Jean Fernel (abt. 1497 - 1558)

Born about 1497 in Montdidier, France [uncertain]

Died 26 Apr 1558 at about age 61 in Fontainebleau, Isle De France, France

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Biography

Birth

Jean Fernel was the son of Laurent Fernel and his wife Marguerite Barre. Laurent was a furrier and innkeeper at the Black Kat (Kat noir) in the suburb of Becquerel in Montdidier, near Amiens, France. In 1509 Laurent moved to Clermont and ran the inn the Swan (Cygne).^[1]

Some sources give his name as Jean-François, but it's not clear on what this is based.^[2]

Jean was probably then born at Montdidier, but his earliest biographer, Plancy, places his birth at Clermont.^[1] His year of birth is not recorded and the only evidence, appears to be his epitaph, which records he died on 26 April 1558 aged 52, (OBIIT 26. DIE APRILIS MDLVIII. VIXIT ANNOS LII)^[1] which would place his birth in about 1506. However since it seems, the epitaph was erected years after his death, doubts have been placed on its accuracy and there has been discussion that he might have been 62 or 72 at his death.^[1] This may be because his first book on astronomy Monalosphaerium, sive astrolabii genus, generalis horarii structura et usus, which was published in 1526,^[3] when he would only have been 20 years and this is seen to be too young. Many sources give his birth year as 1497,^[1]; ^[2] when he would have been about 62 at his death and late 20s when the book was published, but this also would seem to have problems as it means he began his medical training quite late as mentioned by de Beauvillé and also married late.

Education and Career

See the sources listed for details of his education and career.

Also (in French) Pittion, Jean-Paul, 'Jean Fernel (1497-1558), médecin d'Henri II: vie et Œuvre', in Cour de France.fr http://cour-de-france.fr/article938.html?lang=fr : viewed 2 February 2017.

Marriage and children

Jean Fernel married in 1531, Madeleine Tornebüe, the daughter of a conseiller to the Parlement of Paris. They had two daughters (there may have been other children, but these are the only 2 to survive him):

1. Marie, the elder, who married Philibert Barjot, also a conseiller to the Parlement;
2. Madeleine, who married Gilles Riant, a lawyer^[1]

Death and burial

Jean's wife, Madeleine, died perhaps at Fontainebleau in 1558, and he apparently only survived her by a month and died there on 26 April 1558. He was buried in the Church of Saint-Jacques de la Bourcherie in Paris.^[1]

Research Notes

Fabricated Genealogy

According to the bizarre genealogy of the Fernald family, Universal International Genealogy and of the Ancient Fernald Families, by Charles Augustus Fernald, published in 1909, Jean Fernel is described as an ancestor of the Fernald family.

However his parents are given as Charles VIII, King of France, and his wife, Anne, Duchess of Brittany. Needless to say there is no mention of a Jean Fernel amongst their children, none of whom survived beyond about 3 years old. Nor is there any indication that Charles VIII may have had an illegitimate son by that name.^[4] The story by Charles Augustus Fernald, that Jean's life was "saved by Marietta Faerno, wife of Petrus Darius Fernel (called), the nurse of Anne of Brittany, who substituted a dead child for Jean" (p. 189) seems to be a something from a fairy tale, rather than based on anything factual.

Fernald also changes the surname of Jean Fernel's wife, naming her Magdalene (instead of Madeleine) Luillier, the daughter of Jean Luillier, and a descendant of an Anne Washington. He does name the two daughters as above, but reverses their birth order, naming Magdalene (again instead of Madeleine) as born 1 May 1544 and Maria Fernelius, born 5 September 1546. Though there seems to be no reason to accept these birth dates as factual.

He also names two sons; Francis Fernel, born 3 March 1533 and Joannes Fines or Funel, born 3 February 1535, who both survived to marry and have children of their own, but this must therefore indicate they are fabrications.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} de Beauvillé, Victor, Histoire de Montdidier, Livre IV - Chapitre II - Section XXVII. Electronic version, http://santerre.baillet.org/communes/montdidier/v2b/v2b4c02b27.php : viewed 2 February 2017.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Wikipedia contributors, "Jean Fernel," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Fernel&oldid=762776342 : viewed February 2, 2017.
3. ↑ Contributeurs de Wikipédia, "Jean Fernel," Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre, http://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Fernel&oldid=133846056 : viewed 2 February 2017.
4. ↑ Kerrebrouck, Patrick Van; Christophe Brun, & Christian de Mérindol. 1990. Les Valois, in Nouvelle histoire généalogique de l'auguste Maison de France, Vol. 3. France, Villeneuve d'Ascq, p. 157.