Hugh Lanfranc of Milan was born in 1245 AD. He completed his studies from the medical school of Bologna and later moved to Milan where he trained as a surgeon. He was exiled from Milan due to political reasons and moved to Paris in 1295.
Here he started his practice in surgery and soon became quite well-known. At that time surgery was not considered a branch of medicine and was performed by barber surgeons. Lanfranc wrote his definitive work ‘Chirugia Magna’ in 1296, as a guide to surgery and practical medicine.
In his book Lanfranc discussed cerebral concussion and skull fracture in detail. He had a unique way of diagnosing if the patient had a skull fracture. He would tap the skull. If the sound rang clear like a bell, all was well. In another method, he tied a waxed string to one of the patient’s teeth. He would then diagnose if the skull was fractured by the sound that the string made when he pulled it! Lanfranc is considered to be the founder of the Parisian Surgical School and inventor of the ‘surgical node’, which is used to suture tissues even today.
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