Ambroise Paré

Ambroise Paré was born in Laval, in western France, and trained as a barber-surgeon, a craftsman rather than a university physician, working at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital in Paris. He became an army surgeon in 1537. At the time, gunshot wounds were thought to be poisoned and were treated by pouring boiling oil into them. During one campaign Paré ran out of oil and used a soothing mixture of egg yolk, oil of roses and turpentine instead. The next morning the soldiers he had treated this way were resting comfortably, while those given boiling oil were feverish and in pain, and he never used the oil again. He also revived the practice of tying off arteries with thread during amputations instead of burning them, designed artificial limbs, and improved childbirth methods. He wrote in French rather than Latin so that ordinary surgeons could read his books, which angered some university doctors. He served as surgeon to four French kings. A Protestant by tradition, he is said to have survived the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572 under royal protection. He died in 1590.

Faith: Lived as a Catholic; some evidence suggests sympathy for the Huguenot (French Protestant) cause, but this is disputed. Source: Wikipedia