Doctor

This article is about the profession. You may be looking for the other uses of the term.

"Bring me your sick and wounded!"

―A doctor to passing civilians.

A doctor treating Ezio Auditore

A doctor, known more precisely as a physician, is a health care provider who practices the field of medicine. Prior to the establishment of hospitals and other medical centers, they could be found on the streets of many European cities.

History

Antiquity

The Sanctuary of Asklepios

In ancient Greece, the population sought help from the god of healing and health Asklepios and his priests. While any temple saw its fair share of pilgrims seeking a cure, the Sanctuary of Asklepios in Argolis was the main destination for most of the sick. In opposition to the priests' methods of healing, Hippokrates abandoned their ways and sought solutions for the sick in ways that earned him the epithet of 'Father of Medicine'.

The services of healers of all kinds were especially high at the time of the Plague of Athens around 430 BCE.

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages saw the apparition of the first general hospitals, which employed doctors to treat patients. The earliest hospitals in the Islamic World, known as bimaristans, were established in Baghdad in the 9th century and doubled as medical schools. The Order of the Ancients member Hassan notably worked at The Great Bimaristan as a doctor while trying to repair ancient Isu technology, which he required for the construction of the Alruh.

In Europe, the concept of medical care was closely associated with Christianity, and as a result most hospitals and infirmaries were run by the Church. In Lunden, the nun Frideswid, a secret Order of the Ancients member, ran her own infirmary, where she conducted experiments on patients in an attempt to make them more durable like the Isu, though this ultimately resulted in the patients' deaths.

Garnier de Naplouse talking to a patient

During the Third Crusade, the Crusaders established a number of hospitals in the cities they captured, including Acre and Tyre, typically by repurposing already existing buildings, such as the Templar Hospital and the Hospitalier Fortress. The two facilities were run by Roland Napule and Garnier de Naplouse, respectively, both of whom were members of the Templar Order and conducted unethical experiments on their patients, though in Garnier's case this was done in an attempt to "help" them.

Renaissance

During the Renaissance period, doctors were easily recognizable by their garb: long black robes with a wax coating and a primitive gas mask with the shape of a bird's beak. They provided medical opinions and diagnoses, as well as selling vials of medicine in varying concentrations in their shops and stands.

In the Ottoman Empire, the attire of doctors was different, often wearing dark colored robes with tall, almost conical hats. However, their purpose remained the same.

Age of Colonialism

During the 18th century, doctors were not common in the Caribbean or the American colonies, due to the development of secular and private hospitals, as well as the ease of access to medicines, which were regularly sold in general stores. Consequently, doctors were not as highly sought after, and their services were mainly employed to treat serious wounds and ailments.

Prior to 1725, Xialun Qing worked as an aide to a doctor aboard Sun's floating gambling hall, picking up some medical knowledge. After joining the Zhang Wei Union, she was designated the organization's official doctor, and put her skills to good use during their voyages across Southeast Asia.

Lyle White and Diana treating an injured sailor

During the American Revolution, as the Davenport Homestead was in need of a doctor, the Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton traveled to Boston in search of one. At Warren's suggestion, he looked for Lyle White, a physician whose business had been destroyed by British Regulars, and convinced him to move to the Homestead, where he offered his services to the other inhabitants. Later, since White was overwhelmed by his work treating the Aquila's crew, Ratonhnhaké:ton recruited Diana to be his assistant.

Victorian era

In the 19th century, hospitals and the medical profession became more professionalised, with a reorganisation of hospital management along more bureaucratic and administrative lines. Through certain laws, such as the Apothecaries Act 1815, the study of medicine was also made compulsory in order to become a professional doctor.

In London, the medical field was controlled by the British Templars through their agent, Dr. John Elliotson, who produced Starrick's Soothing Syrup, a medicinal tonic that many of London's residents became addicted to. While conducting experiments on patients at Lambeth Asylum, Elliotson was killed by the British Assassin Jacob Frye, ending production of the Syrup.

Modern times

Over the years, the Templar front company Abstergo Industries employed a number of doctors and medical professionals to work on their various initiatives, including Warren Vidic, the former head of the Animus Project who conducted extensive research into genetic memory; Álvaro Gramática, whose work on the Phoenix Project aimed to recreate a Precursor genome from scratch; and Shimazu Sei, a Harvard graduate who was employed as a researcher and supervisor on the Animus Project.

The Assassin Nathalie Chapman also became a doctor, running her own clinic in Switzerland, which she used as a cover for her experiments involving the Animus and an Apple of Eden.

Background

The clothing of doctors was standard throughout those in their profession, particularly after the occurrence of the Black Death, one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. This plague peaked in Europe during the 14th century, and was said to have killed 30–60% percent of Europe's population. Subsequent to it, the world's overall population dropped from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million at the start of the 15th century.

A Renaissance-era doctor next to his stand

To protect themselves from this pandemic, doctors dressed in a long black cloak covered with a coating of wax, along with a very primitive beak-shaped plague mask, although not all doctors chose to wear it. Within this Medico Della Peste mask, there were usually flower petals, burning incense or aromatic herbs to rid of bad smells, since it was believed that disease was transmitted through "bad air". The mask's eyes were made out of glass, as it was believed that sicknesses could be caught through face-to-face contact with patients, or by touching infected objects.

The specific mask that doctors wore during the Renaissance period was called the Maschera Dello Speziale, where speziale referred to someone who sold every kind of medicinal herb. This mask was also occasionally worn by civilians during Venice's Carnevale.

Services

Healing

Doctors would heal all of Ezio Auditore da Firenze's wounds after being paid a sum of 50 florins. However, the doctor in Monteriggioni decreased the prices of his healing services by a percentage based on stages of renovation to his store.

Medicine

Doctors sold bottled medicine (for 75ƒ each), which was a healing item that could be carried in portable pouches. These were identified as smelling salts that served mainly as painkillers, and the number of medicine vials that Ezio could carry at one time increased when a larger medicine pouch was purchased from a tailor's shop.

Poison

"In high enough doses, that which cures can kill."

―Leonardo da Vinci, 1478.

Doctors sold poison vials for a sum of 175ƒ. Ezio often purchased poison from doctors after Leonardo da Vinci upgraded his Hidden Blade with a function to silently inject poison into his targets. This particular type of poison caused the victim to go berserk as they died, flailing their weapons around and drawing the attention of nearby guards, thus creating an effective distraction.

Trivia

• Ezio could not normally harm doctors, the only exception being the very first doctor encountered in Assassin's Creed II, who could be attacked and killed only using blades; doing so did not alert guards, and did not cause desynchronization. Also, when killed, the doctor would rise back up again, seemingly unaffected.
• When Ezio engaged in a fight with guards in the presence of a doctor, he would often kneel before Ezio and beg him not to kill him.
• On occasion, blacksmiths would also be able to restore some health when they repaired damaged armor.
• In the novel Assassin's Creed: Renaissance, the doctor that Federico introduced to Ezio was their family doctor, Ceresa. Also, instead of having a small stand like other doctors in Assassin's Creed II, he operated in an actual store.
• The doctor located in Monteriggioni was the only one to own a store in Assassin's Creed II. By the time that Desmond Miles arrived in the town in 2012, the store had been converted into a tavern.
• In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Ezio could complete a shop quest for the doctor on Tiber Island, which would upgrade the poison sold by doctors to Fast Poison, enabling Ezio's victims to become berserk immediately after it had entered their blood stream.
• In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, when leaving the doctor's stand, he might say "Auf Wiedersehen! That's French, you know". However, 'Auf Wiedersehen' is German for 'Goodbye'.
• In the novelization of Brotherhood, the doctor who treated Pietro Rossi's cantarella poisoning was named Brunelleschi, and he claimed to have created a "pretty effective antidote" for the poison, due to having accrued first-hand experience.
• Doctors wear the typical Plague doctor costume with beaked mask. However, this is anachronistic as the "beak doctor" costume was invented in the 17th century.

Gallery

• 
  Early concept art of a Renaissance doctor
• 
  An Italian doctor
• 
  An Ottoman doctor
• 
  A doctor's shop in Monteriggioni
• 
  A doctor's shop in Rome
• 
  A doctor's shop in Constantinople
• 
  Hippokrates treating Galeos at his clinic in Thebes
• 
  Ezio purchasing medicine from a doctor
• 
  A doctor tending to Caterina Sforza
• 
  Xialun Qing treating an injured sailor
• 
  John Elliotson performing a live operation

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles
• Assassin's Creed II
• Assassin's Creed: Renaissance
• Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood novel
• Assassin's Creed: The Fall
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations
• Assassin's Creed: The Chain
• Assassin's Creed III
• Assassin's Creed: Forsaken
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Aveline
• Assassin's Creed: Unity
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
• Assassin's Creed: Underworld
• Assassin's Creed comic
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia
• Assassin's Creed: Templars
• Assassin's Creed: Identity
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Locus
• Assassin's Creed: Heresy
• Assassin's Creed film
• Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Fate of the Gods
• Assassin's Creed: Uprising
• Assassin's Creed: Conspiracies
• Assassin's Creed: Origins
• Assassin's Creed: Rebellion
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
• Assassin's Creed: Bloodstone
• Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple
• Assassin's Creed: Mirage
• Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game