Franco's high operation: when, and on whom? disputed

Positions

1. 1556

   The EAU History Office, Goddard and the Embryo Project date the operation to 1556, the year of Franco's Petit traité.

   Sources

   1. EAU History Office: Suprapubic lithotomy Museum or society
   2. J. C. Goddard, Urology News history series (the high operation; lithotomy; lithotrity) Secondary
   3. Embryo Project Encyclopedia: Pierre Franco (1505-1578) Secondary

2. 1561

   Riches and the BAUS museum date it to 1561, the year of the Traité des hernies, where the operation is described.

   Sources

   1. Riches 1967, The history of lithotomy and lithotrity (Arnott Demonstration, RCS) Secondary
   2. BAUS Virtual Museum: High approach Museum or society

3. A child of ten

   One bookseller's description gives the child's age as ten, against two in every other source.

   Sources

   1. Sokol Books, bookseller's description of Franco's work Secondary

Evidence

The operation itself is well attested: a barber-surgeon of Berne and Lausanne, a stone the size of a hen's egg that could not be drawn from the perineum, parents who pressed him, a child who lived, and a surgeon who credited luck and did not recommend the method. The 1561 Traité certainly describes it; whether the 1556 book does too is unclear. Franco's own words of warning could not be checked against his text. His life dates also vary: 1500-1561 (BAUS), 1500-1570 (EAU), 1505-1578 (Embryo Project).

Current standing

The safe statement is a two-year-old child, in the 1550s or 1561. The film says "the middle of the sixteenth century" and "a two-year-old child", and paraphrases Franco instead of quoting him.

All sources