1503 Nostradamus [Michel de Nostredame], French astrologer and physician

Survey of Ophthalmology

Volume 60, Issue 3, May–June 2015, Pages 274–278

History of ophthalmology

The last ride of Henry II of France: Orbital injury and a king's demise

• Kian Eftekhari, MD^{a, ,} ,
• Christina H. Choe, MD^b,
• M. Reza Vagefi, MD^c,
• Lauren A. Eckstein, MD, PhD^d

doi:10.1016/j.survophthal.2014.09.001

Get rights and content

---

Abstract

Jousting was a popular pastime for royalty in the Renaissance era. Injuries were common, and the eye was particularly at risk from the splinters of the wooden lance. On June 30, 1559, Henry II of France participated in a jousting tournament to celebrate two royal weddings. In the third match, Gabriel de Montgomery struck Henry on the right shoulder and the lance splintered, sending wooden shards into his face and right orbit. Despite being cared for by the prominent physicians Ambroise Paré and Andreas Vesalius, the king died 10 days later and was found to have a cerebral abscess. The wound was not explored immediately after the injury; nevertheless, wooden foreign bodies were discovered in the orbit at the time of autopsy. The dura had not been violated, suggesting that an infection may have traveled from the orbit into the brain. Nostradamus and Luca Guarico, the astrologer to the Medici family, had prophesied the death of Henry II of France, but he ignored their warnings and thus changed the course of history in Renaissance Europe.

Keywords

• Henry II of France;
• Catherine de Medici;
• Ambroise Paré;
• Andreas Vesalius;
• jousting;
• orbital foreign body;
• organic foreign body

Presented as a poster at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Fall Meeting, November 17–18, 2013, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Corresponding author: Kian Eftekhari, MD, Oculoplastic Surgery, Inc., 1002 E. South Temple, Suite 308, Salt Lake City, UT 84102.

Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.