PIEDRAS RENALES

Montaigne suffered from (and would die from an infection caused by) kidney stones, a painful condition experienced by several members of our family.

Here are some of the varieties of stones:

One treatment in the 16th century was taking the waters in Switzerland and Italy.  So Montaigne set off with a large retinue of servants.  Riding horseback apparently gave him more comfort than the baths.
Here's a photo of Lucca, Italy, one of his thermal destinations.

Since he was going to be in Italy for several months, he went to see the Pope, Innocent X, and gave him a copy of his Essays.  

The Essays were quite popular in the 16th century, but another Pope would ban them in the 17th century.  Not enough God talk and too much reasonableness, I guess.  Too much stoic rationality and not enough spirituality.

Getting back to kidney stones, two centuries later when Jean-Jacques Rousseau was suffering from them, the standard treatment was the bougie.  Rousseau took to wearing dresses to make the insertion more convenient.  Ouch.

I guess we can be happy for medical progress.