Editing Paracelsus (section)

===Basel (1526–1528)===
[[File:11-11-24-basel-by-ralfr-035.jpg|thumb|The [[University of Basel]], where Paracelsus started working as a professor in 1527]]
In 1526, he bought the rights of citizenship in [[Strasbourg]] to establish his own practice. But soon after, he was called to [[Basel]] to the sickbed of printer [[Johann Frobenius]] and reportedly cured him.<ref name=":2" /> During that time, the [[Dutch Renaissance]] [[Renaissance humanism|humanist]] [[Erasmus of Rotterdam]], also at the [[University of Basel]], witnessed the medical skills of Paracelsus, and the two scholars initiated a dialogue, exchanging letters on medical and theological subjects.<ref>{{cite journal | pmc = 2558048 | pmid=21380327 | volume=7 | issue=164 | title=Letter From Paracelsus to Erasmus | journal=Prov Med J Retrosp Med Sci | pages=142| year=1843 }}</ref>

In 1527, Paracelsus was a [[city physician]] ({{Lang|de|Stadtarzt}}) in Basel with the privilege of lecturing at the [[University of Basel]]. At that time, Basel was a centre of Renaissance humanism, and Paracelsus here came into contact with [[Erasmus of Rotterdam]], [[Wolfgang Lachner]], and [[Johannes Oekolampad]]. When Erasmus fell ill while staying in Basel, he wrote to Paracelsus: "I cannot offer thee a reward equal to thy art and knowledge—I surely offer thee a grateful soul. Thou hast recalled from the shades Frobenius who is my other half: if thou restorest me also thou restorest each through the other."<ref>E.J. Holmyard (1957). ''Alchemy.'' Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, p. 162. Retrieved 22 May 2021.</ref>

Paracelsus' lectures at Basel university unusually were given in German, not Latin.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Drago |first1=Elisabeth |title=Paracelsus, the Alchemist Who Wed Medicine to Magic |date=3 March 2020 |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/paracelsus-the-alchemist-who-wed-medicine-to-magic |publisher=Science History Institute |access-date=6 May 2022 |archive-date=17 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617234405/https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/paracelsus-the-alchemist-who-wed-medicine-to-magic |url-status=live }}</ref> He stated that he wanted his lectures to be available to everyone. He published harsh criticism of the Basel physicians and apothecaries, creating political turmoil to the point of his life being threatened. In a display of his contempt for conventional medicine, Paracelsus publicly [[Book burning|burned]] editions of the works of [[Galen]] and [[Avicenna]]. On 23 June 1527, he burnt a copy of Avicenna's ''[[Canon of Medicine]]'', an enormous tome that was a pillar of academic study, in market square.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Webster |first=Charles |title=Paracelsus: Medicine, Magic and Mission at the End of Time |page=13 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |year=2008 }}</ref> He was prone to many outbursts of abusive language, abhorred untested theory, and ridiculed anybody who placed more importance on titles than practice: 'if disease put us to the test, all our splendour, title, ring, and name will be as much help as a horse's tail'.<ref name=":2" /> During his time as a professor at the University of Basel, he invited [[barber-surgeon]]s, [[alchemist]]s, [[apothecary|apothecaries]], and others lacking academic background to serve as examples of his belief that only those who practised an art knew it: "The patients are your textbook, the sickbed is your study."<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|first1=Arthur Edward|last1=Waite|title = The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus|publisher = James Elliott and Co|year = 1894|location = London}}</ref> Paracelsus was compared with [[Martin Luther]] because of his openly defiant acts against the existing authorities in medicine.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/442424/Paracelsus/5504/Career-at-Basel|title=Paracelsus|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=23 September 2014|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006224030/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/442424/Paracelsus/5504/Career-at-Basel|url-status=live}}</ref> But Paracelsus rejected that comparison,<ref>{{cite book |title=Paracelsus: An Introduction to Philosophical Medicine in the Era of the Renaissance| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wO244WXEBKcC&q=paracelsus+luther&pg=PA40 | page=40| isbn=9783805535182 | last1=Pagel | first1=Walter | year=1982 | publisher=Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers }}</ref> famously stating: "I leave it to Luther to defend what he says and I will be responsible for what I say. That which you wish to Luther, you wish also to me: You wish us both in the fire."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://divinity.uchicago.edu/martycenter/publications/sightings/archive_2006/1023.shtml |title=Divinity School at the University of Chicago &#124; Publications |website=divinity.uchicago.edu |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610120041/http://divinity.uchicago.edu/martycenter/publications/sightings/archive_2006/1023.shtml |archive-date=10 June 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> A companion during the Basel years expressed a quite unflattering opinion on Paracelsus: "The two years I passed in his company he spent in [[binge drinking|drinking]] and [[gluttony]], day and night. He could not be found [[sobriety|sober]] an hour or two together, in particular after his departure from Basel."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ball |first=Philip |title=The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance of Magic and Science |page=205 |publisher=William Heinemann |location=London |year=2006 }}</ref> Threatened with an unwinnable lawsuit,{{clarify|date=September 2023}} he left Basel for [[Alsace]] in February 1528.