Maître de Chauliac
also known as the physician, doctor, good doctor, wheeling man, master
Maître de Chauliac was the pope's physician, a man with big, friendly eyes, full cheeks, and a large nose. Troubled by worsening nightmares and a belief that the Holy Father seemed changed, he forged a papal writ to rescue the tortured Comte d'Évreux from the dungeon, covering the shivering man with his own robes before departing.
Maître de Chauliac was the pope's physician, a man with a haunted look behind his friendly eyes. He secretly forged a papal writ to free the Comte d'Évreux from the dungeon, and later watched the angelic host's victory over the devils from the Tower of Angels.
Story so far
The pope's physician, Maître de Chauliac, was plagued by worsening nightmares. Waking from one, he confided to his boy Tristan that he believed the Holy Father was unwell and changed. Acting on this conviction, he meticulously forged a papal writ by lifting and re-grafting its wax seal. Confronting the gaoler Sournois with this document, he secured the release of the shivering Comte d'Évreux, placed him on a handcart, and wheeled him from the palace, removing his own robes to cover the man and telling him his only task was to live. He later stared wide-eyed at the holy girl Delphine before departing. When the celestial battle erupted, de Chauliac watched from the pope's study in the Tower of Angels, having ordered his men to keep the pontiff confined. He beheld the ineluctable pushing back of darkness by the calm, beautiful angels as devils rained down, ruining cities and killing thousands. One scene stayed with him forever: two angels gripping a black-winged devil, speaking to it as they drove it into the Rhône in a great illuminated plume, after which three angels emerged, revealing that forgiveness was possible even for the worst.
Appearance
- face: Has full cheeks and a big nose · revealed ch.35
- eyes: Big, friendly eyes that can look bugged and haunted · revealed ch.35
Actions
- Woke from a nightmare and asked his boy Tristan to help him dress in the middle of the night · revealed ch.35
- Told Tristan he did not think the Holy Father was well, that he seemed changed · revealed ch.35
- Forged a papal writ by carefully lifting and re-grafting the wax seal to order the release of the Comte d'Évreux from the dungeon · revealed ch.35
- Went to the dungeon and confronted the gaoler Sournois with the forged writ · revealed ch.35
- Had the Comte d'Évreux placed on a handcart and wheeled him out of the palace · revealed ch.35
- Removed his robes to cover the shivering Thomas · revealed ch.35
- Told Thomas his only task was to live · revealed ch.35
- Saw Delphine and stared wide-eyed at her, then left when she put her fingers to her lips · revealed ch.35
- Ordered his men to keep the pontiff in the smallish room in the Tower of Angels · revealed ch.40
- Looked out the window, trying to control his breathing, and beheld the spectacle · revealed ch.40
- Saw the battle as an ineluctable pushing back of darkness, the habit of the sun, the birthright of light · revealed ch.40
- Saw more devils streaking down like stones on fire, trying to hold this earthly redoubt · revealed ch.40
- Saw devils ruin the cities of Avignon, Villeneuve, and Carpentras, and kill men in the thousands · revealed ch.40
- Observed that the angels were so calm, beautiful, and deliberate that they and the devils seemed to occupy two entirely different realities · revealed ch.40
- Saw a scene that stayed with him forever: a devil with wide black wings gripped by two angels, who drove it down and seemed to speak in its ears as they fell into the Rhône, sending up a great illuminated plume of water · revealed ch.40
- Saw three angels come up from the water, realizing forgiveness was possible even for the worst · revealed ch.40
Secrets
- Has been having repeated, worsening nightmares · revealed ch.35
Nothing has been revealed about Maître de Chauliac yet at this point in the book.