicine, which takes pride in its capacity for tolerance, integration, humanity and multiculturalism. The University has been educating doctors of the highest quality from numerous countries for a very long time.

As we continue in our endeavour to harmonize history, modernity and openness, we are happy to explore the complex link between medicine and mathematics by hosting the 31st Congress of biostatistics.

Professeur Jean Pierre DAURES

For more information some references on Montpellier School of Medicine:
H. BONNET: La Faculté de Médecine de Montpellier. Huit siècles d’histoire et l’Eclat. Sauramps medical 1992.
L. DULIEU: La médecine à Montpellier. Tomes I, II, III, IV. Avignon. Les Presses Universelles.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 January 2010 17:55