Beloved Son Felix: Coming of Age in the Renaissance

by Felix Platter, Stephen Greenblatt (Foreword)

The exceptionally vivid, rare, and revealing journals of a 16th-century medical student.


In 1552, at the age of sixteen, Felix Platter left his home in Basel, Switzerland, and journeyed 370 miles to Montpelier, in the south of France. There he spent the next five years studying to become a physician. It was an extraordinary education—and not only in medicine. A Protestant in a Catholic kingdom, Felix witnessed blood-chilling executions and engaged in secret religious discussions with his landlord, a Marrano Jew. He also learned to play the lute, tasted olive oil for the first time, and had his first swim in the sea. He flirted and danced; he got his spur tangled in a lady's skirt; he fled from highwaymen; he saw John Calvin preach; he survived an outbreak of the bubonic plague; he joined in a massive, orange-throwing food fight; he got a dog; and he spent one Christmas Eve alone and afraid of the dark.


Most astonishing of all, he wrote it all down.


The notes that Felix Platter kept on his day-to-day life are unique in European history. A century before the modern, Western novel was invented, Beloved Son Felix captures the texture of Renaissance life, and a Renaissance youth, from the inside. As Stephen Greenblatt observes in his introduction, “Keeping diaries and writing autobiographies did not become a widespread practice until the mid-seventeenth century. But it is not merely the relative paucity of such documents from earlier periods that makes Platter's journal so unusual. It is its vividness, intimacy, candor, and charm that confer upon it an altogether rare and revealing character.”

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, France, Coming Of Age, European History

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2026

Reviews

[Adam McPhee]

A recently reissued diary written by a young man who travelled from Switzerland to Montpellier in the 1550s to study medicine.

It was a real delight to discover this, so much so that I wrote a review for The Rumpus.

[Jane]

This is an unusual book. Stephen Greenblatt writes the introduction and says that it is one of the very first memoirs to be written. Felix Platter was a charming 16 year old in 1552 who kept a detailed journal about his life when he left his home in Basel, Switzerland to make a dangerous journey to Montpellier, France where he would begin his medical studies. The journal ends after he has completed his studies and returned home to Basel. What is particularly interesting about Felix's life is the way he describes the horrible things he saw on his journey. This was in the midst of the plague and furious religious wars. Felix witnessed beheadings and dismemberings frequently. He is appalled but not shocked and one gets the feeling that "This is just the way life is," much as we today witness appalling and shocking acts all the time, but, sadly, we get used to them. The journal was recently translated into English, its a slim volume, and a first hand look at a young man's life in the Renaissance.

[Sophia Eck]

Beloved Son Felix contains the insightful and valuable journals of Felix Platter, a Swiss student in the 16th century, during his five years in Montpelier studying to become a physician, and by proxy explores the era’s violent history of religious persecution, the grisly undertakings involved in pursuit of physical education, and gives a valuable insight into the culture of the Renaissance for a man of Felix’s status and generation. Platter’s cultivation of his own journals and the preservation of them were considered ahead of their time, and atypical to find, which adds even more intrigue and depth to their existence! Despite its more lurid and gruesome details, I found the book intensely fascinating and uniquely insightful! It’ll definitely make you thankful for modern medicine and more stringent grave-digging laws!

[Ben]

Fascinating glimpse into life 500 years ago. I quite enjoyed it.

Word to the publisher - check for typos before printing. For instance, this edition has 65 notes, but only 63 were printed in the back. Odd!

[Hannah]

So many executions

[Melanie]

Wild dances, playing the lute, watching gruesome executions, getting pranked and robbed, learning to play the harp and robbing graves. You know, just your typical 16 year old Renaissance teenage boy things.

[Spiros]

A very curious document. Young Felix, son of a pedagogue in 14th century Basel, is sent to Montpellier, home of one of the leading medical schools in Europe. The journey is arduous, and fraught with danger. The years in Montpellier are arduous, and filled with accounts of capital punishment, both for criminal activities and for heresy. The return to Basel, with his medical degree, is also arduous and perilous. Life was short, brutish, and cruel.
Despite this having been written by Platter in his old age, he seems to have an encyclopedic recall for dates when he sent letters back to his father, which I assume is attributable to the correspondence having been preserved, at least the part of the correspondence which was sent back to Basel.

[Patrick King]

“The following day the sister of the Bishop of Montpellier and her husband were burned in effigy, in the form of two clothed dummies, in the square. The woman’s apron took fire and flew up high into the air, and this caused a burst of laughter from the crowd.”

A fascinating look at 16th century France through the lens of a Swiss medical student. Very much not my usual type of book, but I found it fascinating. It’s amazing how much things haven’t changed in the intervening five centuries, how the human interactions seem familiar and the humor still resonates. My favorite parts, like the quote above, were his matter-of-fact descriptions of crime and attendant punishment. Many, many scenes in the book end with some variation on “and then his limbs and head were cut from his body and hung from the trees, as is the custom.” Sorry, can’t help but chuckle at his perspective.

[Terry94705]

A charming little book that I probably would’ve overlooked if Greenblatt’s name hadn’t been on the cover. It’s presented as the journal of a young man who leaves Basel for medical school in Montpellier in 1552. The details of his medical school experience are interesting but surprisingly thin. (A sentence here and there about an autopsy, including a scheme for grave robbing.) The details of the world he encounters are quite rich. Frequent and gory public executions. Rumors of nearby plague. The room-and-board arrangements that involved the long distance exchange of sons. Worries about robbers when traveling (or home alone). Indeed it’s the vulnerability (and curiosity) of young Felix that makes him so charming.

[Nathan Camba]

There’s a lot of charm to be found in Felix’s memoir

A lot of enjoyment came from how the 16th century college experience seems so similar to its modern counterpart; parents sending endless messages to their children reminding them to focus on studying, kids engaging in ‘youthful follies,’ going on trips, and of course, lots of drinking.

There are some dull and repetitious parts to be found, but for a historical source, trust me, there are much duller and less lively documents to be read. Felix’s memoir is overall so vivid that I think it’s pretty easy to recommend to anyone who wants to peer into the life of ye olde college student.

[Susan Keller]

An amazing book to read. A look into life several thousand years ago through the eyes of a young student away from home and in medical school at the age of 15. It is amazing that these letters to his father have survived, especially considering the fact there was no postal service, he would simply send letters when he could find someone going to his home area. A wonderful first hand look into a life we can only imagine

[Wil A Emerson]

Interesting

A quick glimpse of 15th century trials of an ambitious young man as he studies to become a doctor. A historical perspective of religious zealots, evil and unforgiving, cruel and hypocritical. But reveals the same emotions of parent and child as we know today. A wish that our child will exceed the parent in good will and security with a profession of respect. Well worth reading.

[William]

3/5 unadjusted; 4/5 adjusted because my old man gave me this gem. Fascinating to see how much life has and has not changed over the last 475 years. Big fan of Western Europe, so Felix’s journey from Germany-Switzerland to Montpellier, France, really appealed to me. He’s just a good kid who makes the most of his blessings. An interesting and fun read.

[Sally Monroe-Tockes]

50% fascinating 50% dull. Really could’ve benefitted with some robust contextual notes/commentary and as is can be a little impenetrable to the casual reader. Also the in-text footnotes went to 65 but there were only 63 endnotes??

[Samantha M]

This really was charming! It's a bit hard to review because it is a memoir/published diary entries and it's not really trying to accomplish anything other than to be an account of Felix Platter at school. Five stars because I did like it.

[J. Eric Bermudez]

So charming and strange.

[Shawn Simmons]

Very interesting - like hearing a voice from the past. The descriptions of public executions darkens it quite a bit.

[Sam]

This was a delightful read !

[Bob Peru]

one thing after another. jarring and macabre juxtapositions.

[Brenna]

A must-read for fans of medical history and Reformation-era Europe. It is pretty dry, hence a couple stars deducted.

[Jinjer]

Easy, quick read. Fascinating and rare opportunity to learn about day-to-day life of a teenager in the 1500s!

[Rowan]

Kept thinking the novelist should have added some more description here and extra scenes there, and had to remind myself repeatedly it was nonfiction. Glad it's back in print!

[Lilliana Naseef]

Funny and relatable

[leah lederman]

I greatly enjoyed this book. Not a good review but it can't go on my bookshelf as read without one.