1280-1361

English surgeon who is perhaps best known as the model for Geoffrey Chaucer's "doctor of physick" character in The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer suggests that the doctor also relied on astrology and a knowledge of humors in his practice. John studied at Oxford and trained in medicine at the Montepellier school in Paris. He successfully treated King Edward II's son for smallpox. Writing in Latin, John wrote a medical text called Rosa Anglica, the English Rose.